Steam

[rajurama]

Steam cleaning is absolutely normal. Its a high pressure steam jet that safely cleans. Only need to be careful with pearls and some color stones that are soft and delicate.

[GfromMT]

I was browsing at an AD recently and they offered to steam my watch. No issues and it looked great.

[Speed]

My point was...no AD has ever offered to clean my watch regardless of licking it clean, rubbing it with a silk hanky...or, "steam" cleaning it.

[Speedbird-1]

It would be interesting to hear an 'OFFICIAL' Rolex view on this practice.
.....or, failing that, an opinion from some of the watchmaker, experts here.


Personally, not in a million years!

Let's face it, steam is blooming dangerous!

[Masteryacht]

My watches prefer steam from 100% Perrier water.

[Speedbird-1]

Next categorization:

"Never polished - NEVER, EVER Steam cleaned"

[liuk3]

Originally Posted by Speed

My point was...no AD has ever offered to clean my watch regardless of licking it clean, rubbing it with a silk hanky...or, "steam" cleaning it.

One of my local ADs where I have bought my watches offers lifetime steam cleaning if you purchase your watch there. You basically can just walk in anytime and have them steam clean your watch since I doubt that they can tell whether you bought it there or not.

[Speed]

Originally Posted by liuk3

One of my local ADs where I have bought my watches offers lifetime steam cleaning if you purchase your watch there. You basically can just walk in anytime and have them steam clean your watch since I doubt that they can tell whether you bought it there or not.

Tiffany's will clean my wife's wedding ring whenever she is in the store. Steam / ultrasonic - never know which.

However, they stopped polishing while you wait. Now, they will take your ring "ship it to New York" and charge you $50... My guess is they polish it when they have spare time...and just say it went to NYC.

[ras47]

Originally Posted by donq

Time to fire up the espresso machine!

I knew that milk frothing thing would come in handy one day!

By the way, Viton o-rings are used on engines of many types.

I use them in motorcycle engines that get extremely hot for up to hours at a time,
And are treated this way for years, often in contact with hot engine oil.
Thirty seconds of steam isn’t going to hurt your watch seals unlesss they are already compromised.

Good thing the seals used by Rolex aren’t made by Morton Thiokol. :0

[liuk3]

Originally Posted by Speed

Tiffany's will clean my wife's wedding ring whenever she is in the store. Steam / ultrasonic - never know which.

However, they stopped polishing while you wait. Now, they will take your ring "ship it to New York" and charge you $50... My guess is they polish it when they have spare time...and just say it went to NYC.

I didn't know that Tiffany's stopped polishing jewelry purchased there while you wait. Interesting. I stopped wearing my Tiffany's wedding ring years ago since it no longer fits (knuckle is swollen from jiu jitsu), so I eventually seemed to have misplaced it. What a scam now with $50 shipping charge where you live. I dunno if they can get away with that here. I'll have to step into a Tiffany's one of these days and ask. I've thought about buying another ring to make my wife happy.

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by ras47

Good thing the seals used by Rolex aren’t made by Morton Thiokol. :0

Harsh, I think.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Speed

Larry,

Have you ever had an AD offer to steam clean your watch? I've never experienced this - ever.

If our favorite sales staffer is there, my AD always offers to steam clean all of our jewelry and watches when we walk in to browse.

[123Blueface]

I rotate between four to five watches, depending on day, mood, attire, etc.
A normal routine for me is to give it a rinse with soap and water or WristClean.
They always shine and remain clean.

That said, I would not worry in the least of a quick steaming by a jeweler if my watch was that dirty

[Speed]

Originally Posted by Tools

If our favorite sales staffer is there, my AD always offers to steam clean all of our jewelry and watches when we walk in to browse.

Nice to hear.

Clearly these folks are focused on service - and likely not located in a high-traffic store in a city.

[_speedmaster_]

Originally Posted by meganfox17

After handing over your SD4K to him, the Salesman walked into the room behind, close the door, wore your watch, got undressed to his birthday suit, then walked into the attached bathroom and took a nice hot steaming shower. After drying both himself and your watch with a towel, he then put his clothes back on, unfastened the watch from his wrist and handed it back over to you

I'm really embarrased guys...I was promised no pics.

[HogwldFLTR]

This is so pedestrian an approach. There is only one right way and that is to dive in the ocean and then ride off on the Harley arm held in the air to dry it off. Steam cleaner, bah, what will they come up with next?



Of course be careful how you hold up your arm...

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by Speed

My point was...no AD has ever offered to clean my watch regardless of licking it clean, rubbing it with a silk hanky...or, "steam" cleaning it.

I guess it depends on the AD. Fortunately my AD offers the service when you stop by; no matter if you are just browsing or making a purchase. I guess this is the definition of “YMMV.”
Cheers

[Andad]

Originally Posted by J-E

You are not exactly right to be honest. I sell o-rings and viton would be a dumb choice for Rolex. Not only because of steam but also because of water. EPDM would be a much better choice. I am from the Netherlands and we have Seiko BENELUX as a customer for seals. They only want EPDM. (which is great with steam btw)

In the image you can see viton as FKM-A. Steam and viton are obviously not a good combo.

To be clear: the compound of PTFE is way too hard so not an option. FFKM (for example kalrez by DuPont) is way too expensive. Your Rolex would be twice as expensive ;).


PS. I would never let them steam clean my watch.

This.

[Seibei]

Gently clean your watch with soap, water and a soft brush. Don't make a simple thing complicated.

[cajerseyboy]

Steam should be fine. Just don’t ultrasonic the case.