If you’re new to watches, you may be wondering, “what makes a mechanical watch more valuable than a quartz watch?” There are plenty of long and very complicated potential answers to that question, but to keep things simple, it’s because they’re really hard to make.
Mechanical movements are a feat of engineering and the craftmanship they require is what makes them a work of art. These works of art are full of intricate inner workings and since all good things can’t last forever, you’ll eventually run into some issues. One of the most common issues is watch magnetization. In this post, we will explore what watch magnetization is, how it occurs, how to prevent it, and how to fix the issue if your watch becomes magnetized.
How Do Mechanical Watches Get Magnetized?
Mechanical watches use a complex system of gears, springs, and other components to keep time accurately. These components are carefully crafted to work together in harmony to power the watch’s timekeeping function. To understand why a watch may become magnetized, you must first understand some basic mechanics on how mechanical watches work.
The energy required to keep the watch ticking is stored in a mainspring, which is wound up by the wearer or by an automatic winding mechanism. As the mainspring unwinds, it powers the watch’s movement.
The amount of power that is released from the mainspring is kept in check by the escapement mechanism. Energy is transferred from the mainspring to the escape wheel, which in turn rotates the balance wheel. The balance wheel is pushed back in the opposite direction by the hairspring, and the amount of time it takes this rotation to happen is what determines a watch’s beat rate. A watch with a beat rate of 28,800 has a balance wheel that rotates four times in either direction each second.
When a watch is magnetized, the hairspring’s coils can stick together. When that happens, the spring has to travel less distance before returning in the opposite direction. This speeds up the rotation process, increasing the beat rate and causing your watch to run too fast.
How Do I Know If My Watch Is Magnetized?
The most obvious sign of a magnetized watch is, as mentioned above, it running quickly. If your watch is gaining more than 20 seconds per day, there’s a good chance that it’s magnetized. In some cases, severe magnetization can cause a watch to run too slowly or stop working altogether, but those instances are more likely another issue.
There are a handful of ways to tell if a watch is magnetized, but the easiest for someone with limited time or equipment is to use the LEPSI app. The app is incredibly easy to use and can help you detect magnetization by holding your watch over your phone.
Holding a compass near your watch can also help you understand if you’re having a magnetization issue. If the needle moves, your watch is magnetized. When there isn’t a compass or a smartphone available, your local watch shop is always there to help.
What Do I Do If My Watch Is Magnetized?
If your watch is magnetized now, there’s a good chance it’ll happen again in the future. To make sure you’re covered now and then, we recommend purchasing a demagnetizer. Demagnetizers come in all shapes and sizes, but a simple one will do just fine. For a cost effective option, we like this one from Amazon:
Make sure you’ve pulled out the crown and stopped your watch from running before attempting to demagnetize it. Beyond that, the process is fairly simple. Hold the watch face within an inch of the demagnetizer and hold the button for around 5 seconds. Use the LEPSI app to check if your watch is demagnetized, and continue repeating the process if not.
Wrapping Up
Magnets are all around us, and regular exposure for enough time can impact even the most resilient watches. Do your best to avoid storing your watches where magnets are present and remember that magnetization is cumulative. Continued exposure to magnets will worsen the issue and a watch can not be demagnetized with time alone. Luckily, there are simple ways to diagnose and correct this issue to keep your favorite watches telling accurate time well into the future.
