Magnetization

I can’t guaranty anything and you might want to check with some of the watch makers on here, but I haven’t noticed anything and almost my whole working day is spent on a laptop and I’ve got a few watches that match that criteria.

Also most watches built now have a level of antimagnetisation built in that should cover you.

I’m on my laptop or carrying it around for hours a day as part of my job. No issues detected. If you think that’ll be an issue, you can invest in a cheap degausser to take care of the issue.

Thank you

thank you..

thank you

I have never had any issues with my watch getting magnetized working on a normal laptop. If you have something like a Microsoft Surface with magnetically attached keyboard or a magnetically attached power cord it's more likely I guess 🤷

Awesome.. Thanks for the detailed reply.. Puts my mind at peace 👍

Good to know.. Thank you

Who says this hobby is useless? I know the answer to this question and the answer is, maybe. One part depends on the type of stainless steel and the second part depends on the strength of the magnet.

Austenitic stainless steels are generally non-magnetic, while ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are magnetic. Austenistic refers to the amount of iron in the alloy composition and this vaires depending on the manufacturer but for the most part, 316L and 304 are antimagnetic and will repel most magnetic daily environments.

However, if you work in a place that has a powerful magnetic field like a power plant, radiologist, MRI technician, or a communications tower, magnetic fields can affect the ferritic compositon of the movement and specifically the balance spring because magnetic waves might get through the crystal and pass through the dial. Which is another tip of the hat for sapphire crystals since these offer great antimagnetic properties so make sure your watch has a sapphire.

Long way for me to say that your watch, if it is 316L and has a sapphire crystal you are fine and unless you work in a nuclear power plant, or next to an MRI machine, you don’t need the Rolex Milgauss

Can I pick your brain , if I work on a 100kv power line thats de energised but passing under neath live 300 KVa lines where your working and feel the tickle of the voltage but no current, will that affect your watches magnetism? I am an ex electrical linesman and just curious?

I dont know, I work in communications and I interact with solar panels and satellite dish antennas on the daily and have not had an issue with my watches. The last class I took on engineering was back in college and we were told not to wear metal objects near highly energized lines. I wonder if the “tickle” (this term cracked me up) was caused by the metal items you had on you. Sorry I could not help you there but I have to say you had a cool job and hope all is well.

IMHO, weak daily magnetic fields encountered, like from a laptop, do not have sufficient magnetism to affect modern watches.

Now if you are working around MRI's or scientific equipment, anything that produces a high Gauss field, watch out! (Forgive the pun....)

My MBP had large closing magnets. learned not to wear my watches wrist in while using it.

Whoa.. That's pretty in depth.. Thank you for the insights

It’s a really good question and I would say that it depends on how you work, and how much you care about the accuracy. When I owned a regular magnetizable movement watch I would find I lightly magnetize it about once a year or so. I say lightly because for some people, a watch is “magnetized” only if it really starts gaining time at an incredible rate like 1m/day, whereas I care about a level that changes the normal rate by day, 5-10s/day and that you can detect with a compass. I do own a demagnetizer for this purpose.

It depends on how you work or travel because in a normal typing position on a normal laptop, generally your watch is far enough away to avoid any magnetization. But a MacBook for example is fully capable of magnetizing your watch if you take off the watch and put in the wrong spot on top, or if they get close enough to each other in a travel bag. These days, the guts of the electronics is no longer a big source of magnetism, but rather the magnets(!) that help close the case, attach accessories to the phone or tablet, attach a tablet pen to the side, etc are the actual big sources of magnetism. If the watch movement gets within a few cm of those spots (not in normal work, but in carrying or putting everything in a travel bag etc), magnetization can definitely happen.

Thanks for the input.. I did try how far the magnetic power of the laptop can travel using a compass.. Like you said, in the normal typing position the compass wasn't getting affected at the watch head height... So I guess it should be good

I don’t think the watch *case*’s material being austenitic really matters here though. When a watch is magnetized, it’s always the movement — specifically the *balance spring* or sometimes balance wheel, that gets magnetized. The balance spring in a traditional movement (before last decade’s Parachrom, Nivachron, silicon) are always ferrous and martensitic alloys and so are prone to being magnetized to varying degrees.

I was wondering about this , as a rule I never wore any metal when working on any power lines or insulation , I am retired now and from the induction of 300 Kva into a de energised line I just always wondered , I usually still wore 500v rated gloves with leather field gloves over them too for mechanical and electrical protection. I found what you wrote very interesting thanks 🙂

You were literally riding Lightning, so cool.

Laptop? No.

Airport magnitometers and MRI machine are a yes.

Faraday fields :)

I have to tell you a story. Years ago my crew were repairing an old 6/4 copper line ( 80 year old pure anealed copper )out in the country side and we where breaking live bonds from the line to another , to de energise the line we were to work on , we hadn’t earthed the line yet when lightning struck the line about 3 kms away and the whole line turned red, white then just fell like rain on our shirts and helmets etc … luckily then helmets took the brunt of the temperature before it cooled , still got small burns through the shirt from red hot copper . Never seen my fat leading hand do a “ Neo” dodging molten copper before like a latin dancer 🕺 on a pole platform 12 meters in the air , we laughed so hard amidst the awe and wonder at such a scene :)