How often do you get your vintage watch pressure-tested?

[cowboy music]

How often do you get your vintage watch pressure tested? And can that be done at an authorized dealer? Or should I go to R.W.T. since I am located in Austin, too? Is it a quick process?

Lots of questions, I know. I don't have any feel at all for what is involved in a pressure test.

Thanks in advance.

[japenney]

Personally I would not subject a valuable vintage watch to the water because pressure test or no pressure test I would not risk ruining the watch. You never know when a seal is going to stop working. With a modern Rolex you can just insure it and replace parts but there is no replacing a water damaged vintage dial worth thousands and good luck convincing the insurance company to pony up. And I'm not someone who babies their watches.

I would say yearly and make sure your watchmaker knows what he's doing if you insist. And have the seals etc. Replaced on a regular basis regardless of what the pressure test says.....So many stories of people who had watches who pressure tested OK and still got water damaged a month later.

[RCAFBuster]

Never. While they all get worn, one of my vintage watches see thee water again. I certainly wouldn't chance a salt water ingress.

[watchthisone2]

Never. Not going to use a 50+ year old sub near the water.... intentionally!
Mind you, think you have a point if you ever fall in



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[Gecko10]

The closest my vintages' get to any liquid, is when I blow my nose, or drink my whiskey.

[theflywrist]

Originally Posted by RCAFBuster

Never. While they all get worn, one of my vintage watches see thee water again. I certainly wouldn't chance a salt water ingress.

Originally Posted by watchthisone2

Never. Not going to use a 50+ year old sub near the water.... intentionally!
Mind you, think you have a point if you ever fall in



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Pretty much this.
I do wash my hands when wearing a vintage watch but I am extremely careful with that too.
Also don't wear them in the rain. Just not worth the risk to me.

[Sky21]

Probably not a good idea to submit your vintage watch to either submersion in water or even a pressure test. Just keep it serviced every 5 years or so, replace all the seals, and maybe just limit its water presence to washing your hands.

[CaveDweller]

Depends on your definition of “vintage”

I shower, bathe, and go swimming in salt water with my 1988 16030 DJ – it’s my daily beater, and if it can’t take the beating then I have no use for it – I expect it to be water tight, but if it fails, it’s still recoverable, with parts still available

The watch in my avatar is an 18 carat 1957 6605 – no chance I’m going anywhere near water with that one – I expect it “may be” water tight, but that would be an expensive assumption to make, and potentially a very costly one, with parts hard to find

So –to a large extent, it all depends on the watch in question …….

[schaumburgla]

Receive them. I uncase the dial/movement, change all the gaskets & than pressure test the watch case. There is nothing too ruin if there is nothing inside the case. I do not for the most part take my vintage watches in water, it is more just a safety precaution to see if anything on the case is compromised.
But if the watch has a new crystal & fresh gaskets I see no reason to worry about getting it wet once a pressure test has been performed.

Justin

[seattleal]

It's a little more complex than washing your hands or dropping the watch in the toilet. If the watch will not pass a pressure test then it is not environmentally sealed, and it is also susceptible to air exchange as atmospheric pressure changes. Humid air can enter the watch and over time cause problems, especially as temperatures change and the water vapor becomes liquid. This is especially problematic for watches with older lume (which can become stained over time from the interaction with humid air).

Intact watches can be pressure tested in a device that uses air pressure, not water, to check integrity. The first thing I do with a newly acquired vintage Rolex is take it to my watchmaker and have it pressure tested, then have new seals installed if needed. This is quick and inexpensive. Then I don't worry about washing my hands or other incidental water contact.

[2ar2c1]

whenever they are serviced

[U5512]

Never since I don't intent to use it in the water.

[Fredrik]

Yearly. I want them to be sealed as intended, you might get moisture inside your watch if it isn't properly sealed. I also swim with my watches, they are serviced regularly and have no pitting around the case back so with yearly pressure tests I'm fine with it.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by japenney

Personally I would not subject a valuable vintage watch to the water because pressure test or no pressure test I would not risk ruining the watch. You never know when a seal is going to stop working. With a modern Rolex you can just insure it and replace parts but there is no replacing a water damaged vintage dial worth thousands and good luck convincing the insurance company to pony up. And I'm not someone who babies their watches.

I would say yearly and make sure your watchmaker knows what he's doing if you insist. And have the seals etc. Replaced on a regular basis regardless of what the pressure test says.....So many stories of people who had watches who pressure tested OK and still got water damaged a month later.

Totally agree with you Josh

[R.W.T.]

Originally Posted by seattleal

It's a little more complex than washing your hands or dropping the watch in the toilet. If the watch will not pass a pressure test then it is not environmentally sealed, and it is also susceptible to air exchange as atmospheric pressure changes. Humid air can enter the watch and over time cause problems, especially as temperatures change and the water vapor becomes liquid. This is especially problematic for watches with older lume (which can become stained over time from the interaction with humid air).

Well...all I can say to that is...prior to say...1960 95% (random number) of all watches were NOT sealed...and they are running just fine. Unless you live in London...or Portland wearing your watch under normal circumstances is not going to hurt it.

[R.W.T.]

Originally Posted by 2ar2c1

whenever they are serviced

Bingo!

[R.W.T.]

Dry tests I don't trust.

I want to see that watch in the water with a vacuum pulled on it.

Now...a vintage watch...I would never water test without having previous experience with it.

When I service a watch I always empty test the case after replacing the gaskets so no potential of damage to the movement is there. I then retest once it is cased.

Truly in a rolex tester you will see so quickly and the leak will be so minute unless something is REALLY wrong like a broken crystal flange or loose bezel..that you won't really do any damage due to intrusion of water. Still, depending on where the leak is you will need to uncase it.

If the gaskets are changed at regular service intervals 5-6 years...I think you are okay UNLESS you subject the watch to a LOT of chlorine pool activity...or regular diving or you work with a lot of chemicals that would dry the rubber out. Then maybe a little more often.

That is also a really good reason to have your watch serviced regularly...if the other ones don't work for you.

On that note I recently got a very nice looking Bombe' watch in with a 645. Bright shiny plates...Obviously almost never serviced in 60 years. All I can say is... Please service your watches. Would you run your car out of oil and continue to drive it...?

[harry in montreal]

I shower and swim with my mint dial Tudor 7021. I also let my wife do the same with her 79090 sub. It's a lot of fun to immerse them in water. The dials magnify. Both are pressure tested and I bought them when the market was still very low. You should pressure test your daily beaters and enjoy them this was. Maybe not a mint 1675...

[77T]

My plan was putting all vintage models on a leather strap. Not taking the leather into water, so problem solved.

IIRC, I think I still drop by my watchmaker at least once a year to have it checked to 3atm just to know gaskets aren't perished.


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[R.W.T.]

Originally Posted by harry in montreal

I shower and swim with my mint dial Tudor 7021. I also let my wife do the same with her 79090 sub. It's a lot of fun to immerse them in water. The dials magnify. Both are pressure tested and I bought them when the market was still very low. You should pressure test your daily beaters and enjoy them this was. Maybe not a mint 1675...

Totally agree. I wear my bubble back in the ocean.

But I also know that I personally waterproofed it. ;-)

[R.W.T.]

Originally Posted by 77T

My plan was putting all vintage models on a leather strap. Not taking the leather into water, so problem solved.

IIRC, I think I still drop by my watchmaker at least once a year to have it checked to 3atm just to know gaskets aren't perished.


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A dry test...is safe. It will show some things but not everything.

A wet test...depending on how many watches you have...is it really necessary in between service intervals and if so...do you have that much dough. If you wanted me to uncase your movement replace the gaskets, water test the case and re case it...I'm gonna get 100.00. It's that much down time from doing something else.

[77T]

Yes we only do the dry test. I'm not swimming or snorkeling with them.

[R.W.T.]

Originally Posted by 77T

Yes we only do the dry test. I'm not swimming or snorkeling with them.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by R.W.T.

Dry tests I don't trust.

I want to see that watch in the water with a vacuum pulled on it.

Now...a vintage watch...I would never water test without having previous experience with it.

When I service a watch I always empty test the case after replacing the gaskets so no potential of damage to the movement is there. I then retest once it is cased.

Truly in a rolex tester you will see so quickly and the leak will be so minute unless something is REALLY wrong like a broken crystal flange or loose bezel..that you won't really do any damage due to intrusion of water. Still, depending on where the leak is you will need to uncase it.

If the gaskets are changed at regular service intervals 5-6 years...I think you are okay UNLESS you subject the watch to a LOT of chlorine pool activity...or regular diving or you work with a lot of chemicals that would dry the rubber out. Then maybe a little more often.

That is also a really good reason to have your watch serviced regularly...if the other ones don't work for you.

On that note I recently got a very nice looking Bombe' watch in with a 645. Bright shiny plates...Obviously almost never serviced in 60 years. All I can say is... Please service your watches. Would you run your car out of oil and continue to drive it...?

I think Rolex have moved on from rubber.

Can you explain the post where you like to see a "watch in water with a vacuum pulled on it"?

[R.W.T.]

What do you mean moved on from rubber? The gaskets are rubber gaskets.

Synthetic or otherwise. They moved on from lead. Chemicals and Chlorine still dry the gaskets out.

I have to CHIP gaskets off of case backs that haven't been serviced in decades and the same inside the crowns. Hard as metal.

In the traditional Rolex water tester the cylinder is clear and filled with water. You pull the vacuum lever to and you can see the leak...as air escaping fro the case will form a line of bubbles. The later tester functions the same way only a motor pulls the vacuum. Hard to beat mechanics. The watches we are talking about mostly here were tested with those machines at dealers world wide.

[R.W.T.]

The corrosion on pre 904L steel cases is more often caused by incidence of chlorine than salt water as well.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by R.W.T.

What do you mean moved on from rubber? The gaskets are rubber gaskets.

Synthetic or otherwise. They moved on from lead. Chemicals and Chlorine still dry the gaskets out.

I have to CHIP gaskets off of case backs that haven't been serviced in decades and the same inside the crowns. Hard as metal.

In the traditional Rolex water tester the cylinder is clear and filled with water. You pull the vacuum lever to and you can see the leak...as air escaping fro the case will form a line of bubbles. The later tester functions the same way only a motor pulls the vacuum. Hard to beat mechanics. The watches we are talking about mostly here were tested with those machines at dealers world wide.

I think I would he wasting my time trying to explain these things to you.

[jmiicustomz]

Originally Posted by directioneng

I think I would he wasting my time trying to explain these things to you.

Please explain it to me then, as I would like to know and understand.

To know the future is to be trapped by it

[harry in montreal]

Thank you for this explanation. I have seen the devices but never understood how they can visualize whether it's sealed or not.

[jban5]

I rinse my vintages off often. The air is salty and I'm around the water often. There is little that is as off putting as seeing the underside of a case and back with pitting.
I knock on wood as I say this, I have been wearing vintage Rolex for 40 years and have never had a leak.