Precautions should be taken not only with clocks but also with watches to keep them at a constant temperature if one wishes to obtain the best results with them. If possible a watch should be kept at nearly the same temperature at night as during the day. The variations with the drop in temperature at night will affect the rate of the alarm clock uncompensated for temperature much more than that of a watch, which is usually compensated for high and low temperatures.

The careful handling of a timepiece of the balance-wheel type - clock or watch - is also important, because of the effect on the adjustment and rate. All sudden changes of motion should be avoided, and a fall is liable to bend some of the pivots and seriously change the rate. The position in which it is kept also makes a large difference in its rate, especially with the unadjusted cheaper types. Both the watch and the clock should best be kept in an upright position, both day and night, as uniformity of practice is the chief essential. All timepieces should, of course, be kept protected from dust and dirt. They should be wound regularly. It is perhaps better to wind a watch twice a day than once a day, if it is done regularly, and the last part of the winding should be done slowly to avoid injury to the mechanism.