HowTo: What to do if water got into your watch

IMG_6211This happens a lot, and a lot of poor watches die this way. Water gets in, and you don’t quite know what to do…

Mark did the right thing, and after putting his watch through the washing machine, he sent us an email and asked what to do. Time is of the essence, so we gave him the right advice. The first thing is to pull the crown to setting position, and to put the watch into a bag of rice so that it’s covered all around. Then you let us know what happened, and we let you jump the queue (please don’t wash your watch just to do that 😉 )

The watch was with us the next day, and we opened it up.IMG_6213

It’s a Coleridge – Water, Water Everywhere…. The dial hasn’t suffered any damage yet, which is great. IMG_6215 It’s less than 48 hours, and you can see that some rusty water has already leaked onto the date ring. You have to act quickly, or your watch is a rusty piece of junk.IMG_6214

Water has completely penetrated the movement.IMG_6217

The rust off the date ring claned away nicely, and we just put the movement through the cleaning machine, and then put the watch to the side until it’s its turn to be fixed. No permanent damage done, and no additional cost. You wait a week, and your watch is ruined.

The complete set of photos for the service are here.

 

6 thoughts on “HowTo: What to do if water got into your watch

  1. Dont immerse in oil, dont try to blow dry it and above all get it to your trusted watch repair person the next day and dont panic. Alas i messed up on all fronts but now i know what not to do. PS: the oil did more damage than the salt water ever could have! I know that now!

  2. Pingback: Wore my 1960 Wittnauer in the shower!

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