Are my watches making me sick? (actual question.. allergies)
Great.... So I have been having fairly consistent health issues. Nausea, eczema, sneezing fits lasting 15minutes, and other symptoms.
Not being super stoked about this, I have been on something of a medical adventure, seeking answers / solutions. After some rather annoying allergy testing (still need to do some more even now), the conclusions so far were a number of allergies including a very severe nickel allergy... I Knew I was allergic to nickel before I didn't know I was this allergic however.
I have been advised to get rid of stainless steel cookware, and adopt a nickel free diet (which is a HUGE PIA btw as nickel is basically in everything).
The allergist also gave what could best be described as "side eye" to my Seiko SKX ... Even once I explained it was all stainless 316L they seem pretty dubious...
I have some other people still to see about the whole issue, but I don't know maybe I will be selling all my stainless watches ( I have one Titanium Citizen diver) ... which I guess I will be wearing for the time being. I guess I can then see if changing watches has an effect on the other issues, I wasn't getting a reaction around the wrist area at all, but blah blah blah the dr. guy seems to think the watches are pretty sus?
On the upside, If I have to liquidate all my stainless steel divers, I should be able to afford as Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight 925 (silver alloy), which is nickel free (per Tudor when I asked them about it on their social media.) I really dig the Tudor as well, so that at least is nice, I guess?
I like dive watches.. Seiko, Citizen, Orient.. etc
That’s a tough spot to be in. My allergies improved noticeably when I reduced the amount of wheat in my diet, but that may not work for you. Approach your health holistically; every thing that assaults your immune system is another hole in your boat. Plugging holes that seem unrelated helps keep the boat afloat.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional.
That’s a tough spot to be in. My allergies improved noticeably when I reduced the amount of wheat in my diet, but that may not work for you. Approach your health holistically; every thing that assaults your immune system is another hole in your boat. Plugging holes that seem unrelated helps keep the boat afloat.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional.
yeah... I may just give up on a Stainless watches and sell these and try to get the Tudor. I guess additional exposure to nickel can make you even more sensitive to it, so I may not have a choice soon anyway?
When I was in Ireland I kept hooking my sunglasses on my tshirt (as it was less sunny than SoCal apparently?) anyway the Ray-Ban logo on the arms of the glasses gave me a bad reaction on my chest that was quite unpleasant.... I do not do that anymore and I almost always wear a belt with a Polymer buckle now, as my old belt apparently had nickel in it and it was bad.
That's rough. Every stainless steel diver is pretty much off. 316L has about 13-15% nickel component and 904L is about 25% nickel.
The bb 925 is an option but I'd seek additional confirmation there. 925 Sterling silver can be alloyed with copper (which should be fine for you, unless you have a copper allergy) but also with nickel or zinc (less good).
The nice thing is that Grade 2 Titanium is basically awesome (I don't think it's ever alloyed with nickel) and so should Grade 5 titanium (which is alloyed with vanadium and aluminum). So no Rolexes and not many Omegas.....but the world of Grand Seiko and Tudor and high end micros are open to you!
Also, you could go for yellow gold or rose gold (from 14K up), but definitely stay away from white gold which is about 8-10% nickel if I recall, but I imagine finding a solid yellow gold diver is going to be a little hard.