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Thread: Pre-Holiday MOT

  1. #1

    Pre-Holiday MOT

    I’m off on holiday in a month and I wanted to check my watches are still up to a bit of swimming and snorkelling.

    Can anyone recommend somewhere I can send them for a water proof test +/- replacement of seals? I’m not looking for a full service, just peace of mind that they’re not going to fill up with water.

    I’d be happy to send them to the forum watchmakers too but presumed that it might not be worth their time.

    Thanks all

  2. #2
    Master
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    Leave them all at home and buy yourself a holiday watch. 😂

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by estoban7 View Post
    Leave them all at home and buy yourself a holiday watch. 😂
    Ha! Sadly my watch budget has been wasted on a holiday!

  4. #4
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Idontgram View Post
    Ha! Sadly my watch budget has been wasted on a holiday!
    Pressure testing and re-sealing (new gaskets) multiple watches isn’t going to be cheap - especially via post

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by lewie View Post
    Pressure testing and re-sealing (new gaskets) multiple watches isn’t going to be cheap - especially via post
    Just one, in fact. I’m not sure why I said watches(pl)

  6. #6
    Master
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    My local branch of Timpsons can pressure test up to 100mts I believe.


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  7. #7
    Craftsman
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    Casio Mrw200 from argos.....job jobbed

  8. #8
    Master
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    Timpsons do advertise that you can have your watches pressure tested at their branches. Timpsons aren't of course your go to place for watch servicing, but as I guess you really only want to know that you can go swimming with them, rather than scuba diving past 100m, I guess their pressure test will be sufficiently reassuring!

  9. #9
    What is the one watch ?

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by TheTigerUK View Post
    What is the one watch ?
    Nomos club neomatik. Supposedly 200m water resistance. It’s a recent used pick up with a 12 month dealer guarantee so I don’t feel compelled to service it at this stage.

    Thanks for the Timpsons suggestions, wouldn’t be my first port of call usually but maybe this is the right sort of job for them.

  11. #11
    Hmm. Wouldn’t trust a nice watch like that at Timpsons tbh. They’ll probably lever the back off with a big screwdriver first in an effort to change the battery before dropping it into the pressure tester. My father took a Longines dress watch to Timpsons a few years ago for a battery and it came back with a caseback that looked like they’d used a can opener. I wouldn’t trust them with a £20 Casio.

  12. #12
    Grand Master
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    Take the watch off before swimming,Your on holiday so time isnt an issue.You will know when its time to get out for another beer.
    Certainly wouldn't get new seals and pressure tests.


  13. #13
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobDad View Post
    Hmm. Wouldn’t trust a nice watch like that at Timpsons tbh. They’ll probably lever the back off with a big screwdriver first in an effort to change the battery before dropping it into the pressure tester. My father took a Longines dress watch to Timpsons a few years ago for a battery and it came back with a caseback that looked like they’d used a can opener. I wouldn’t trust them with a £20 Casio.
    You wouldn't ask Timpsons to change the battery - I'm not that daft! But they do say they do pressure testing as a separate service, so they wouldn't have the chance to wreck the watch, just test it. I wouldn't say that their testing would be definitive either, but it should be a good enough indication....if they say its failed, then you'd need to go somewhere else to get it serviced!

  14. #14
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobDad View Post
    Hmm. Wouldn’t trust a nice watch like that at Timpsons tbh. They’ll probably lever the back off with a big screwdriver first in an effort to change the battery before dropping it into the pressure tester. My father took a Longines dress watch to Timpsons a few years ago for a battery and it came back with a caseback that looked like they’d used a can opener. I wouldn’t trust them with a £20 Casio.
    No they don't, you hand your watch over, it is then positioned in a 'bell jar' then pull down a lever with tab onto the centre of the crystal, and 30 seconds later a digital readout shows the level of pressure test, 30/50/100 mts.
    Of course if the test failed you would then have to decide whether you would trust the person to 'lever the back off with a big screwdriver' or not.


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  15. #15
    Ok I was being deliberately facetious. It’s a shoe menders with a bell jar in the back and watches are expensive. The story about my father’s watch is true.

  16. #16
    Master
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    I know it's not answering your question and apologise for that, but for the price of a pressure test you'd probably be halfway to a decent Casio which you wouldn't have to worry about underwater. And not to have to worry about your lovely Nomos.

  17. #17
    I nipped into The Watch Lab in York to have mine tested before a holiday. He did it there and then, my watch and my wife’s too, we had a nice chat and he didn’t charge a penny. I forget how much pressure it was able to test but I have a feeling it was at least 200m.

  18. #18
    Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom-P View Post
    I know it's not answering your question and apologise for that, but for the price of a pressure test you'd probably be halfway to a decent Casio which you wouldn't have to worry about underwater. And not to have to worry about your lovely Nomos.
    100%^^.


  19. #19
    Thanks again to everyone for the comments and suggestions. I have a Casio I can wear, I just want to wear and enjoy the nomos without worrying about taking it off and keeping it safe, be it at the beach or questionable hotel room safe.

    Besides, what’s the point of buying a 200m WR watch if you can’t get it wet.

  20. #20

    Pre-Holiday MOT

    My main issue with taking a decent watch like that on holiday isn’t the water resistance, I’m more concerned about whacking it off the side of the pool whilst swimming or messing about tbh! Even a supposedly super tough watch like a Deepsea won’t enjoy a good whack off a concrete surface - and let’s face it Rolex will insist on replacement parts for a hairline on the crown nowadays!
    That’s the beauty of a G shock - you can use them as a squash ball and they won’t show a mark!
    A nice watch like that Nomos will be ruined by a ding in the case, I know watches are made to be worn though so perhaps I’m overthinking it?!

  21. #21
    Grand Master
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    Bomb & Pool proof.

    20240329_094100.jpg

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  22. #22
    Master
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    Years ago I got an Aerospace from here as a holiday watch. I had Timpsons pressure test it before I took it on holiday just to be on the safe side. Was perfectly fine in the pool and sea when I chose to wear it as such but it gave me the peace of mind to do so.

  23. #23
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by reecie View Post
    Years ago I got an Aerospace from here as a holiday watch. I had Timpsons pressure test it before I took it on holiday just to be on the safe side. Was perfectly fine in the pool and sea when I chose to wear it as such but it gave me the peace of mind to do so.
    You might have gotten a bit lucky there - lots of horror stories about Aerospaces shipping water when taken swimming. Breitling's official response when challenged has been to say that the crown must have been used / knocked.

    Breitling's webpage for the Aerospace @

    https://www.breitling.com/gb-en/watc...o/E79363101B1/

    rates it at 10 bars but when you click on the adjacent info icon for that it says:

    'This watch can be worn in the shower and for swimming at surface level.'

    - which is a scarily cautious formulation.

  24. #24
    Master KavKav's Avatar
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    To add to this thread, I have a number of expensive (to me, not the high-rollers) watches, when I go on holiday I take a cheap Casio that cost me under £20, if anything happens to it on holiday, I care not a single jot! There was a year that I was daft enough to take a Lange 1815 on holiday and spent the entire holiday making sure I did not knock it against anything, never again after that.
    If anyone abroad sees the Casio and thinks ‘cheap SOB’, I don’t care a jot about that either!
    Last edited by KavKav; 12th April 2024 at 20:41.

  25. #25
    Master
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    As a PS to this, I've just bought a pre-owned box, and whizzed straight round to Timpsons to have it pressure tested! Which they did while I waited - for free! They can only test to 100m pressure in-store, but it gives you some confidence that the seals are in decent condition. If you want to Scuba dive, you'd probably go elsewhere.

  26. #26
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom-P View Post
    You might have gotten a bit lucky there - lots of horror stories about Aerospaces shipping water when taken swimming. Breitling's official response when challenged has been to say that the crown must have been used / knocked.

    Breitling's webpage for the Aerospace @

    https://www.breitling.com/gb-en/watc...o/E79363101B1/

    rates it at 10 bars but when you click on the adjacent info icon for that it says:

    'This watch can be worn in the shower and for swimming at surface level.'

    - which is a scarily cautious formulation.
    I guess so then. Was a fair number of years ago and the watch got nicked in a break in anyway. Since then I used an Orange Monster but found it annoying that if you are on a sun bed type holiday and not wearing it much the power reserve was a bit poor. So now use a Scurfa Diver One which is pretty bomb proof in any direction you might consider 😀

  27. #27
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by reecie View Post
    I guess so then. Was a fair number of years ago and the watch got nicked in a break in anyway. Since then I used an Orange Monster but found it annoying that if you are on a sun bed type holiday and not wearing it much the power reserve was a bit poor. So now use a Scurfa Diver One which is pretty bomb proof in any direction you might consider 
    Googles Scurfa Diver One ... bloody hell yes no worries there.

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