Customers viewing our Watch auctions will have noticed the following advice included within our condition reports:
“Due to opening of the case back we recommend this watch is re-sealed by an authorised technician to ensure any stated water resistance is retained.”So, what does this mean and is it important?
A large majority of the watches in our auctions will have been manufactured with a water resistance rating. These ratings often start at 30m for dress watches, but may reach as high as 3900m for specialist dive watches.
The standards for water-resistance ratings are stipulated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and so provide consistency across the many watch houses in the market place. However, the important thing to note is that a watch rated to a resistance of 30m is not safe to wear under water at that depth. In fact, it is really only protected from water ingress during hand washing and should probably not be worn during even a gentle swim. Most manufacturers will provide some useful guidance on water resistance.
As part of our cataloguing process we carefully inspect the movement of each watch where at all possible, and often open the case back to do so. Unfortunately, this process does void any pressure test guarantee that the watch may have had, but it is essential for us to ensure authenticity, and to allow us to disclose accurately the condition of the movement itself.
In order to return the watch to it’s previous water resistance rating we recommend our buyers have the manufacturer, or a trained independent watchmaker, re-seal and pressure test the watch. Vintage watches, especially with precious metal cases may be impossible to make water resistant, and some gaskets and case parts are no longer available for some brands.
Does it really matter? Well, it depends. If you hope to swim with your watch then you should definitely have it re-sealed and pressure tested. If you plan to scuba dive then it is absolutely vital. For normal wear in dry conditions it may not be essential but we still strongly recommend it. Remember too, that if water can get into the mechanism, then so can dust, and a dirty movement will not be a reliable and accurate time keeper over the long term.
Below is an example of a water damaged watch which has been restored. It is an expensive and time consuming job which we would prefer our watch buyers avoid if possible!
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