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Old 10 April 2019, 01:19 PM   #1
JacksonStone
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Magnetized?

Since I bought my 116610LN in December 2016, it has consistently been within +1 spd. However, within the last week, I noticed it's now gaining 3 - 4 spd. I know this isn't a gigantic amount, but it is three to four times the amount of gain as before, and that change has happened over a relatively short period of time.

I decided to look up watch magnetization, and read that one of the typical symptoms is the watch running fast, albeit usually many seconds to even minutes per day - far more than what my watch demonstrates. Several articles said to test for magnetism by holding the watch over a compass and seeing if it moves the needle. My Sub does indeed move the needle; another automatic I tested does not.

My questions:

- Does the compass test prove the watch is magnetized to a degree that would impact timekeeping, or is there such a thing as "harmless" magnetism? (I'm assuming it would not be possible for the needle to move in response to the watch if the watch weren't magnetized to some degree.)

- Is it possible the case and other magnetism-prone components of the watch have become magnetized, but because of the silicon hairspring, the effect on timekeeping is only slight?

- Could the change in rate be due to some factor other than magnetism? (I'm not aware of any change in my wearing or storage habits that would have resulted in the change.)

- Is this worth trying to degauss the watch myself, or taking it into my AD's watchmaker?

Thanks in advance.
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Old 10 April 2019, 07:49 PM   #2
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Funny you posted this. Two days ago I had a stupid moment, to see if my 2008 sub was 304l which read is not magnetic . So I had a small powerful magnet. put it up to the case and there was no pull ! Then it hit me I just messed up the movement so I tested the accuracy. Before doing the stupid thing my sub ran 6 sec fast per 24 hours every day since I bought it in @))*. NOW 25 seconds per 24 hours!! Just dropped it off at AD with Rolex trained watchmaker on site.
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Old 10 April 2019, 07:52 PM   #3
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Funny you posted this. Two days ago I had a stupid moment, to see if my 2008 sub was 304l which read is not magnetic . So I had a small powerful magnet. put it up to the case and there was no pull ! Then it hit me I just messed up the movement so I tested the accuracy. Before doing the stupid thing my sub ran 6 sec fast per 24 hours every day since I bought it in @))*. NOW 25 seconds per 24 hours!! Just dropped it off at AD with Rolex trained watchmaker on site.
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Old 10 April 2019, 08:40 PM   #4
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I’m thinking if your watch was magnetized it would be running a lot faster
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Old 11 April 2019, 02:23 AM   #5
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There is no rhyme or reason how many seconds slow or fast it will run when magnetized. There is a ton of mis-information on the parameters for how much it will lose or gain. All of it not true.

Test it and see if it is magnetized.
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Old 11 April 2019, 02:28 AM   #6
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There is no rhyme or reason how many seconds slow or fast it will run when magnetized. There is a ton of mis-information on the parameters for how much it will lose or gain. All of it not true.

Test it and see if it is magnetized.
How does one test ?
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Old 11 April 2019, 02:31 AM   #7
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How does one test ?
https://watch-insider.com/news/is-my...eful-and-cool/

https://wornandwound.com/watches-and-magnetization/

You can demagnetize them at any store that have magnetic theft detection, like homedepot. Run the watch over the gray scanner pad at check out a few times and then check your watch.
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Old 11 April 2019, 04:22 AM   #8
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Funny you posted this. Two days ago I had a stupid moment, to see if my 2008 sub was 304l which read is not magnetic . So I had a small powerful magnet. put it up to the case and there was no pull ! Then it hit me I just messed up the movement so I tested the accuracy. Before doing the stupid thing my sub ran 6 sec fast per 24 hours every day since I bought it in @))*. NOW 25 seconds per 24 hours!! Just dropped it off at AD with Rolex trained watchmaker on site.
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Old 11 April 2019, 04:39 AM   #9
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There is no rhyme or reason how many seconds slow or fast it will run when magnetized. There is a ton of mis-information on the parameters for how much it will lose or gain. All of it not true.

Test it and see if it is magnetized.
Most times when a watch is magnetised the hairspring will stick to itself which shortens the effective length and makes it speed up. This can be a lot of gain, or not that much depending on how severely it is affected.
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Old 11 April 2019, 05:33 AM   #10
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Most times when a watch is magnetised the hairspring will stick to itself which shortens the effective length and makes it speed up. This can be a lot of gain, or not that much depending on how severely it is affected.
Can that happen to a Parachrom or other amagnetic spring?
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Old 11 April 2019, 05:44 AM   #11
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Can that happen to a Parachrom or other amagnetic spring?
I've yet to see a magnetised parachrom hairspring.
That doesn't mean that modern Rolexes are immune to magnetism, there are many steel parts inside a watch that can get magnetised which can have an effect on accuracy, obviously not a strong effect as on an old school hairspring, but still.
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Old 11 April 2019, 05:45 AM   #12
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Test it and see if it is magnetized.
I already did the compass test. Is there a point to doing a phone test since the compass result was positive? (Lepsi is for Apple devices; my devices are Android.)
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Old 11 April 2019, 05:46 AM   #13
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I've yet to see a magnetised parachrom hairspring.
That doesn't mean that modern Rolexes are immune to magnetism, there are many steel parts inside a watch that can get magnetised which can have an effect on accuracy, obviously not a strong effect as on an old school hairspring, but still.
I suppose that could explain why I'm only seeing minor changes to accuracy.

I appreciate the feedback.
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Old 11 April 2019, 07:24 AM   #14
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Most times when a watch is magnetised the hairspring will stick to itself which shortens the effective length and makes it speed up. This can be a lot of gain, or not that much depending on how severely it is affected.
Most of the time is does speed up.

Have you not seen one that has slowed down due to magnetization? I know I have received a few in for service that did have this issue. Not common but it was the issue for sure.
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Old 11 April 2019, 07:26 AM   #15
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I already did the compass test. Is there a point to doing a phone test since the compass result was positive? (Lepsi is for Apple devices; my devices are Android.)
If it came back positive with a compass then I would go with that. The Lepsi is good but it isn't foolproof.
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Old 11 April 2019, 07:31 AM   #16
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I have a mid 2018 DJ41 that ran perfect for months, then drifted slow to about -4 to -6 spd quite quickly, maybe over a few weeks.

One thing I've noticed is that it always runs closer to perfect (-2 spd or better) for a few days after I re-set the time.

I've thought mine might be magnetized, but everyone told me I was being crazy.
It did not set off the LEPSI detector, FWIW.

I stored this watch for a week when I was on vacation next to a small fan motor. Kitchen exhaust fan motor to be precise. Pretty sure there are permanent magnets in there.

Let us know if you de-mag it and it's fixed?
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Old 11 April 2019, 11:28 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by toxicavenger View Post
https://watch-insider.com/news/is-my...eful-and-cool/

https://wornandwound.com/watches-and-magnetization/

You can demagnetize them at any store that have magnetic theft detection, like homedepot. Run the watch over the gray scanner pad at check out a few times and then check your watch.
I DL the app for my iPhone and did the test a few times and it shows negative for being magnetic so I’m guessing I will experiment with resting positions to slow my DJII down, it’s only off an avg of 4 SPD but if I could reduce it by doing a certain rest position over a month that would be great, so far crown up is +/- 0 as far as correction goes
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Old 11 April 2019, 12:18 PM   #18
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Let us know if you de-mag it and it's fixed?
Will do. I'm still monitoring it to see how far off it is. Does anyone have an opinion on whether it's worth dropping some money on a demagnetizer, or if I should just drop it off at my watchmaker? I'm hesitant to just drop by a Home Depot and swiping my watch over the gray pad on the counter.
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Old 11 April 2019, 01:44 PM   #19
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I'm hesitant to just drop by a Home Depot and swiping my watch over the gray pad on the counter.
Hahaha the most it won't do it not work. I have used it more than once.
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Old 11 April 2019, 04:17 PM   #20
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Most of the time is does speed up.

Have you not seen one that has slowed down due to magnetization? I know I have received a few in for service that did have this issue. Not common but it was the issue for sure.
I have not, but I only have a short time of watchmaking experience under my belt, so I'm sure I will come across this situation sometime.

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Old 11 April 2019, 06:49 PM   #21
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Well in my case the AD watchmaker has my watch. I called them yesterday to see if they will pressure test it while it is there. I was told they do pressure test everytime they open up a watch !!I get a sick felling overhaul is gong to be suggested. Me stupid stupid !! To the man down under lol hit me again.
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Old 11 April 2019, 07:39 PM   #22
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I have not, but I only have a short time of watchmaking experience under my belt, so I'm sure I will come across this situation sometime.

I have seen magnetised escapements result in losses both in timekeeping and amplitude, only twice in 11 years though. Much less common with newer calibres though and rare that the escapement would be magnetised and the hairspring not. Worth looking out for though
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Old 11 April 2019, 07:49 PM   #23
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I'm hesitant to just drop by a Home Depot and swiping my watch over the gray pad on the counter.
Why? It's a tool watch, no? I can just see the faces of the local contractors on the line with you.
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Old 12 April 2019, 01:58 AM   #24
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I have not, but I only have a short time of watchmaking experience under my belt, so I'm sure I will come across this situation sometime.

To tell you the truth it confused the heck out of us. But it has happened 3 times now. So that is the first thing we check.
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Old 17 April 2019, 04:45 AM   #25
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Update: I bought a demagnetizer and ran my Sub through today. The first pass reduced the compass response significantly, but not to zero. A second pass appears to have gotten rid of the magnetization entirely, since there is now zero response from the compass. Couldn't have been easier. I have now set the time and will monitor. Will report back with timekeeping results.
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Old 18 April 2019, 02:49 AM   #26
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I need to find a compass. I tried the Iphone app and it had no response.

I'd love to get mine running closer to spec. It's at about -6 spd now.

I hope it works out for you. I'll be watching.
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Old 22 April 2019, 05:19 AM   #27
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I'm on vacation at the moment (am currently typing this on a ship cruising past the Bahamas), so I haven't been paying strict attention to timekeeping on a daily basis. However, I last set the Sub early in the day on Wednesday, and as of mid afternoon today (Sunday), it's at about +3 total gain. That's less than +1 spd. So far, so good.
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Old 23 April 2019, 02:14 AM   #28
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That's good news. Thanks for the update.

Enjoy the cruise!
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Old 9 June 2019, 02:36 PM   #29
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This discussion made me realize something I never noticed before. My mom gave me a Weller 100/140 watt soldering gun for Christmas on my 12th birthday. I'm in my 60s and it still works fine (those things are rugged!) The transformer inside functions as a demagnetizer, and I've often used it to demagnetize screwdrivers, watches, and other things.

But when I saw this discussion I suddenly realized that a demagnetizer will also magnetize things if you shut the current off with the object near the coil, and for years I've been wearing my watches while using the soldering gun.

So I've unwittingly been using my soldering gun to magnetize all of my watches and everything else for years and years. Time to demagnetize everything and take my watch off when soldering from now on.

Mike Taglieri
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Old 2 November 2019, 05:52 AM   #30
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Quote:
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I'm on vacation at the moment (am currently typing this on a ship cruising past the Bahamas), so I haven't been paying strict attention to timekeeping on a daily basis. However, I last set the Sub early in the day on Wednesday, and as of mid afternoon today (Sunday), it's at about +3 total gain. That's less than +1 spd. So far, so good.


Hey there ... Sorry to revive an older thread but I just wanted to see what the final outcome of this was? Did the watch hold that +1 spd for a while or did you eventually need a service?

I ask because I think my 16610 has become slightly magnetized as it’s running about +20 spd ... which is fast for this watch. I recently purchased a demag device to test out how it runs after demagnetizing.

The compass test for me shows slight movement in different positions. The Lepsi app is showing magnetized. So I’m pretty sure it’s my issue.

Any advice you have would be great. Thanks in advance.


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