Not a subject we think about in the watch world today as it’s effects on modern time pieces is negligible. But when my 1910 Howard recently started loosing two minutes a day and messing with the regulator got me a really odd response I placed my faithful Suunto compass on top of the Howard and was amused to see the needle pointing west instead of north. Magnetized dammit!

A quick trip to see Ingo the watchmaker and a short treatment on the demagnetized later and all is well, back to railroad time. (Inside 3 seconds a day)

I’ve no idea how I did it, but this isn’t the first time I’ve fried up one of my old timers. Last time it was a model 92 Waltham from 1900, it got exposed to a few high powered magnet someone stuck to the bottom of a workbench rather than putting them away. Once I spotted them I got the watch out of the neighbourhood but it was too late, it gained 10 minutes every hour until I got it down to the watchmaker. He laughed his ass off that time.

 

These old guys are particularly vulnerable. Years ago, I serviced a ladie’s Waltham hunter for a friend of my wife’s. Some months later, he phoned me, and I sensed the displeasure in his voice! He questioned my abilities. He mentioned that watch would only run if shaken, but it would quit immediately. I told him was was unable to fix it over the phone, and that he should bring it. He did. I only had to look at it, and I knew. I ran it through the demagnetizer, and away it went. I asked the usual question about magnets. No answer. I asked about static electricity, and getting zapped when they touched a ground. That was the answer. They had put new carpets in their bedroom, and she kept the watch on her dresser. He apologized, and phoned me weeks later that she was keeping the watch in the kitchen cupboard, and had no further problems.

“Demagnetizing” watches seems to be a fashionable solution to many watch problems among members of the OB. But modern watches seldom require it. I may use my demagnetizer once a month, and rarely on modern watches.