Chapter 28
A Miscellany Including Stationery, Clocks, Noises, Baby Carriages, Remuneration and Advance Preparations
CLOCKS AND WATCHES
23.a. One may adjust the hands of a watch or a clock to set it to the correct time, but,
23.b. if it is a chiming clock or an alarm clock, only in the event that one is certain it will not chime or ring while being reset.
23.c. Subject to the same condition, the hands of a wall clock may be adjusted, although the clock itself should not be moved. (See paragraph 27 below.)
24.a. 1) A wristwatch, a pocket-watch and an alarm clock are not muktzeh while they are going and may be handled, even if they are battery-operated.
2) However, a watch or a clock which is not working is muktzeh, whether it has stopped
a) due to a defect in its mechanism or
b) because it was not wound up before Shabbath or Yom Tov.
3) a) Nevertheless, a gold watch which one does not normally remove from one’s hand, even when it is not working, is considered to be an ornament
b) It may be handled in the usual way, even if it
has stopped going (but see paragraphs 22 above and 28 below).
24.b. 1) One must not press the buttons of an electronic watch.
2) An electronic watch on which one cannot tell the time without pressing a button that causes it to light up is muktzeh.
