Horological Meandering

WatchProSite Advice: Best Watch Practices For COVID 19 Coronavirus?

Mar 26, 2020,16:58 PM

Moderator Patrick_y makes some suggestions on how to keep your watch clean during the Coronavirus and makes some suggestions as some of the best watches to wear during the Coronavirus.

Florence Nightingale is the medical pioneer who first observed the medical correlation between sanitation/hygiene and healing.

Please note, this article is not scientific in any way, but it’s just another article that is rooted in some facts and logic for watch savants to best optimize their habits during this perilous time. This article is intended as humor and general advice. Two Board Certified medical doctors have read the advice below and agree all of these steps are beneficial. Florence Nightingale would probably approve of this message.

If you don’t have one of these watches…

This watch is the PuristSPro X St. Gallen All-Black-Rescue Timepiece. It was designed to be the ultimate doctor's watch. With no major cavities nor recesses, it had almost no areas where dirt could build up. It was even supplied with a silicone strap. Below is a link to my review of the watch.

www.watchprosite.com

…then you ought to keep your watch clean by other means.

Below you will find some of Patrick’s advice. Do note, Patrick is not an expert in the subject of medicine nor viral/bacterial germs, however the advice here has been reviewed by two medical doctors and has been deemed logical and sound advice.

Some general advice:

1. Waterproof watches with metal or ceramic bands with large links are recommended. Larger links means less tiny recesses for dirt to collect and are therefore usually easier to clean.

2. Better to avoid leather strap timepieces. COVID 19 can live on surfaces for multiple days, generally fewer days on smooth surfaces (such as steel) but could be a higher amount on porous surfaces such as leather.

3. Watches with minimal cavities are best. For instance, dirt can accumulate in the recessed area where bracelets are attached to the watch case. Your dead skin cells may also be a potential energy source for unwanted microbial guests.

4. Watches with silicone straps are recommended; it is important to note that rubber straps are less preferable to silicone straps. Rubber straps eventually crack, but they have micro cracks before visible cracks. Those micro cracks can inhibit dirt or possibly pathogens. Silicone straps do not generally have these micro cracks and generally do not develop them.

5. Do not pour Rubbing Alcohol or Hydrogen Peroxide over your steel/gold/ceramic/other-material watch! Your watch may have certain gaskets that can be negatively affected or stiffened by contact with alcohol or hydrogen-peroxide. Furthermore, these materials are molecularly lighter and smaller than water and can be more penetrative than water.

6. Do wash your waterproof watches (100 meters water resistance or greater) in warm water with liquid soap. You can run water under the tap, but avoid high water pressure, especially around sensitive areas like the crown or

7. Using a very soft and fine bristled toothbrush; scrub the watch case, the crown area, the spring-bar area, the bracelet, and the clasp of the watch. Focus on the area within the bracelet between the links as there is often black “gunk” in this area. Dry your watch with a lint free, clean cloth, that is not likely to scratch the watch. Pay attention to the cloth, if there are black markings after drying the watch that means there’s still dirt in the watch.

8. Generally not recommended: an “oral denture cleaner” can be used on some watches, but be careful as this can sometimes leave circular stains on certain finishes. Furthermore, oral denture cleaners require very hot water, so this may be too hot for most watches. This is not a recommended way of cleaning most watches.

9. After washing a watch with warm water, use a can of compressed air to blow the water out of areas between bracelet links and the spring bar area. This accelerates drying of the watch and keeps the watch cleaner.

10. Do not bake your watch in an autoclave or oven. This will damage the movement and likely the dial as well. Don’t leave a watch in the car as cars get hot and this is unsafe for the watch.

The FP Journe Elegante is a good watch for the current situation. Although it's not 100M water resistant, it's approved by F.P. Journe to be cleaned under running tap water and surface swimming. The silicone strap is easily cleaned and disconnected from the case. This makes for one hygienic timepiece!

Excellent watches for use during COVID 19 pandemic would include:

1. St. Gallen All Black Rescue Watch

2. Rolex Oyster timepieces; preferably those with Oyster bracelet instead of a Jubilee bracelet

a. Submariner

b. Explorer I & II

c. GMT-Master with Oyster bracelets preferably

d. Daytona (clean the pushers and cavities around carefully)

e. Datejust models.

3. FP Journe Elegante watch with a silicone strap.

4. Vacheron Constantine Overseas with metal bracelet, waterproof models preferred.

5. Other sports and diving watches with high water resistance and easy to clean steel bracelets.

6. Waterproof ceramic watches with metal or ceramic bracelets.

7. Apple watch with a clean and undamaged rubber strap.

It's important to clean between the bracelet links. Steel diving watches with large bracelet links are generally watches that are easily kept clean. Using a fine and soft bristled toothbrush, clean the case and each link of the bracelet.

Things to avoid:

1. Mesh bracelets, as they may be more difficult to clean. Dirt can be trapped in the middle.

2. Leather straps, these are less hygienic than metal bracelets, and times like today are more critical.

3. Watches with many micro cavities, especially those between bracelet links and where the bracelet meets the case. Try to find a watch that is as smooth as possible where dirt and water cannot hide.

Be safe and I hope you found this article informative, helpful, and hopefully a bit humorous in this difficult time! Wash your hands, wear a watch you can wash, and wash your watch! Please feel free to add your own advice on how you've been keeping your watch clean.