How To Keep Your Watch Demagnetized
The Omega Railmaster, released in 1957, was one of the first watches built to resist magnetic fields up to 1,000 gauss. That wasn’t just marketing—watchmakers were genuinely desperate. Magnetism had already ruined countless timepieces, and the problem only got worse as electromagnets became commonplace in everyday life. Even today, a casual brush against the right magnetic source can turn an expensive mechanical watch into an expensive pocket ornament.
How Magnetism Damages a Watch Movement
Magnetic fields don’t just throw off a watch’s accuracy. They actually damage the movement at a microscopic level. The hairspring, that impossibly thin coiled wire that coordinates with the balance wheel to regulate timekeeping, is made of ferrous steel. When exposed to a magnetic field, the coils literally stick to each other. The result? A watch that gains 10, 20, sometimes 50 minutes a day. I watched a pristine Seiko SKX007 go from keeping perfect time to running almost 15 minutes fast just from sitting on a shelf next to a pair of headphones with a magnet. The worst part is that once magnetized, the problem doesn’t just go away on its own. You need professional demagnetization.
Beyond the hairspring, magnetic fields can magnetize the balance wheel itself, the escape wheel, and even the steel parts in the gear train. The cumulative effect is chaos inside the movement. Pivot holes become misaligned, friction increases, and sometimes the entire mechanism just stops. I’ve seen vintage watches from the 1960s that stopped completely after a single exposure to a strong magnet.
Which Movements and Watches Are Most Vulnerable
The older your watch, the more vulnerable it is. Watches made before the 1990s, especially dress watches and early sports models, have zero anti-magnetic protection. The Rolex Submariner references 5513 and 14060 (pre-2000) are notoriously susceptible, despite their legendary reputation for durability in other areas. It’s not a flaw in Rolex’s engineering—anti-magnetic technology simply didn’t exist back then.
Modern ETA movements like the 2824 and Unitas-derived movements, found in Hamilton, Tissot, and Seiko watches, are particularly vulnerable. These movements are everywhere because they’re affordable and reliable, but they’re sitting ducks for magnetism. Even a high-quality Nomos hand-wound watch with its German-made movement can be damaged by strong enough exposure. The Citizen Eco-Drive, despite being quartz, contains ferrous components that can be magnetized, though the effects are usually less dramatic.
The irony is that many watchmakers knew about magnetism for decades but did nothing. It wasn’t until the Omega Railmaster proved it was feasible that the industry took it seriously. By the 1970s and 1980s, some brands started building in soft-iron cases, but the practice wasn’t universal.
Anti-Magnetic Watches: The Expensive Solution
If you want genuine protection, you’re looking at Rolex’s Milgauss (about $7,500 for the current model) or Omega’s Master Co-Axial line (which shielding goes inside the movement itself). The Railmaster is back in production now, around $5,900, and it’s genuinely bulletproof against everyday magnetism—it resists fields up to 15,000 gauss, which is roughly 15 times stronger than what would destroy an ordinary watch.
More affordable options exist but with compromises. The Seiko Prospex SPB143 has some degree of soft-iron shielding, keeping it under $400. The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph offers co-axial escapement that’s inherently more resistant to magnetic damage, though not truly “anti-magnetic.” Tissot’s PRX with the newer Powermatic 80 movement is another middle ground.
But here’s the truth: most modern watches under the premium tier don’t come with serious anti-magnetic protection. If you’re buying a watch for under $2,000, magnetism is a real risk.
The Real Dangers: Common Household Sources
You don’t need an industrial electromagnet to magnetize a watch. Your iPhone’s magnet? Potential problem. A magnetic clasp on a designer handbag? I’ve seen it wreck a Seiko SKX. Even some older laptop chargers, certain Bluetooth speakers, and the magnetic clasps on some phone cases can do damage. Kitchen magnets on the refrigerator are less dangerous than you’d think (they’re usually not strong enough), but a leaning against certain office equipment, electrical panel boxes, and industrial machinery can destroy a watch instantly.
I’ve seen collectors lose $3,000 watches to careless placement. One collector left a vintage Heuer Carrera next to a wireless charging pad for a phone. The watch lost 20 minutes a day. Another placed a Seiko 5 next to a speaker with a magnet-based bass driver. Same result. The worst case I know of involved a Longines that got placed directly on top of an MRI machine’s magnet during a hospital visit. It didn’t just gain time—it completely stopped.
Protecting What You Have (Without Spending Thousands)
If you own a vintage or non-anti-magnetic watch, the smartest move is preventive behavior. Keep your watches away from electronics when not wearing them. Store them in a watch box, not on a nightstand next to your phone charger. Be mindful of where you set a watch down in an office or workshop. Magnets are invisible but everywhere.
If you do suspect magnetization, don’t panic. A watch repairer can demagnetize almost any movement using a specialized demagnetizing coil. It costs between $50 and $150, depending on the watch. It’s frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world. The real cost is the emotional hit when your favorite watch that’s been keeping perfect time suddenly loses an hour a day.
The long-term solution? Either buy an anti-magnetic watch, or be obsessive about where your watch spends its time. Many collectors do both—a sports watch with anti-magnetic protection as an everyday beater, and vintage pieces stored safely in a dedicated watch cabinet, far from anything electronic.
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