We've had many threads on the forum asking if its safe to work heavy equipment, shower, wank, etcetera with an expensive new watch on.

Now, while I do believe it is just plain dopey to subject any watch, even a dive watch, to sprayed hot water and soap in a shower, as no watch was ever designed for that, I do believe we seriously underestimate the ability of some of these watches to absorb a really obscene punishment and keep on ticking. After all, the basic lever watch as we know it today was invented 200 years ago and has had the benefit of all those years of pretty much constant development in both the mechanics and materials of the watch. Honestly, I've been inside some early lever watches and they are amazingly like the average current hand wound caliber.

Below are a few examples from my on heap of hardware.

The Elgin, from 1944, is a UDT watch from WW2, expected to be worn by a combat swimmer while he checked out the beach and cleared obstacles immediately prior to an amphibious assault. Yeah, these guys swam in from offshore with 60 pound packs of demolition material and landed on the beaches of Normandy and the Pacific alone before anybody else to prepare the way. The Elgin was expected to put up with this.

The Bulova, from 1959, is a USAF navigator's watch, which was fully expected to last bouncing around in combat aircraft while remaining dead accurate. (at minus 50)


The Omega, a Techron, was approved for pilot use in the RCAF in the 40s... expect the same pleasant life the Bulova above put up with (this one was never issued)



The following two, a Waltham Vanguard from 1900 and an Illinois from 1879 are railway quality watches, this means they were expected to remain accurate to within 30 seconds a week while being bounced around in a set of overalls on a steam engine which had a damn cold cab in the winter and was roasting hot in the summer and never had suspension of any kind. You seat was a shelf bolted to the cab wall which sat directly on the frame.

And when they weren't at work on a train the owner likely rode a horse to get where he wanted to go.


AND NONE OF THESE HAVE ANY SHOCK PROTECTION FOR THE BALANCE STAFF.

So go ahead, work with your watch on, just don't be a dope about it. If you think you're bouncing it around a bit much take it off.

and if you must wank with your watch on make sure its water resistant.

just my two cents worth... I now turn the soap box over to @Mad Dog for your regularly scheduled Hooters and a hot coffee photograph.

 

You must have anticipated my post! I take it you'd cycle the streets of NYC without hesitation.

 

Nope... but I'm more worried about me surviving the traffic, not the watch.

 

Oops... one error above.

The Omega does have shock protection.... the sneaky little bugger!

 

Here I am, wearing my watches to the gym, giggling every time I see one of those posts. Maybe I'm just reckless

 

Sports watches waste away without exercise.

 

I think the Bulova also did. Here's mine... (did not wank with it though, I'm a righty)

 

Oh man, as someone new to mechanical watch world, I honestly did not even think about whether or not I should worry about wearing in my backyard (it's.... unique...) but maybe I should think twice?

 

I fix broken watches for a living. I like the way you think! Go ahead, wreck them. When there is a risk that I might destroy a watch when busting my butt on a project, I wear a watch I won’t feel too bad about if I destroy it. Would you expect any other complex mechanism that is 60 or 70 years old to hold up they way a new mechanism should?

 

I break fixed watches for a living.

 

OK... reverso? What about a duo face?

 

Dude...I can’t do that stuff...all I can do is backside kick turns on ramps [not on half pipes due to the increasing vert which freaks me out] and some back-and-forth with fakie.

Basically, I suck.

But...my goal is to suck less...which I’m working on.

 

I am conflicted. Everywhere on this MB, we read about the fortunate collector who stumbles onto a vintage or antique watch that is near mint, or mint. And how fortunate he or she feels to have found it. Conversely, we hear some commenting on how hard such pieces are to find. How is it that such fine examples exist? Precisely because a previous owner (or owners) have spared it from rough usage. How is it they are becoming harder to find? Precisely because a lot of owners treat their watch like a disposable item, to be bashed around and discarded when extensive repairs become necessary. My newest watch is 30 years old. Am I odd? Don’t answer that.

 

Everything is disposable.

 

I have a collection that includes modern and vintage watches and I actually do spend a few seconds thinking what I am doing today before strapping a watch on.

It's not fear as much as respect for the 40-60 year old mechansims

 

If everything should be considered “disposable”, where would collectors find watches to collect. There are laws discouraging “treasure hunting” at landfills. Upon your demise, please let us know where to show up to rummage through your collection before it ends up in a dumpster.

 

Collectibles become rare & valuable precisely because 99% of owners treat them like disposables.
If everybody through time had bought a new speedy & put it in their sock drawer, the only speedys worth a premium would be the few to go into space.

Collectors can rise to the challenge of finding the 0.1% that haven't been thrown under a truck. There is no satisfaction in hunting down pristine examples when there is one in every sock drawer.

Pretty sure my collection will be found on ebay after I croak. Good hunting

 

I think he meant none of the 19th and early 20th century pocket watches like the early Railroad watches.

My mid to late 20th century Pobeda watches don't seem to have any shock protection, but I could be wrong. They do have special alloy balance wheels though, a Gold colored alloy first developed for the Soviet space program.

One thing to remember is the dedication and skill of the old time watch makers and repairmen. Balance wheels and springs were designed to be the easiest parts to replace, but only if you knew exactly what you were doing.

One of the easiest replacement parts to find in quantity on Ebay is vintage Pocket Watch balance wheel shafts. Crowns and stems come next.