Damage Done To Valuable Watches

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 92, 6 September 1950, Page 6

Damage Done To Valuable Watches

Damage being done to valuable wristlet watches through owners’ disregard of normal protective methods has prompted the Federated Retail Jewellers’ Association of Australia to issue a public warning.

Thg chairman of the Board of Management of the Association, Mr Mark Barnett, in an official announcement, said that many wristlet watch owners were taking in a. too literal sense the description “waterproof,” applied to the watches, and were surfing, having showers, and in many ways subjecting the delicate mechanism to such unnatural treatment that great damage was being done.

“The matter is of such concern to the jewellery trade today,” said Mr Barnett, “that we intend to take the matter up with the Swiss watchmaking industry.”

Mr Barnett said that customers and distributors in increasing numbers were concerned over damage reported to “shockproof” and “waterproof” watches. Originally, he said, the term “waterproof” was given to a type of Swiss watch that would prevent water entering the case if the wearer met with some accident. In the case of the “shockproof watch,” it was fitted with what was called an Incabloc to absorb knocks and jars, but that did not mean that the watch could be dropped on rocks and concrete floors without being damaged. In the case of the “waterproof” watches, so much publicised in recent years, there had grown up a custom of wearing them under showers, surfing in them, and going out sailing with them. These were hazards far beyond what the manufacturers and distributors intended.

Mr Barnett said that, no matter how perfectly made “waterproof” watches were, there was no perfect and durable seal against dampness entering if prolonged immersion occurred. For instance, the oiled leather washer or packing in the pendant through which the stem passes to allow winding and hand setting might dry, shrink, or become worn as a result of long use.