rolex in the sauna?

[pdmlynek]

Originally Posted by Ed Rooney

How can metal in a sauna get any hotter than the ambient air temp? That energy has to come from somewhere.

Well, yes, you are correct that the temperature of a metal object will not become greater than that of the ambient air in which it is (unless the watch somehow found a way of getting around the Second Law of Thermodynamics). But air at 80 C (= 180 F) wont burn you but metal object at 80 C will. It has to do with the excellent thermal conductivity of metal vs air. Similarly, a cold swimming pool water will feel much chillier than the air of the same temperature.

The hot metal simply delivers lots of energy to the skin in short amount of time, resulting in burning. Specifically, looking through my Perry’s, given that air conductivity is 0.024 W.m-1.K-1, water is 0.58, steel is 43, and gold is 310, that gold GMT II will deliver 13,000-times more energy to your skin than air will.

[pdmlynek]

Originally Posted by kzm40

If it stays next to the skin.. No problem... people put cross's etc on chains behind there back so its in contact with the skin and not hanging loose (excuse the pun).. I've seen sauna novices have a medelion hanging on a chain in front of them scream when they stand up, and it's again in contact with the skin.. quite amusing to watch..but watches, rings.. etc are fine, and safer then being in a locker.

OK, got it. Although we have a sauna in our master bathroom that we rarely use, I do consider myself a novice.

Here is another tip that I need to pass onto the readership: if you do have a sauna in your master bathroom that you use it once every other year, before you ramp up the temperature to 180 F, please make sure to check that your wife does not use it as a handy storage area for bathroom cleaning chemicals.