EDUCATION STATION

As a mechanical movement based watch company we are quite knowledgeable in the way they work. We have spent a bit of time educating ourselves with the various ways watches can be damaged and how much force is required etc. One thing that we have regular experience of is magnetism.

This isn’t Oliver’s self-professed ability to attract other people, instead it’s the infliction suffered of the balance spring from sources of magnetic fields. Inside your watch you will have a small spring wound inside a golden wheel. This oscillates back and forth allowing the mainspring to gently release its power over 40+ hours. However this little spring is affected by magnetic fields and if exposed can lead to your watch running improperly or showing signs of damage. In effect what is happening is that the loose coil of spring steel is suddenly being temporarily fused to its neighbouring loop and as a result the ability for the balance wheel to oscillate freely is hampered.

Despite sounding horribly impaired, the fix for this issue is incredibly simple! For any watch that has been affected by magnetism, the solution is to demagnetise it, and we do this using as demagnetiser. This is a little box with a single button. The watch is placed on top, the button is pushed and the watch, movement and everything in between is removed of any magnetic interference. This releases the little fused springs and once more your watch will run freely and accurately. You can easily check if your watch is magnetised by passing it over a compass and watching to see if the needle moves.

There are preventative ways to avoid magnetising your watch, such as avoiding laptop hard drives, microwaves and...magnets themselves. Some movement manufacturers have started using silicon springs to counter any magnetic interference, or like we have done with the Morar, fitted an anti-magnetic plate behind the movement to limit the exposure to magnetic fields.

So now you know, if your watch is suddenly running slightly off, perhaps it has been magnetised. Send it back in to us or, if you fancy it, buy a de-magnetiser and at the push of a button, problem solved.