5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

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missF
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5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by missF »

...always good to refresh the basics:

http://quillandpad.com/2018/01/06/5-une ... h-archive/

(and the comment about the snowflake is well worth reading...!)

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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by STodd »

Thanks Lindsey - a good read.

And as for the Snowflake... :shock:
C60 GMT MkI¦C11 Elite,Pro¦C700 Grande Rapide¦C8 Pilot MkII¦C8 UTC¦C10 FLE#13¦C4 'Phoenix'¦Speedhawk¦Bluebird LE#319¦IRR LE#129¦C1000 FGR4
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by Justdave »

That’s a really interesting read for a watch novice like me, thanks for the link.
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by reggie747 »

Number 6...
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Fluffy cuddly kittens and little puppy dogs.......????
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by missF »

^^ yep - take care of your watch around tonka toys! :thumbup:
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by Ddavidsonmd »

Good read.


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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by SSLAnglois »

So you’re not supposed to glue the crown stem back in???

You learn something new everyday I guess...


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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by UsefulG »

An interesting read and it has me thinking that I might have magnetised my C7 by putting on my iPad at night. Didn’t even think about it but it was gaining 0.85 secs a day and recently losing 3/4 secs so it sounds possible. Time to find a compass :)


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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by keepitsimple »

UsefulG wrote:An interesting read and it has me thinking that I might have magnetised my C7 by putting on my iPad at night. Didn’t even think about it but it was gaining 0.85 secs a day and recently losing 3/4 secs so it sounds possible. Time to find a compass :)


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Normally watches gain erratically (and quite a lot) when magnetised as the hairspring coils get attracted together rather than lose time, but a compass will help decide for you. Bear in mind that you need to check not just that the needle is attracted to the movement, but also that the other end of the needle is repelled from the same point on the watch. I've also found that springbars get most easily magnetised, and that can mislead you into thinking it is part of the movement.

There's also a free gaussmeter app that works quite well.

I've got one of those cheap chinese de-gaussers, but I don't find them easy to use. It takes several attempts and if you don't get it quite right you can make it worse. I find you need to keep checking on a timegrapher after each attempt to make sure you've fixed it. One day I'll shell out for the professional type that just zap the watch with a diminishing high frequency burst and do it in one shot.
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by suicidal_orange »

Interesting, didn't know recessed pushers existed (other than as 'set' buttons on cheap LCD watches) let alone that they are sensitive - doubt this will help without a lottery win though.

Who would do that to a Snowflake, laughing at him wasn't enough he should get a lifetime ban from watch ownership!
keepitsimple wrote:Normally watches gain erratically (and quite a lot) when magnetised as the hairspring coils get attracted together rather than lose time, but a compass will help decide for you. Bear in mind that you need to check not just that the needle is attracted to the movement, but also that the other end of the needle is repelled from the same point on the watch. I've also found that springbars get most easily magnetised, and that can mislead you into thinking it is part of the movement.
My C65 makes both ends move somewhere near 12 - do you have any tips how to know if it's the spring bar or the movement without removing the bracelet? I haven't timed it accurately but I'd guess it runs around 20s/day fast, not quite annoying enough to make fixing it a priority...
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by keepitsimple »

Bear in mind that a compass needle will be attracted to any type of ferrous metal magnetised or not. If something is magentised though, it will tend to attract one pole of the compass and repel the other. If yours attracts both ends of the compass it would tend to indicate it isn't magnetised. I think a better indicator is a gauss meter though - as posted earlier there's a free app for smartphones that's quite good.

If yours is +20/day consistently, it might just mean it needs regulation or a service if it hasn't had one for a while. The only proper diagnostic is on a timing machine where it's operation is pretty well "laid bare".

I have a lot of mechanical watches and bought a timegrapher a while ago. With some care you can regulate most watches * that are in good condition to give their best averaged out "on the wrist" performance.

They also tell you whether that uber-expensive service that promised to "restore your watchto factory condition" has actually done so. I've sent several watches back to be re-worked as a result, including to an authorised Omega workshop. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people are in blissful ignorance, thinking their watches are working beautifully because they seem to keep good time.

I've got a knockabout chinese sterile dial Explorer1 clone thing that keeps pretty good time because it has large errors which cancel each other out in the main. Put it on the timegrapher and the badly running POS that it really is becomes very clear !

Caution - if you're OCD, don't get a timegrapher. You will never be happy again :(

(*Not free sprung balances though unless you're very brave).
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by suicidal_orange »

^ Thanks for that, it does attract and repel but can't work out which bit's responsible. Would help if it were on a strap so I could get the compass near the back, but it's not...

I think I'll record the accuracy before spending £100+ on a timegrapher, interesting as they look :lol:
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by keepitsimple »

suicidal_orange wrote:^ Thanks for that, it does attract and repel but can't work out which bit's responsible. Would help if it were on a strap so I could get the compass near the back, but it's not...

I think I'll record the accuracy before spending £100+ on a timegrapher, interesting as they look :lol:
It would not surprise me if it's the springbars - I've had them become magnetised when the rest of the watch was OK.

I've never seen a CW bracelet, but most makes have removeable pins in the clasp which makes them fairly easy to split open.
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by UsefulG »

Well the compass points move with C7 in both directions and worryingly the c60 did it as well but not as much. I picked up a timer app for phone the watch is down as losing 6 secs a day which is in line with anecdotal evidence and out of spec for COSC so something is up with the watch. Next step a demagnetiser?
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Re: 5 ways you might damage a mechanical watch

Post by keepitsimple »

Suggest you download Gauss Meter from Keuwlsoft (it's free) - much easier to check for magnetism than with a compass.

Magnetised watches normally run inconsistently fast, not slow.

I presume you checked the watch in different positions ? A watch can be -6 in some positions but still meet COSC, which isn't actually very stringent by today's standards anyway and IMO just a marketing gimmick these days. I've got Rolex and Omega watches which are "COSC" tested, but only 'cos they all are today by default. I'd never ever fork out extra for a certified COSC movement where it is offered as an on-cost option.

From my strictly amateur and limited knowledge, and just a bit of experience of watches that have got magnetised (in my case I think from the disk drive *** of my laptop which is directly under my left wrist when typing) the timing jumps about quite a lot, and isn't a nice consistent +/- number. Easy to see on a timing machine which shows a continuously moving time-line, but it depends on the type of display your app provides I guess. If it's only a number it may not be that helpful.

(*** now swapped out for a SSD which has eliminated the magnetism problem along with many other advantages).
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