I still remember when my first mechanical watch got magnetized. And the saddest part was that the watch was a gift from someone special.
The watch was only a month old and its accuracy deteriorated as soon as it magnetized. And the power reserve capacity also took a big difference.
I took it to the watch professional and got it fixed but he charged $150. And it was much more for a $500 watch.
If you are facing the same problem then I will tell you how you can get rid of it without investing a bunch of dollars.
The following topics, I will cover in this article:
- Wha is magnetization and how does a watch gets magnetized?
- How can you tell if a watch is magnetized?
- How to demagnetize a watch at home with the help of a very cheap tool?
- Can a watch demagnetize itself?
- How long does it take to demagnetize a watch?
- How to prevent your watch from magnetizing?
- Conclusion
1. What is Magnetization and How Does a Watch gets Magnetized?
First of all, it is very important for you to know what is magnetization. In simple words, magnetization in the context of a watch means that your watch loses its functionality after being affected by a magnetic device. It could be either a high magnetic field speaker, refrigerator, or cell phone.
Now the question is, how does your watch gets magnetized?
Whenever your watch comes in contact with a high magnetic field device, the hairspring and balance wheel of the movement get stuck together, which affects the accuracy of your watch. And this is how your watch gets magnetized.
Now I will tell you what are the signs of a magnetized watch.
2. How can you tell if a watch is magnetized?
When your watch gets magnetized, it is usually seen that the watch gains a few seconds or minutes, if the magnetic effect is high, then it also goes hours ahead.
Magnetization can also cause your watch to slow down or a sudden stop, but this symptom is not so common, most of the watches gain time. Magnetization can also affect the power reserve capacity of your mechanical watch.
The important question is how to confirm whether the watch is magnetized or not? You can do this in two ways, first with the help of a compass and second with the help of the Lepsi app.
Compass: First of all, you have to open your compass and take the case of the watch near the compass, if the compass needle moves, it means that your watch is magnetized. By the moving speed of the needle, you can find out how much the watch has been affected by magnetization.
Lepsi App: It is a very popular app to check a magnetized watch. You can get this app on both Android and IOS. Let me take you to the steps now.
- Download the App and open it.
- Keep your phone on a table
- Place your watch above the mobile screen and move it around the screen without touching the device.
- Now the app will show you a magnetic strength.
- The higher its score, the more magnetized your watch is.
As soon as you confirm that your watch is magnetized, now you have to demagnetize it and the cheapest and easiest way to do this is to use the demagnetization tool.
3. How to demagnetize a watch at home with the help of a very cheap tool?
There are only two ways to demagnetize a watch, the first is to take it to a professional who will charge a bunch of dollars and the second way is to take the help of a tool, which is a very cost-effective way and used by most of the people.
The tool that I am going to recommend today is the most used tool to demagnetize the watch and you will get it easily on Amazon between $12-$15. This tool is ideal for both mechanical and quartz watches.
You have to use this tool very carefully because if it is not used properly then it can cause an increase in magnetism, I will guide you step by step and also share a video with you so that you can understand it better.
Video:
Steps:
- First of all the watch should not be running while using demagnetizer.
- If your watch has hacking function then pull out the crown to stop the movement.
- If your watch does not have hacking feature then just let the power reserve get empty first before using the tool.
- Now place the watch 2 cm above on the flat surface of the tool. Do not let the watch touch the surface. The guy in above video has kept the watch on surface, I won’t recommend that.
- As soon as you place the watch on demagnetizer press the button of demagnetizer a light will come up with a slow buzz. Keep it the same way for 8-10 seconds.
- After 10 seconds slowly move the watch upwards but keep the button pressed. and as soon as the watch is away from the tool release the button.
- This is to be counted as one cycle of demagnitization. You can repeat the cycles and test your watch after every cycle.
4. Can a Watch Demagnetize Itself?
A lot of people ask this question that is it possible for a watch to demagnetize itself? So the answer is yes, a watch can automatically demagnetize, but this process is very slow, sometimes it takes months and sometimes years. And this process works according to the change of weather.
5. How long does it take to demagnetize a watch?
One single cycle of the demagnetization process takes 5-10 seconds. It depends on your watch if the magnetization level is high then it might take multiple cycles to demagnetize. And it is also possible that your watch gets demagnetized in the very first shot.
If you leave your watch to automatically demagnetize, it will take a very long time, sometimes months and sometimes years, and even then there is no guarantee that the watch will demagnetize itself.
6. How to prevent your watch from magnetizing?
Once your watch is demagnetized, you should take strict care that it does not magnetize back in the future. Because demagnetizing a watch is a very headache job.
First of all, you have to keep in mind that you have to store your watch in a place where there is no magnetic field. There are some devices that have a high magnetic field that can completely destroy your watch.
The most important of these devices is the speakers, I used to put my watch on the speaker while sleeping at night and this was the reason why my watch got magnetized and its accuracy was affected a lot.
Second, you have to keep your watch away from the refrigerator and air conditioner remote as well. A lot of people ask, can a mobile phone also magnetize a watch?
Yes, of course, your phone can prove to be a monster to your watch and mechanical watches, in particular, are heavily affected by cell phones. If you want to protect your watch from getting magnetized then you should keep it away from your mobile.
Conclusion:
Through this article, you must have come to know that how a watch is demagnetized. If you go to a professional they will easily charge $100-$150 for this small task. But most of the people in today’s time use the watch demagnetizer tool which I have recommended to you in this article. You can get it from Amazon for $10-$15 and it is also very easy to use.
Before buying a demagnetizer tool, you need to confirm on a compass or Lepsi app whether your watch is actually magnetized. If yes, then you can take the help of the tool.
A watch takes years to automatically demagnetize so using a tool is the best in my opinion. Once you have demagnetized your watch, be sure to keep it away from speakers, refrigerators, and mobile phone devices.
I hope you liked this article, if you liked it, then do share your valuable feedback through comments.
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