Crystal mists/fogs up

[Yorkshiretyke]

I bought a Sub 168000 last year which I wore for a few months with no problems.
Then I put it in my safe for a couple of months and wore one of my other watches.
When I started wearing the Sub again a small circle of moisture appears under the centre of the crystal. Not all the crystal, just about 5 mm across in the middle.
When I take it off overnight it dries up, it only mists when I wear it. I never swim or shower in it, only keep it on when I wash my hands.
The nearest AD to me is over 3 hours drive away, anyone experienced this or any suggestions why ? If it's something simple I will take it to my regular watchmaker guy.
Thanks

[Dirt]

The watch may be ok in general but a pressure test would be the first line of investigation if I were in your situation.
The condensate only appears due to what little moisture is present on the inside of the watch forming on the coldest part of the Crystal(centre).
It seems as though there's not a great deal in there at the moment but it does need to be dried out.
When was the watch last serviced(if you know)?
Perhaps it is time to have it serviced at Rolex anyway and without further delay

[Yess]

That can't be good...??

[Simon_jrees]

Originally Posted by Yorkshiretyke

I bought a Sub 168000 last year which I wore for a few months with no problems.
Then I put it in my safe for a couple of months and wore one of my other watches.
When I started wearing the Sub again a small circle of moisture appears under the centre of the crystal. Not all the crystal, just about 5 mm across in the middle.
When I take it off overnight it dries up, it only mists when I wear it. I never swim or shower in it, only keep it on when I wash my hands.
The nearest AD to me is over 3 hours drive away, anyone experienced this or any suggestions why ? If it's something simple I will take it to my regular watchmaker guy.
Thanks

As already stated it needs drying out which means it's going to need a pressure test whichever way you look at it. It might be a bit of a journey but I would still take it to an AD or RSC for this.

[Rori]

Stop wearing it and send it to an RSC ASAP.


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[jimcameron]

Does your safe have a dehumidifier?

[jltait]

The water resistance has likely been compromised. The movement may already be beginning to corrode. As others have stated send it in to RSC ASAP.

[nda]

Originally Posted by jltait

The water resistance has likely been compromised. The movement may already be beginning to corrode. As others have stated send it in to RSC ASAP.

Corrosion, no matter how small, would be my worry. It needs sorting out.

[Dawg2]

That is moisture and it is a bad deal inside a watch. It doesn't matter "how small it is." You need to get that serviced.

[GONZO2LR]

take it in without regard ASAP~

[SN13]

It has moisture inside.

Probably an old or poorly aligned seal.

It happens, just dont let it go unrepaired.

[Jackie Daytona]

I don’t believe it even needs a pressure test. The moisture already proves the point. This is similar to how Rolex pressure test them in the factory I have read somewhere. They submerge the watch under pressure and then apply something extremely cold to the outside of the crystal, and if humidity appears it has failed.

[vette boy 52]

Have the watch serviced, it has moisture in the case.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Yorkshiretyke

I bought a Sub 168000 last year which I wore for a few months with no problems.
Then I put it in my safe for a couple of months and wore one of my other watches.
When I started wearing the Sub again a small circle of moisture appears under the centre of the crystal. Not all the crystal, just about 5 mm across in the middle.
When I take it off overnight it dries up, it only mists when I wear it. I never swim or shower in it, only keep it on when I wash my hands.
The nearest AD to me is over 3 hours drive away, anyone experienced this or any suggestions why ? If it's something simple I will take it to my regular watchmaker guy.
Thanks

Condensation on the inside of the crystal is generally an indication that there may be a problem but it your case would doubt if you have any problem. Now condensation will quite normally occur when any warm/hot watch is suddenly exposed to a cold environment i.e. if you enter cold air/water then shortly after warm/hot water or visa versa. In normal circumstances this will appear as a very fine mist and should disappear in seconds, minutes, or a hour or so when the watch warms up. This is quite normal as the air trapped inside your watch after say a service will have a small amount of water vapour as its just like normal humidity in the atmosphere, if it disappears quickly all is well. Now if the misting appears as clearly definable droplets of water and does not clear quickly when warm, then it signifies that water has entered the case.Now this will NOT evaporate of its own accord and will need to be removed then afraid its off to the RSC as soon as possible,advise then to put the stopped watch in a bag of dry rice grains.

[ltmgeller]

Time to send it the the spa. Off to RSC would be my recommendation.

[77T]

Condensing humidity could be an explanation, but how it got that way could be an issue. I had this happen with an Omega Speedmaster I once took in trade.

Had my watchmaker open it - found nothing wrong. Let it dry out for a day in an oven @ 100° and screwed it down, then pressure tested and ran for 2 years without a hitch until I sold it.

Hope your situation is similar.


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[Yorkshiretyke]

Thanks for all the replies.

It is kept in a standard hotel style small safe. The problem isn't there, it is dry when I take it out, it mists when I wear it.

[Yorkshiretyke]

Thanks for all the replies.

It is kept in a standard hotel style small safe. The problem isn't there, it is dry when I take it out, it mists when I wear it.

[Rori]

Originally Posted by padi56

Condensation on the inside of the crystal is generally an indication that there may be a problem but it your case would doubt if you have any problem. Now condensation will quite normally occur when any warm/hot watch is suddenly exposed to a cold environment i.e. if you enter cold air/water then shortly after warm/hot water or visa versa. In normal circumstances this will appear as a very fine mist and should disappear in seconds, minutes, or a hour or so when the watch warms up. This is quite normal as the air trapped inside your watch after say a service will have a small amount of water vapour as its just like normal humidity in the atmosphere, if it disappears quickly all is well. Now if the misting appears as clearly definable droplets of water and does not clear quickly when warm, then it signifies that water has entered the case.Now this will NOT evaporate of its own accord and will need to be removed then afraid its off to the RSC as soon as possible,advise then to put the stopped watch in a bag of dry rice grains.

I don't agree. If you look how Rolex tests these watches you'l see they do exactly what you describe above but under sever temperatures and pressure. The watch should not show any sort of condensation inside otherwise it's considered a fail and is sent back to the assembly line. To Rolex standards, not an atom of humidity is allowed inside the crystal.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Rori

I don't agree. If you look how Rolex tests these watches you'l see they do exactly what you describe above but under sever temperatures and pressure. The watch should not show any sort of condensation inside otherwise it's considered a fail and is sent back to the assembly line. To Rolex standards, not an atom of humidity is allowed inside the crystal.

If you took the time to read the thread we are talking about a vintage 168000 Sub and not a new modern sub, and that watch the case could have been opened several times and not always serviced by RSC.

[Yorkshiretyke]

Thanks for all the replies.

It is kept in a standard hotel style small safe. The problem isn't there, it is dry when I take it out, it mists when I wear it.

[Yorkshiretyke]

Oops, apologies for duplicate posts, I kept getting a message expired not posted !!

[Verdi]

bottom line, moisutre in the watch cannot be good. it ll slowly rust.....watch needs to be checked.

[GGGMT]

Party over. Service time quite obviously


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