Recently, a customer asked about his watch getting magnetized when it was near his smartphone or tablet. We turned this over to our watchmaker, Garrin Fraze, and he had some terrific information …
Garrin’s Answer
A watch movement contains many metal components. Most of these are brass or steel, sometimes paired with other specialized alloys like silicon, to overcome magnetism. Brass is completely non-magnetic, but steel is a paramagnetic material, meaning when it is exposed to a magnet it maintains trace levels of magnetism. To avoid a very lengthy explanation I’ll put it simply; this makes the watch run fast.
Magnetism likely won’t cause long-term damage to the watch itself, but smartphones can affect the rate of a watch. I have an iPhone 11 and an iPad Pro and I have tested both against a couple of my Seikos. They usually run 5-15 s/day fast after sitting on top of my iPhone or iPad while the device is on.
Safe proximity depends on the strength of the magnet in the device. I wouldn’t worry about holding your phone in the hand you wear your watch on - or using an iPad - but I take my watch off and set it aside when using a laptop. Many people will set their watch on top of their phone while it charges and that will certainly lead to magnetism.
Demagnetization is a very simple and easy process. I demagnetize every watch I work on. Any watchmaking workshop should have a demagnetizer on hand, and most have a tester to see if a watch has become magnetized. If someone brings their watch(es) into the Ridglea store, I can test and demagnetize them free of charge. It only takes about 30-seconds per watch, and there is no permanent damage that can occur from this process.
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And that’s why we love having Garrin at Haltom’s! If you have any questions or concerns about the care and repair of your watch, please give us a call or stop by.
