zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: You sound like you WANT to have your watch
: magnetized! That is not something that you
: should want--it is bad for the watch. A
: typical symptom of magnetization is that the
: watch suddenly starts runing unusually fast
: or unusually slow.

: When accidental magnetizing occurs to a watch,
: it is usually because the watch was placed
: in or near a very strong magnetic field.
: Very little consumer electronics generate a
: strong enough field to do this. It usually
: takes exposure to industrial grade
: electrical equipment (large transformers and
: such) or a very strong magnet to cause this
: to happen.

: The solution is to take the watch to a jeweler
: to be demagnetized. They do this by
: essentially reversing the process--exposing
: the watch to a controlled magnetic field in
: such a way that it removes the magentism
: from the watch.

Really, what you do is subject the watch to a rapidly alternating field. It sort of scrambles all of those little aligned poles within the magnetic materials in the watch.

I have a home studio and often degauss tape heads. I suspect that my head demagnetizer would be pretty good for straightening out a watch. It applies a very small alternating field. On the other hand, my bulk tape demagnetizer (eraser)has enough strength to probably mechanizlly damage (i.e. bend, tear, break) any ferrous parts.