After reading recent blogs on this subject, it appears that there is a direct relationship between how Antimagnetic a watch is and how often it needs service. I would love to hear from all you watch aficionados on this subject whether your watch got magnetized and how or if you have service experience. I know Omega is making watches to 15,000 gauss and that sounds impressive to me.

 

In everyday life anti-magnetism is virtually useless IMO
However, if necessary, a watchmaker solves the situation in seconds without opening the watch.
It never happened to me, even with very old watches.

 

Guess that depends. If you work in a hospital, I would think it could be a very useful feature.

 

Well for 100 years it's not been a big issue outside of some specialized needs. And many of us wear vintage pieces exclusively with little to no protection.

Yes mag fields have become more common the last 25 years... as omega wants us to think.

The real reason imho was Omega figured it out and added it as the newest and greatest thing and Rolex followed suit. Granted the Milguass was "first" but I bet more sold because of the green glass then for mag protection.

Yes it's a technological improvement, but I think it's of dubious need.

 

The importance depends mainly on your occupation or where you spend a lot of time : are you a Doctor who works with MRI machines? Or an Engineer who works close to generators / transformers? Do you have any wireless power transfer devices? I believe even leaving your watch on your tablet/notebook long enough can magnetise it enough to throw the timing off. Don't put it too close to your loudspeakers either. But 15k Gauss is huge...just look at the picture

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question698.htm

http://wornandwound.com/watches-and-magnetization/

 

I worry about this more today than I did 40yrs ago. Industrial environments used to be the only real threat . Now mag fields are all around us in daily life....such as in iPad/smartphone/laptop cases, purses, speakers, portable items of all kinds where magnets did not exist years ago. Albeit the risk is small, it is quite regular. Lay your wrist on an iPad magnet clasp and it will have an effect if placed on just the right spot. These little magnets are strong, small, cheap, effective, and quite useful. That's why they're everywhere.

While I agree a magnetized watch is easily rectified, you don't know for sure at the time why your watch is running poorly, therefore it's a PITA to figure out why as most will have to have a watchmaker look at it. An anti-magnetic watch eliminates this common risk that is now more prevalent. I suspect with material and process tech advancements, all mechanical watches will become anti mag in the near future.

 

I asked a salesperson at the Rolex boutique if they planned on increasing the Gauss rating on the Milgauss. They asked me why and I responded that the Globemaster came in at 15,000 Gauss. They replied that they did not care what Omega was doing.

I work in an engineering environment so it is something I would like to have in a watch.

For what it's worth, I do not wear nice timepieces when I know I will be in a highly magnetic area and have not had an issue with any of my watches(none have anti magnetic properties).

 

So taking my watch off to work on my laptop isn't crazy behaviour after all...

 

Like all things in life, there are always exceptions. I.e. if one has an e.g. PloProf that is a solid chunk of metal, has a solid case back, and also a solid metallic dial, thus all-together creating a solid enclosing faraday cage around the movement, it should be magnetically sealed enough to be every-day anti-magnetic...

EDIT : but perhaps not at 15k gauss...
EDIT EDIT : I am sure the early 'anti magnetic' watches were created that way. In those days they couldnt manufacture silicon parts, the just wrap the movement in enough closed metal.

 

Long time Macbook user here (from the first gen in 2006 looking at some receipts last week)... pesky magnets!

I never liked the feel of a watch bashing on a desk/keyboard... so have always taken them off, and always got teased by colleagues for being "precious"... was just bloody uncomfortable.

I'll send you a pair of tweerzerman clippers and a file mate... maybe just chew gum instead?

 

Aha yes And there is that too.

 

I believe people are generally ignorant to the fact that there are more and more magnetic fields all around us and it's very common for watches to become magnetized... of course Rolex people are never on time anyway. Lol.

 

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a...15000-gauss-and-a-4000-gauss-neodymium-magnet

From article...
"The first time this happened to me was when I put my Speedmaster down by mistake on a cell phone case with a rare earth magnetic clasp. I knew what I'd done instantly and pulled the watch off, but it immediately started to run about 10 minutes fast per hour."

Bingo

 

Holy s*#t!!!

I'm never using my MacBook Pro again.

 

Many metals do not offer any magnetic isolation: stainless steel, aluminum, etc. are totally transparent to magnetic fields. Faraday cages offer electromagnetic isolation (emi, microwave, etc) but not magnetic. For magnetic isolation, one needs soft steel (not stainless), mu-metal, etc. enclosure.

Michel

 

Thx for the correction Michel Faraday Cage is also hole-y, would wreak havoc when swimming. Apologies if I added misinformation to the thread.