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Magnets and Watches

perks713
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So obviously keeping watches away from magnets is a solid plan but I'm curious about how cautious I need to be.

I picked up a new standing desk from Costco a couple weeks ago. After spending 18 months sitting in my basement working from home I wanted another option now that my wife is back to work and my kid is in daycare. It appears that this thing is full of magnetized parts.

I took a cheap little compass from amazon (had to buy 10 because it made more financial sense than buying 1 🙄) and passed it over the desk. The compass shifts all over the place. Honestly I never would have done like that but I recently picked up a watch from ebay that appears to be magnetized, it's going into the watchmaker in a couple weeks. My cheapo digital caliper freaks out when coming to close to certain parts of the desk too.

Should I be worried about wearing a vintage watch, or any mechanical watch while using this desk? The majority of time I wear watches now is in the solitude of my own home while working... I'm not against returning this desk and buying something else if this thing is going to cut down on the time I can enjoy my watches...
 
dennisthemenace
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I would be cautious. I made the mistake of placing a brand new Longines Legend diver on a Kindle to take a couple of photos.
The next day it was losing 50 seconds a minute.
 
perks713
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dennisthemenace dennisthemenace
I would be cautious. I made the mistake of placing a brand new Longines Legend diver on a Kindle to take a couple of photos.
The next day it was losing 50 seconds a minute.
The watch I got from Ebay picks up about an hour or two a day, ugg.
 
Fritz
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I used to work around some hefty magnetically driven robots, at least once a year I would forget myself and get too close with my wallet and vintage watch with me.

it would wipe all my bank and credit cards out and the watch would run very fast until I got it demagnitized.

my very understanding watchmaker thought it was highly amusing and never charged me for the service.
 
Awetaylor
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Fritz Fritz
I used to work around some hefty magnetically driven robots, at least once a year I would forget myself and get too close with my wallet and vintage watch with me.

it would wipe all my bank and credit cards out and the watch would run very fast until I got it demagnitized.

my very understanding watchmaker thought it was highly amusing and never charged me for the service.
Thankfully he didn't if your cards were wiped as well!! 😜
 
Dan S
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A compass needle will be deflected by extremely small magnetic fields that wouldn't necessarily be strong enough to magnetize most watches, so that might not be the best test. Maybe you can just demagnetize the new watch you purchased, and then wear it around the desk as normal and see how it does. It's really not a big deal to demagnetize the watch, so I don't think you're risking much by trying.
 
perks713
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Dan S Dan S
It's really not a big deal to demagnetize the watch, so I don't think you're risking much by trying.

Yeah I actually picked up a demagnetizer but it didn't seem to help. It's going in for service in 2 weeks anyway I'm thinking I'll leave it for the watchmaker to take care of. I stopped in for him to take a quick look and he felt like that could very well be the issue, he passed it over his for a few seconds and it seemed to be a little more in line but still not great. He was on his way out the door so we didn't spend a ton of time looking at it. I have a Geneve keeping great time, maybe I'll wear that all day tomorrow and see if anything happens to it. Sacrificial lamb...
 
Donn Chambers
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I have been using one of those Costco standing desks for over a year now and it has not magnetized any of my watches. And I lean it all the time. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
gbesq
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As long as the desk isn't next to an MRI machine, I suspect that you'll be ok.
 
GTveloce
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I work in music and am in recording studios packed with powerful monitor speakers almost every day.
Never had a problem. Have a few friends in that circle who are also watch nerds and haven't heard of them having any issues either. Every single one of these speaker cones has a big fat magnet behind it!
Screen Shot 2021-09-07 at 22.28.59.png
 
GTveloce
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ckhaing ckhaing
SSL, B&W?
Yep... not my photo (it's a composite) from a certain well known studio I've had the pleasure of recording in London, St. John's Wood 😉
 
Canuck
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A number of years ago, a regular poster on the MB phoned me and asked if I would demagnetize his Zenith Defy for him. It was gaining minutes in a day. I told him to bring it, and I’d check it to see if magnetism was a problem. I did the usual test to see if magnetism was the problem, and it wasn’t. Next, I put it on the timing machine so I would have a base line before I started looking it over. The timing machine showed an erratic pattern that distinctly showed a gaining rate. Close examination of the balance showed that the second coil of the hairspring on approximately three out of ten oscillations, was bouncing off the regulator curb pin. It was about a fifteen minute fix. I finished by putting the watch back onto the timing machine and adjusting the regulator slightly. I checked with the owner some time later, and he told me the watch was within seconds per day. Many folks are of the opinion that “magnetism” can be blamed for erratic timekeeping on most watches. The only time I use my demagnetizer is on antiques, with steel hairsprings, and steel balance wheels.
 
perks713
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Canuck Canuck
Close examination of the balance showed that the second coil of the hairspring on approximately three out of ten oscillations, was bouncing off the regulator curb pin. It was about a fifteen minute fix
Wanna swing on down to Vermont and take a look? 😉
 
Canuck
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perks713 perks713
Wanna swing on down to Vermont and take a look? 😉

Just as likely you’d swing on out by the “Blue Canadian Rockies”.
 
Foo2rama
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GTveloce GTveloce
I work in music and am in recording studios packed with powerful monitor speakers almost every day.
Never had a problem. Have a few friends in that circle who are also watch nerds and haven't heard of them having any issues either. Every single one of these speaker cones has a big fat magnet behind it!
Screen Shot 2021-09-07 at 22.28.59.png

The magnetic effect falls off really fast, so I would have no issues in that room. Placing my hand right next to the cone of a speaker for more than a few seconds then I would be worried.
 
GTveloce
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
The magnetic effect falls off really fast, so I would have no issues in that room. Placing my hand right next to the cone of a speaker for more than a few seconds then I would be worried.
You're right just being present in the room shouldn't cause any concern but we are constantly patching and moving speakers around etc... nevertheless I've never experienced any problems.
 
watchyouwant
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MikeMan2727 MikeMan2727
I say bring on the magnets!


20210422_192334.jpg

Be careful with the Railmaster. That is an early experimental dial and maybe not Mu Metal. Thin normal plate possibly....
 
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