Reply With QuoteI don't see why any waterproof watch shouldn't be able to withstand a short boil.
In 1956 Eric Newby decided to quit his job at the family dressmaking business in Mayfair and go and explore Nuristan, to the north-east of Afghanistan; a region that few Europeans had visited in the 20th century. He went with a friend, a career diplomat named Hugh Carless. They also planned to attempt the unclimbed 20,000 foot Mir Samir. In order to prepare for this, as Newby had no climbing experience, they took a three-day crash course in Caernarvonshire.
Newby hadn’t always been a frock salesman, at 18 he had signed up as the only Englishman on a Finnish windjammer to make the ‘great grain race’ from Australia. During the war he was with the Black Watch and the SBS, winning the MC. He spent 3 years in a POW camp and eventually married the Slovenian girl who helped him escape.
In his book ‘A short walk in the Hindu Kush’ he relates the following incident; it takes place just after they have crossed the frontier into Nuristan – formerly called Kafiristan, from the Kafir people (‘unbelievers’ in Persian) before its wholesale conversion to Islam.
"…I handed over my watch. It was the pride of my heart (I, too, am easily pleased) – a brand new Rolex that I had got in Geneva on the way out from England and reputed proof against every kind of ill-treatment.
‘Tell the headman’, I said to Hugh, ‘that it will work under water.’
‘He doesn’t believe it’
‘All, right. Tell him it will work in that,’ pointing to the cauldron which was giving off steam and gloggling noises.
Hugh told him. The headman said a few words to the young existentialist who had the watch. Before I could stop him he dropped it in the pot.
‘He says he doesn’t believe you’, sad Hugh.
‘Well tell him to take it out! I don’t believe it myself’. By now I was hanging over the thing frantically fishing with the ladle.
‘It’s no good’, I said. They’ll have to empty it’.
This time Hugh spoke more urgently to the headman.
‘He says they don’t want to. It’s their dinner’.
At last somebody hooked it and brought it to the surface, covered in brown slime. Whatever it was for dinner had an extraordinary nasty appearance. The rescuer held it in the ladle. Though too hot to touch, it was still going. This made an immense impression on everyone, myself included. Unfortunately, it made such an impression on the man himself that he refused to be parted from it and left the bothy.
‘Where’s he going?’
He’s going to try it in the river’."
I don't see why any waterproof watch shouldn't be able to withstand a short boil.
by all means try it on a few of yours and report back!
I met him at the tail end of the last century when I used to work in bookselling. Lovely gentleman, though I admit I disliked many of his books. I remember noting he had a knackered old watch. Later in a 2004 interview he mnetioned he still had and wore the boiled rolex:
which is sad but beautiful.I can’t leave without asking you: do you still have the Rolex that got thrown into the vat of hot stew towards the end of your Hindu Kush trip?
Yes, I have (Newby shows it to me—it’s on his wrist). This is the only thing of my past that I’ve got now.
Where does this story lead to, other than urban legend?
Please note that it is also an unverified story however good as such.
Oh and íf true, be aware that the higher one gets, the lower the boiling point of water goes.
On top of Mount Everest, at 8,848 m elevation, the pressure is about 260 mbar (26.39 kPa) and the boiling point of water is 69 °C. (156.2 °F). The boiling point decreases 1 °C every 285 m of elevation.
So, let´s suppose it ís true;
Hindu Kush is say 5000 meters? That would make a bubbling stew about 80 degrees Celcius = piece of cake :!: Hardly the stuff of legends; only urban myth fodder :idea:
In 1968 Mr.Roger Riehl invented a solar powered solid state electronic watch.
In 1972 he had productuon well under way. He boiled these as 100 degrees, took them to 300 metres deep, launched them at a wall to get 500 G, illustrated endurance by a sequence of 1000 drops of a hammer on it.
This is verified documented.
Talking about documented, there is a neat piece of film on youtube about ´how quartz watches work´ in which a cheap digital is fried in the micro wave oven to the point where the acrylic front window is reduced to a crumpled strip of plastic which the presenter peels off. That thing must have been a good deal hotter than 160 degrees Celcius :shock:
The display is all black but when the thing cools off it shows the time.
In the end shot they heat it till the battery explodes and we are shown the boiling liquid crystal :mrgreen:
Love those stories, thanks!
True or not, I'm willing to believe it, just for the sake of it.
It's nice to wear a watch with some exciting history behind it it, true or not, but even as an adult it's fun to look at your watch, and feel like an adventurer now and then, that's the reason we buy them, and a lot of fun in this hobby :)
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
good story, might try it with one of mine one day :wink: , thanks for posting simon
cheers
mike
:thumbleft: Thanks Simon, ditto the above.
Is the book "A short walk in the Hindu Kush" worth getting?
Petrus - it's a nice story, and worthwhile posting here. Don't piss on it because it mentions Rolex, and try to avoid shoe-horning some quartz stuff in here, please.Originally Posted by Huertecilla
I can usually ignore your white-noise posting, but turn it down a bit, eh? You're starting to sound like a monomaniac.
Petrus - it's a nice story, and worthwhile posting here. Don't piss on it because it mentions Rolex, and try to avoid shoe-horning some quartz stuff in here, please.
I can usually ignore your white-noise posting, but turn it down a bit, eh? You're starting to sound like a monomaniac.
ha ha, is he STILL doing that ? :D
Probabaly the best of his books; good fun, though quite light. He's a very entertaining narrator and very un-selfconcious depsite being a fish out of water and often blatantly lazy. The kind of Gentleman that many of us still wish existed :wink: . A good non-watch story:
The book ended with a salutary encounter between the somewhat bedraggled, Newby-Carless expedition and the caravan of the iron-hard, legendary veteran of exploration, Wilfred Thesiger. At the end of a long evening swapping recollections Newby and Carless prepared to turn in on ground which was in Newby’s words “like iron, with sharp rocks sticking up out of it. We started to blow up our airbeds. God, you must be a couple of pansies,’ said Thesiger.”
Yes, it is a nice story. The thing with Rolex stories is that they develop into mythology in order to provide substance for the value of the things.
Itsasimple;
Hindu Kush = 4000 - 6000 metres : The boiling point decreases 1 °C every 285 m of elevation.
By all means try it.
80-85 degrees should be a piece of cake since, as was observed, 100 degrees should be with the Rolex reach if it is indeed any good, let alone as good as its reputation.
I don't think anyone really cares about the science behind it, it's just a nice story. He could have been wearing any watch, & would have written the same story. It's not about Rolex, it's about what happened.
Yes, it is a nice story. The thing with Rolex stories is that they develop into mythology in order to provide substance for the value of the things.
Itsasimple;
Hindu Kush = 4000 - 6000 metres : The boiling point decreases 1 °C every 285 m of elevation.
By all means try it.
80-85 degrees should be a piece of cake since, as was observed, 100 degrees should be with the Rolex reach if it is indeed any good, let alone as good as its reputation.
If you were exploring somewhere & your watch got dropped in a cooking pot (at any elevation), you would surely post your experience on here.
Stewart
Oh but I dó Stewart, I even do that (from freezing to boiling, from dropping it 10 meters on concrete to sinking it in a well. Oh, and oil filling :albino: ) on purpose :idea:
Just for fun too :idea:
If you want to I will do one in a moment. Boil water, drop a watch in, take a foto. I should have a new 10 Euros F-91W lying about...
I would like to see a Rolex too. Being that much better there should be no hesistation to proof the pudding.
What he said!
Bollocks!
I'm looking at my Milgauss with an even bigger smile as we speak 8)
Works for me, so to say :)
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Probably urban legend, but I really enjoyed reading this story! Thanks for posting.
Regarding boiling, the problem is mainly the gaskets, that can not withstand high temperatures for a long time and there is always the risk of destroying them, by not recovering their original shape, if they are deformed, even a little bit.
Lovely story whether it's true or not.
“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
Yes.
Not whíle boiling at zero water pressure; that will go allright, but after cooling the seals will set a bit hardened in their flattened form.
The loss of flexibility and thus (de)form seal pressure will render the thing very much reduced wr.
Ok, I've not boiled mine.
What he said!
But I have frozen my Seamaster solid in a tub filled with water. :)
Great story.
Modern synthetic gaskets will be more felxible than those found in the "stew watch" and the ad above. Over on TRF there are some brave souls who have boiled (and frozen) their Rolexes without ill affect. I'm not that brave.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Slam dunk 8)
Great finding!
Modern synthetic gaskets will be more felxible than those found in the "stew watch" and the ad above. Over on TRF there are some brave souls who have boiled (and frozen) their Rolexes without ill affect. I'm not that brave.
It's a nice anecdote. Did Newby's watch have an acrylic "crystal"? How is the acrylic affected by the heat?
______
Jim.
As I already wrote, acrylic crystal has a melting point of 160 degrees C.
80 degrees is only half 160, so quíte safe.
Freezing/boiling should not give problems dúring the act. Especiuallyu as it is at pressure nil. It will caúse possible problems with WR afterwards.
The WR wíll be greatly reduced, but that will go unnoticed untill the limit of the remaining WR is needed. Since most Rolexes (or other luxury ´diver´watches) will never get taxed more than WR5, a boiled or frozen one will appéar to be ok, which is not the same as unaffected.
Nope. 80C is about 82% of 160C, since the centigrade/Celsius scale puts zero at an arbitrary point. A better comparison would be from 353K to 433K, still an increase of 80K or C, but now only an increase of about 18%.
Also,
What percentage of Casio/quartz 'diver' watches get taxed more than 50m? Any figures, references? Or just making stuff up?
I agree that most Rolex divers watches don't go deeper than the washing up liquid, but I'm not sure that a high percentage of (for example) SKX007s do.
Allthough less expensive divers are more likely to be worn the crap out of, neither am I. But; whatever however, those too would to be affected without it being noticed unless the WR is úsed.
Any decent (and many a very cheap, hardly) WR watch will withstand boiling and freezing itself. The seals wíll loose flexibility and thus WR wíll be compromised, wether noticed or not.
Thát was the crux.
Oh, and that at 100 degrees C. :bigsmurf:
80 degrees is not worth mentioning. Modern seals would not mind that. That was the other thing :bom:
Pooh....Yes.
Not whíle boiling at zero water pressure; that will go allright, but after cooling the seals will set a bit hardened in their flattened form.
The loss of flexibility and thus (de)form seal pressure will render the thing very much reduced wr.
All the synthetic rubbers (and natural rubber) have a high service temperature of 212 F or higher, Only Polyurethane has a service temperature range under the boiling point of water at sea level.
Polyurethane is not generally used as an o-ring material for watches, as silicone and fluorosilicone have better properties and are cheaper. For applications were a small price increase is acceptable, fluorocarbon o-rings (Viton ®) are used as this material is all-around superior.
Service temperature range for:
Silicone - 232 C to -60 C
Fluorosilicone - 205 C to -60 C
Fluorocarbon - 200 C to -15 C
Natural rubber - 105 C to -51 C
Crystals....
That all depends on the exact type of plastic used. If you use the slightly cheaper poly(methyl methacrylate) (aka Plexi-Glass® or Lucite®) as the "continuous service" upper limit is right around 100 C. If you are using the stronger, more expensive polycarbonate, you are in better shape as the continuous service limit is slightly above the boiling point of water (120 to 130 C).
Well, I have boiled an Alpha GMT and a Kronos Submariner. No problems.What he said!
I should expect higher "quality" watches to be able to stand up the the same "abuse". Otherwise, why pay more?
Nice story.
(I wish people would stop analysing the heck out of everything).
Not true, see my above post.
A cheap watch with a Plexi-Glass crystal may not....
Has anyone ever deep fried a Rolex?... I'd really like to see a battered one. Surely there must be an 'extreme battering' type website somewhere.
:wink: :bounce:
It doesn't 'lead' anywhere, it's a story - and an enjoyable one at that.
That you presumably choose to disbelieve it is up to you. This doesn't look anything like an urban legend to me:
But I will keep an open mind on it, as you are wont to suggest to others. :wink:
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I don't believe it.. someone thought of it before...
deep fried Rolex... http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=114503
:shock:
I read A Short Walk when it first came out and it left a lasting impression on me of both the man and the places he visited. Whenever I read about that part of the world now I'm saddened by how it's changed.
If anyone has my guess would be it'll have been done in Scotland.
Very keen on 'battering' up there I'm led to believe. :wink:
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Yee likkin' fee a Glasgee kiss pal? :blackeye:If anyone has my guess would be it'll have been done in Scotland.
Very keen on 'battering' up there I'm led to believe. :wink:
R
Maybe we should have a regional 'boil-off'... you could try cider? :wink:If anyone has my guess would be it'll have been done in Scotland.
Very keen on 'battering' up there I'm led to believe. :wink:
R
Maybe the most relevant point would be to mention that high-end watch companies like Rolex SPECIFICALLY warn AGAINST wearing those 'tough' watches in the sauna ... so the story is interesting as a "marketing gimmick" but not so accurate from the reality point of view ...
Why?
Just ignore it.
I have been stimulated by Lysanderxii to redo my homework :bounce:
As to ´beleiving´: there has never been any doubt by anybody that a WR watch would withstand boiling.
The story is a good story;
A Rolex boiling at 80 degrees wíll have survided unscathed as will it´s plastic window. Just as a Brand X would have. No reason for Rolex myths and that this ís built upon that, is illustrate by the adds shown :idea:
Appreciate the things; they áre very well made. Boiling one does not illustrate that in the least however. Not even at a proper 100 degrees.
Adding hollow myth as a selling point is an insult to the things :idea: as well as to the intelligence of wis-dom :idea: :idea:
What´s next :?:
Lets drive a car over it :!:
No analysing to be allowed so nobody will be none the wiser about the non proof of it :idea:
Should probably move to the books thread in G&D, but i would recommend The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron and then The Places Inbetween by Rory Stewart for an up to date version. Stewart's ex-army and went native so he probabaly wore a casio :-)
:wink:Maybe the most relevant point would be to mention that high-end watch companies like Rolex SPECIFICALLY warn AGAINST wearing those 'tough' watches in the sauna ...
Good relativating point to make Catalin. Thank you for the observation.
Vostok has a video of them driving over one of their Amphibias.
Oh, and it was the plastic crystalled version, other than a few scratches on the back from the pavement, no harm done.....
where do they say this?
Well first off, I posted this just after I read it because it's a watch story and this is a watch forum. Had it been his fountain pen or transistor radio dropped in the stew I wouldn't have bothered. I would still have posted it if another brand or no brand at all had been mentioned.
As for all the 'scientists' posting their erudite musings, let me guess - Google? Eric Newby wrote his story in 1956. He had bought a rather expensive wristwatch and a few weeks later saw it dropped in a boiling pot. No Google, no Timezone archive, no Youtube video to watch, no WIS on a forum to tell him not to worry. You really want us to believe that even 10 years ago if someone had dropped an expensive wristwatch of yours in boiling water your heart wouldn't have missed a beat?
Urban legend, maybe not true? Really? An urban legend starts 'I met this chap once who...', the text in my original post was transcribed from his book - it happened to him. So perhaps he is lying, perhaps of all the stories he could have made up - being chased by bears, losing his kit in the river, fighting to the death with bandits - he decided to make something up about a watch being dropped in hot water? If that is the case then someone should contact the National Geographical Society, because they have 'A short walk in the Hindu Kush' in 16th place in their list of extreme classics - just behind 'South' by Ernest Shackleton and just ahead of 'Kon-Tiki' by Thor Heyerdhal.
And as for you Huertecilla, I think you'd argue with a signpost!
Great story. My best mate read a post on WUS a while ago that, strangely, led him to boil his 42mm planet ocean. And then freeze it! He still wears it every day and in the sea on holiday and it works perfectly well. He is currently toying with an idea to test its depth rating - christ knows what form that test will take and how it will turn out!
Personally I will never subject my most valued possessions to anywhere near the limits of their endurance, but I enjoy talking about my mate Boothy and his "indestructible watch".
What I find really tedious is almost every thread posted that praises a mechanical watch being gatecrashed by some obsessive rantings about how much "better", in his blinkered opinion, a quartz watch would be in the same circumstances.
My advice to this guy would be to start ranting in his local town centre about jesus or the end of the world - then he would actually get to see with his own eyes the looks of boredom, indifference, mild irritation and sometimes pity that his posts evoke. :lol: :lol: :lol:
No reason for Rolex myths? Where in the OP's post is there ANY evidence of a myth? The author was relating an incident that happened to him, is it a myth that the watch concerned was a Rolex?
Boiling a watch does not illustrate that it is well made? I suggest it would to most people on the planet.
Adding hollow myth as a selling point is an insult? Again, where is the myth here?
Perhaps the meaning of myth is something different in Spanish.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Well, no. Simply because I know what steel, rubber and plastic can take. I would have worried about the sweat wabi from the hike up the mountain leaving an aftertaste in the stew....
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