The dangers of magnetic fields

I have just got my Reverso back from Richemont. I seldom wear it other than for business trips overseas. The watch began to gain time so I had it serviced. Shortly after it came back from Richemont, it began to gain time to the extent it was gaining 4 minutes a day. 4 minutes is a little excessive, even for a Jaeger le Coultre.

Apparently, the watch had to be demagnetised. According to the dealer, this is becoming very common with airport and other security scanners being the cause of the problem. With the current trend of display backs on watches that were known for their antimagnetic properties (Pilots and Ingenieurs) is IWC ignoring the demands put on watches nowadays. Fortunately, I have several watches with anti-magnetic protection, but I am not likely to take display-backed watches on business (including my VC Ingenieur). Looks like the Reverso is in danger of becoming redundant.

As I understand it, take your watch off and...

put it through the X-ray machine.The X-ray machine is not the problem.The reason is that X-rays are not magnetic. They are a form of electromagnetic energy, and perhaps it is this name that causes the confusion. X-rays are just light waves of a specific wavelength, much like visible light, infrared (radiated heat), microwaves and radio waves. While some of these energy forms can damage computer media through heating (if exposed to strong enough sources, like the sun on a hot day), none affect magnetic fields.
However, those who avoid putting watches through X-ray machines may be inadvertently risking them with exposure to the metal detector. One of the properties of metal objects is that they distort the shape of a magnetic field when they pass through it. Metal detectors work by establishing a weak magnetic field and then monitoring disruptions caused by metal objects. These are real magnetic fields and can in theory cause the problem you reference, although it probably would take multiple exposures.

Sorry about that Ralph...They should pay for the >

damage they cause.
--
Isobars.

Really little damage and easy to fix

To demagetize a watch one can usually buy a simple demagetizer for very little money (I think places like Radio Shack carry them, but I don't knwo if they are in all countries).. It is simple to do; if you check on the Internet there are many such products and instructions. Most take a few seconds to do.

Keep in mind that many people demagnetize objects all the time. If you are in an office that uses dictation tapes, those really are magnetized tapes; runing them through a little demagentizer erases them.

Regards,
Michael

The "funny" dangers of magnetic fields

Sorry, could not resist. I think Nicky should show this guy how it should be done.

Refrigerator Magnets

It's your magnetic personality at fault >>>

not an airport screening device.

Bill

Thanks, Bill. It's not just airports ...

... I visit many offices where I have to go through metal detectors. It's becoming a fact of 21st century life. I will be in Johannesburg next week. Some offices politely ask you to leave your gun at the reception desk before going through the scanner.

I’ve Had The Same Problem But Not With IWC

I’ve had this problem several times and I use my office’s old bulk-videotape eraser and like MF said it works fine.

I walk through metal detectors a dozen times a day because I work in a secured public building with different levels of security but I’ve never had any problems with my BPs or Big Ingenieur (with display back) which I don’t remove because I have a security pass.

On the other hand, I’ve encountered problems when watches are mailed to me at the office - the most recent being a used watch that I bought from a guy in Taiwan. Before that it was two used Zeno watches (in the same parcel) from a guy in Germany.

Tracy (Honolulu)