I received a watch in the mail and it does not keep time well (2-3 minutes per day). The seller said it was just serviced. Before I bring it to the watchmaker, I heard that sometimes the watch was 'magnetized' during shipping (x-ray, customs etc) and could cause problem. I already ordered a cheap 'demagnetizer' and will have it next week. But I am wondering whether this is normal - that shipping can cause this problem? Thanks, Frank

 

I'm not really sure if shipping commonly does this, it has not happened to me ( only 3 automatics shipped to me). Usually if a watch is magnetized it runs significantly faster. If you have a compass in your house you can check if it's magnetized. Move your watch around the compass and see if the needle moves or if it stays true. If it moves, it's magnetized.

 

Thanks Euxinus. Learned something that should have been obvious.

I ship watches out of state for work. I've never had a problem result from shipping.

 

I would say that when a watch gets magnetized it gains a lot more than 2-3 minutes. 2-3 minutes means that it wasn't fully regulated.

Maybe the person was lying or they did not fully check and recheck the watch before shipping and it ended up being slightly off beat.

A magnetized watch will gain a few minutes per hour.

If it's not an expensive watch you could do a bit of research and regulate it yourself. That's what I did when I had my first magnetized watch (and it was a little bit expensive actually...).

 

Ok. Then it is something different as mine is 2 minutes too slow.

 

I consider three minutes plus, minus ok over 24 hours, for a vintage watch. Maybe someone know if older watches (20s, 30s and 40s for example) are more sensitive for magnetism?

 

OP can you tell us what watch and movement we're talking about here ?

Yes, vintage watches are ore prone to magnetism but it depends on the model itself, the period it was manufactured. Some watches were specifically antimagnetic, many weren't.

 

It is a 1952-1953 bumper 353. I would expect <30 s/d if it was just serviced. Is my expectation too high?

Oh, it is an 'imports' from Canada. So it might have gone through some additional machine in addition to normal shipping.

 

It's it consistently slow?

... or all over the place slow?

 

Uh, had it for 2-3 days, and it has been quite consistent.

 

I don't know about you but I would expect less than +/- 10 seconds accuracy if a watch was serviced.

An Omega from the 50s is still a high quality watch and if it has been adjusted accordingly should keep good time.

I'll say it again. A magnetized watch would lose a few minutes per hour, not day. It most likely needs regulating.

 

I thought that it would be running fast and not slow if it was magnetized, either way it would be more like 20 mins a day.

I do agree about the +/- 10s if it was serviced and regulated. If the seller is not to reputable I might think that the watch might have not been serviced / regulated.

 

As long as this is being discussed: My friend's 2254, 1120 movement got magnetized. How does this commonly happen so he can avoid it in the future? Thanx, Miki

 

I sat one beside this computer and it took to running around 20 minutes fast per day. This was just after I had received it back from servicing. Sent it in again and the watchmaker de-magnetized it for me at no charge. Got home with it and placed it by the computer again so I could monitor the watch against the computer. Began running fast again. Magnetized it again so sent it back. Watchmaker was kind enough to de-magnetize it again without charge. Some discussion caused him to figure out the cause. I no longer place them by the computer in order to monitor their performance.

 

I bought one demagnetizer on the bay for $10 shipped. . Will see.

 

Thanx, I'll let him know.

 

Sorry, yes, I meant that they'd run faster, not slower.

As the name suggests, watches will usually get magnetized around big/strong magnets. Computers have magnets in their speakers for example. Many have had their watches magnetized because of the magnets in their tablet cases.

The actual component that gets magnetized is the hairspring. When it gets magnetized some of the coils will "stick" to each other thus shortening the hair spring and making the watch run faster. Since hair springs are very thin and quite fragile it's normal that even small but sufficiently strong magnets make them magnetized.

Here are 2 pictures (off the net) of a magnetized and non-magnetized hair spring.

 

Not sure this is a good test. A compass needle is magnetized, which is why it points North. If you put ferrous metal near a compass, the needle will be attracted to it. I've heard of tests involving iron filings, but they seem kind of unnecessarily complicated. Just get a demagnetizer.

 

The compass needs to be "demagnetized" first. This is out of Chicago School of Watchmaking. While not the ultimate authority it is a very good reference.

 

I just stopped by my formally authorized Omega dealership who still works on Omega watches. Took only a couple minutes and he ran it through a demagnetizer. A quick check to see if the watch is magnetized. Mine was off by +8 minutes a day.