The Breitling Watch Source Forums

It's really zipping right along there isn't it.
Sorry for your plight and hope that you get it sorted out to your satisfaction.

I have been doing a little reading on the subject of watches and magnetism and came across an excerpt from an article, a portion of which is posted below:


"Unlike their steel cousins, watch cases made from gold do not protect the watch from the effects of magnetism. It is therefore advisable to equip the movements of these timekeepers with a para-magnetic screen made of iron, mu-metal or permalloy. This precaution is usually not taken for esthetic reasons. A gold watch with a protective screen is not very elegant, making it more difficult to sell. Perhaps one day, manufacturers will look more closely at this problem. In the meantime, wearers of gold watches should be careful not to expose their timepieces to magnetic fields.

Magnetic fields in the home

So where are the risks of these forces in the home? Non-negligible magnetic fields are found near loudspeakers, stereo systems, televisions and radios. Therefore, one should avoid setting a gold watch on top of any of these items. Less obvious, but posing an even greater danger for a gold watch are the magnets found in refrigerator doors or other cabinets. Even a brief contact with these items is enough to magnetize a gold watch. Caution is the byword when wearing one of these timekeepers in the kitchen. Although a magnetized watch can be demagnetized as mentioned above, the procedure is tedious. To do a good job, the watch must be dismantled and each steel part demagnetized separately"

http://www.europastar.com/europastar/wa ... colet5.jsp

So my question would be, is the above hogwash or is there a greater risk of a gold watch becoming magnetized and if so would one with a TT band and a gold bezel (such as is the case with the OP) be more susceptible than one comprised solely of stainless steel?

Thanks br549 interesting.

As I have previously mentioned, if all the above is true, I would like to have been made aware of it before I handed over several thousand pounds.

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Magnetism generally impacts (or at least causes symptoms) when the hairspring is affected so it's really only a case issue. The TT strap definitely isn't an issue and I doubt that the bezel would be.

One thing I will say - those photos of the rate of gain show the watch is sitting next to a clock that is described as radio controlled - I'd put good money on those watches sitting in a magnetic field as those photos are taken.


Also, and I don't want to be provocative, but..........

Magnetism isn't a Breitling issue. To a greater or lesser extent it affects all watches - Rolex and other brands have been investing in magnetism resistant harisprings and IWC have been big on shielding, but really only the new silicon escapements most commonly used by UN are magnetism proof. I can understand the frustration but it's like getting annoyed at a car manufacturer if you get a stone chip on your windshield - it's environmental.

Thanks for you thoughts Rof. The watch was already running fast and the clock was for illustrative purposes. When it returns I will be conscious of this issue, which is a shame really. I understand your analogy of a car, but if a car went out of tune every time I drove past a magnetic field I would be doing an awful lot of walking

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Roff, are you saying that RF is also a problem? A radio controlled clock may emit a small amount of RF, but I don't think emits any magnetism.

Here we go:
Dear Mr freon warrior

We thank you for taking the time to contact us with regards to you
Navitimer. I am so sorry that you are experiencing problems with the time
keeping. My colleague has advised me that you will be taking your watch back
to M Spires. On receipt your watch will be examined and a simple adjustment
will be made. Please allow two weeks for the adjustment one of which will be
the adjustment and the other a week of testing to ensure your watch is
working to its optimum.

Once again I am so sorry that you have experienced problems with your watch
so soon after purchase.

Kind regards,[/i]

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Was referring to br549's quote that mentioned radios - I don't know enough about magnetism to understand all the subtleties.

Well its gone back to the AD, says he will endeavor to get it back for me to collect on the 19th.

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Radio waves won't have an magnetizing affect. My guess is the quoted article is referring more to the magnet housed in the speakers of TV's, radios, etc.

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

Been a lurker for some time now and the proud owner of SOH since last October (2009), I hav eread through this thread and become a little saddened by my watch, it too over the last three weeks has started to act strangely, gaining approximately three and one half minutes evry four days, and yesterday after stopping the watch (before reading this thread) to let real time catch it up the date did not change.

The first time I naturally adjusted the watch back to the correct time, the second time see above, now it looks like it needs to go to proffessional Breitling bod to have it demagnatised, I have placed my watch over a small compass and moved it from side to side alas the compass needle follows the movements of the watch.

Like Freon warrior I too am distressed slightly to know that something that has taken me three years to choose and opt for after so much time searching for the ideal suitable watch for my purposes, not to mention without wearing a watch for nearly four years, now find that this expensive purchase has to wrapped in cotton wool and will not serve me as intended, i.e. a very asthectic, pleasing, accurate everyday wear time piece but will have to be left in a box and only bought out on special occasions where I will be sure that no magnectic forces can play havoc with my treasured time keeper.

Do I have to go back to my old Seiko aviator for my everyday purposes?

Surely my problem is not one of magnetism, please please don't let it be so.

Jamski.

A gain of less than a minute a day is unlikely to be magnetism - it's just not enough.

In terms of the date not changing, that absolutely has nothing to do with magnetism. 99+% of problems like this are as a result of a damaged date wheel, and the vast majority of those are caused by use of the quickset date mechanism between 8pm and 3am - definitely needs to go back to Breitling to check.

In terms of the compass test, well yes, that can work, but it's the hairspring that you need to be concerned with, not the watch itself which is a fairly big chunk of metal and can therefore throw off compass needles.

Thanks for the information Rofensian

The first I heard of the 20h - 03h was reading through this thread.

Is there somewhere "A dummies guide to Breitling watches" or even model specific, maybe I should have read through that before even attempting to try out my piece?

Looks like me and my watch are going to be seperated for a time, and what with me having to move around too with my profession, just when we were really starting to get aquainted to be seperated for several weeks, it's going to be gut wrenching

Now where's that deep bottle of hooch I need to be submerged and get some courage up.


Jamski.

The 8 pm to 3 pm warning should be in the owners manual that came with it.

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

Correct, the manual for all watches with the quick set date have the warning in the owner's manual.

Hi

Glad I am not the only one to be a bit dismayed.

FW

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