How do I fix the date on my watch?

My dear fellow watch wearer: this is an interesting problem that has plagued users of analog watches since the Flintsones wore sundials on their wrists. It is no one's fault that some months have 30 days and other months have 31 days. Every once in a while February has only 28 days. Very little can be done about this. In terms of analog watches, whether quartz battery powered or manual/automatic wind, will invariably require the user to advance the date manually during those months that end in 30 days. It is a minor inconvenience and the only advantage that a mobile telephone would ever have over a watch (in my opinion) in terms of telling time. But here's the thing: most, if not all digital watches will automatically advance the date according to its internal calendar. It is something that will rarely if ever need to be adjusted by the user. Casio, Suunto, Garmin, and any of the preferred digital display watches will never require you to adjust the date. It will just know to do it automatically. Since everything about watches is ultimately a matter of personal choice, I happened to prefer analog displays and can live quite happily with advancing the date every few months throughout the year. It is not a big deal.

Unfortunately normal analog watches are not aware of the month and year, and the date wheel counts up to 31 every month. The owner is expected to correct the date manually on the first of the month if the previous month had less than 31 days, which means you have to correct it 5 times a year. Some watches have a complication called a perpetual calendar, and these will keep track of the month and keep the date correct on months that have less than 31 days. Analog watches with perpetual calendars are unusual and often expensive. Digital watches will allow you to set the month and year and will maintain the date correctly throughout the year.

Unfortunately, you would have to buy a watch with a special built-in complication to fix this automatically. Personally, I enjoy resetting the date for this reason because of how it involves me in the rhythms of the calendar. At least it only hits you six days a year. :-)

Hi Amit, That's one of the drawbacks, or joys of analog watches, depending on how you look at it. On months with less than 31 days, you have no choice but to adjust the date manually to get it back into sync. Here's how to do it: If you have a screw down crown, loosen it off. If the watch needs to be wound, wind it up. Pull the crown out 2 clicks. Turn the hands until the date changes. Push the crown in one click. Turn the crown either clockwise or counterclockwise until the date is correct. Pull the crown out on stop and set the time. Push the crown back in, lock it down if it locks, and you're done. Note: some people say you shouldn't change the date on some watches  between 10:00 pm and midnight. Apparently that can screw up the date change mechanism in the movement.

It sounds like you have a watch with just a date complication. I cant' tell if it's a mechanical or quartz movement but for this explanation it makes no difference. This complication will increment the date window once every 24 hours. The watch does not know what month it is, so for the months with less than 31 days you will have to manually advance the date on the 1st of the following month. A http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_calendar watch complication does know the day, month and year so it is able to keep track and adjust automatically.