My wife and I were just caught in an unexpected rainstorm while walking home from dinner, and my watch’s crystal (vintage 2573, 10-200 movement) is fogged with moisture. It’s still running normally as far as I can tell. I have placed it in a container of ...
you have a reputable watchmaker in your city that you've used before you could ask him to check the movement after some time. I wouldn't wear the watch for a bit (I usually wait 1-4 months), rust can usually pop up around the week to 2 month mark dependin...
This is what I was looking for. I had already scheduled a visit to an AD and was considering a service by Patek as a baseline for my ownership (I’ve owned the watch for around 9 months). This probably bumps that date forward a little. Your comment about t...
I was wearing a Patek 1526 during the Fall and Winter while working in New York City. That particular watch had been built in 1949. I noticed the crystal fogging up when I would walk off the cold street into the place where I was working (which was warm)....
There is some confusion even amongst watchmakers about how to treat moisture inside timepieces. Some are willing to dry out movements and just call it good, others would say it needs to have a complete service (service the movement, new dial, new hands, e...
prevent permanent corrosion and they can continue to carry on running for a while before becoming progressively worse. Acting quickly will prevent any high cost later.
Many thanks for the replies. I put the watch in dry rice in a sealed ziploc bag overnight (~8 hrs). Caseback on, crown in closed. This morning, as you can see in the attached pictures, the moisture under the crystal appears to have abated, and the watch s...
Rice does the job, but silica gel even better - those little bags of “rocks” you find in electronics packaging. You can get some on the internet, or any photographic shop. But that is “first aid” - strongly suggest a proper service. Most likely only a wor...