Sorry if this has been covered before. (Please point me at the thread if it has) I've read various conflicting comments on other forums and websites about showering while wearing dive watches. Potential issues with soaps/chemicals reducing surface water tension and making seal penetration easier. But Omega recommend routine cleaning using mild soap and water, so is this a real issue? I tend to wear my watch 24/7 and while I've only had it 14months I haven't experienced any problems yet. I'd be interested in anyone's experiences positive or negative, particularly from those who have showered wearing theirs for a number of years. Thanks.
I don't see an issue but why risk it? only takes a couple seconds to fold it up in a towel or set it aside. If you can risk doing so then if the seals fail that is the cost of living on the edge.
Nothing scares Australians from my memory with more poisonous things that could kill you anywhere else is in the world except probably the Amazon rainforest
I don't shower with watches on generally. First I see no point in risking the watch if I can just take it off. Second is that in my experience, the bracelets of watches where people have regularly showered with them on are usually far more dirty than those who take them off. Soap scum can get inside the bracelet, and that is a magnet for dirt. It will form a nice abrasive paste inside the bracelet... If you do shower with the watch on, I recommend 2 things: 1 - Regular pressure testing - this will help, but realize that when a seal fails, it fails. There is no slow gradual failure, so one day it will seal, and the next it won't. 2 - Clean the watch off properly after the shower - use a tooth brush and rinse the bracelet under some warm water, and give it a good scrub - the bracelet (and the watchmaker who services your watch for you next) will appreciate it. Cheers, Al
Thanks Al. I guess because I tend to wear watches 24/7 and have done so with other brands I just continued with my SMP. Set it and forget it kinda thing. Fortunately because it is now on an Isofrane strap I don't have the bracelet worry, but I do gym, swim and sleep in it. I do plan to get it pressure tested as it's now over a year old, the big problem for me is where. Most AD's I've asked don't seem to have the equipment. Some of the more common high street strap/battery changers will do it (to 100m) but I'm not sure I'd be willing to let them. So that leaves the option of sending it off somewhere to be tested but I'd much prefer to take it somewhere local where I could wait. Whats your opinion on testing to 100m when it's rated at 300m? I know I'll never test it to its limit ever but I do prefer the idea of testing to specification rather than something less. But as you say, if I can just take it off every morning which of course I certainly could, maybe I should change my routine and loose the risk. Cheers, Matt.
If it passes at a 100m test, then it should be good for showering. You would hopefully be looking at some place that has a dry pressure tester, that uses no water. This way if the watch is leaking, these is zero risk of water damage. Doing a 300m rated test is quite a bit more involved, as it usually requires removing the movement from the case to do the test in the safest way possible. If you are doing it to dull Omega specs, the watch spends 2 hours inside a chamber filled with water, 60 minutes of that at the rated pressure +25%, so in this case 37.5 bar. When servicing and doing the full pressure test, I perform the test twice - once with the case empty and then at the very end of all my testing with the movement in the case. Cheers, Al