Magnetized hairspring

[Sherwooddavid]

Good Morning Folks,

I have one of my watches in for servicing due to stripped threads on the crown tube. After an inspection they also noticed the hairspring was magnetized and I am trying to figure out how it happened to avoid it happening again in the future.
The only thing I can think of is that I sometime lay it by my laptop at night ??
Any ideas guys !
Sorry if this has been discussed before in other threads,I should have probably checked.
Regards,Dave

[Xenophon]

My brand new anti-magnetic Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was magnetized. The only thing I could think of was the airport security scanner that I went through on the second day of having it. Apart from that I keep my watches clear of magnetic sources.

[ExpII]

Originally Posted by Sherwooddavid

Good Morning Folks,

I have one of my watches in for servicing due to stripped threads on the crown tube. After an inspection they also noticed the hairspring was magnetized and I am trying to figure out how it happened to avoid it happening again in the future.
The only thing I can think of is that I sometime lay it by my laptop at night ??
Any ideas guys !
Sorry if this has been discussed before in other threads,I should have probably checked.
Regards,Dave

This also happend to my Explorer II during shipping, it's not a big deal.

[games]

As others, I had it happen to one watch (Ball Hydrocarbon) out of many shipped to me. Five minutes at a local watchmaker, and it was running spot on. No big deal.

Mark

[Megalobyte]

How is this possible though? Even before the new Parachrom hairspring, Rolex used the Nivarox, which is reputed to be virtually amagnetic?

Do airport scanners, either the ones you walk through, or those that scan your carry ons, use magnets or create a strong magnetic field?

I ask because I'm about to go on a trip and wouldn't want anything to happen to my still fairly new Sub C.

Anybody know for certain if airport security equipment can magnetize a watch?

[calibre1]

Originally Posted by games

As others, I had it happen to one watch (Ball Hydrocarbon) out of many shipped to me. Five minutes at a local watchmaker, and it was running spot on. No big deal.

Mark

Mark, how did you suspect that it was magnetised in the first place? Did it start to show odd timekeeping?

What are the features of a magnetised watch?

Thanks in advance...

[kareemthedream33]

How do you know when this happens? Does it stop working?

[padi56]

Well in general a watch thats magnetised normally will speed up and not by a few seconds it could be minutes or hours or completely stop.And will in general run very very erratic,but any watch becoming magnetised a quite simple process to de-magnetise most high street watchmakers could do it its not expensive.But I have travelled world wide though various airport scanners etc. And when I was working before I retired worked with and around very powerful magnets capable of lifting 20 plus tons never ever had a problem with any Rolex watch.I now work with and repair high power transceivers and RF amplifiers that put out quite a high magnetic field, again no problem with any Rolex watch.Today IMHO magnetised is a cop out word for just some simple regulation,if they don't now whats wrong with the watch, the normal cop out by many is its magnetised.But watches can and do get magnetised but you must be in a very strong magnetic field to do so but very simple to de-magnetise.

[Oyster1982]

I try to keep mine away from my cell phone, and computer. However it can always be demagnitized .

[calibre1]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well in general a watch thats magnetised normally will speed up and not by a few seconds it could be minutes or hours or completely stop.And will in general run very very erratic,but any watch becoming magnetised a quite simple process to de-magnetise most high street watchmakers could do it its not expensive.But I have travelled world wide though various airport scanners etc. And when I was working before I retired worked with and around very powerful magnets capable of lifting 20 plus tons never ever had a problem with any Rolex watch.I now work with and repair high power transceivers and RF amplifiers that put out quite a high magnetic field, again no problem with any Rolex watch.Today IMHO magnetised is a cop out word for just some simple regulation,if they don't now whats wrong with the watch, the normal cop out by many is its magnetised.But watches can and do get magnetised but you must be in a very strong magnetic field to do so but very simple to de-magnetise.

Thanks Padi...great read! I read from a thread here previously that somebody managed to demagnetise his watch from + somethin' sec a day to spot on without the need for any regulation.

Just wondered if there is any impact on timekeeping if a non-magnetised watch is subjected to a demagnetising procedure???

Thanks in advance!

[NYC6]

What are the common suspects that would cause magnetizing nowadays?

[Megalobyte]

Originally Posted by NYC6

What are the common suspects that would cause magnetizing nowadays?

Well, people say I have a magnetic personality.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by NYC6

What are the common suspects that would cause magnetizing nowadays?

Well most nearly all electrical appliances generate a magnetic field even the planet earth and your own body does.But most Swiss watches including Rolex
have to pass the Swiss standard test for anti-magnetic watches .This is to withstand a strong magnetic field of 4800 Amps per meter,and to keeps on running with a maximum deviation of 15- 30 seconds per day.Now this test I am 100% sure that 90%-95% of all watch wearers would never subject or come into contact with such a strong magnetic field. Myself would not worry in the slightest about magnetism with any Rolex watch..

[TurboWatch]

could be the culprit. If your watch is magnetized, your local Rolex AD or watchmaker should be able to take care of it in a minute with nominal fee.

[RJK]

So could you buy one of those demagnetizers they sell at the hardware store and wave it over your watch without opening up the case?

[Watch Professor]

I bought an inexpensive demagnetizer from the "Bay" and it seems to have worked on my Omega Speedmaster. Buy one spefically for watches. The stick kind that was used to demag tape decks shouldn't be used on a watch.

[calibre1]

Originally Posted by Watch Professor

I bought an inexpensive demagnetizer from the "Bay" and it seems to have worked on my Omega Speedmaster. Buy one spefically for watches. The stick kind that was used to demag tape decks shouldn't be used on a watch.

Interesting.... Do you have a pic of it to share? ..and how inexpensive was it?

Also I was also asking if there would be an impact on timekeeping if you happen to put a non-magnetized watch through a demagnetizing procedure...

Thanks!

[Andad]

A strong magnet next to a watch can tangle the hairspring and this will give you a serious time keeping problem. De-magnetising will not fix this as the spring will need to be manually re-aligned. There is not a lot of ferrous material inside a Rolex that can be magnetised. Is it possible, as Peter suggests, that in some cases the evaluation of time keeping accuracy is incorrect to begin with and in the absence of any other reason it must be 'magnetised'?

We can't even agree on the spelling.

[George Ab]

I see a lot of watches. I always have them checked out by my watchmaker. Occasionally, one will show up that has some anomalies as indicated by the timing machine. It is demagnetized, and timing issue is eradicated.

[Sherwooddavid]

Thanks everyone for educating me on magnetizing the hairspring. Greatly appreciated !