What is the best way to store the pocket watches?

[usadude]

Now that the issue of rust has become one of the major causes of damage to watches, what is the best way to store them. I was thinking about storing them with some type of mosture absorbing material. I would like to hear from the experts on this. Thanks in advance for any information.

USA Dude

[usadude]

Now that the issue of rust has become one of the major causes of damage to watches, what is the best way to store them. I was thinking about storing them with some type of mosture absorbing material. I would like to hear from the experts on this. Thanks in advance for any information.

USA Dude

[Jon Hanson]

Duder,

Exactly, in a dry place, with a dehumidifier, and moisture absorbers (check the gun catalgues for bags of these which can be dried out in the oven); AND, don't take your watches to the beach!

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Jon Hanson, nawcc#8801
Founder & President, NAWCC chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

[mikem53]

What is a "safe" humidity to store watches at? I live in a fairly humid climate. With AC on in the summer, my hygrometer in my room is about 48%-52% humidity.
Do I need to take additional precautions?
Thanks
Mike

[Jon Hanson]

I would say, nothing more than 50; BUT, get a dehumidifier and use the moisture accumulation packs.

Remember, NEVER STORE WATCHES OR METAL (TOOLS, COINS, etc.) IN PLASTIC BAGS OF ANY TYPE-the moisture gets in and can't get out!

Jon

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Jon Hanson, nawcc#8801
Founder & President, NAWCC chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

[mikem53]

Thanks for sharing Jon.. Great information!!

[Greg Davis]

Geez, all this has me depressed. I live in Houston where humidity frequently and persistently hovers at or over 90%. I guess friends don't let friends send watches to Houston. :frown:

[Jon Hanson]

Greg,

Do you know any copper coin collectors in Houston? Most people in the "South" collect gold and silver-can you imagine what the steel work on a watch would look like after a few years in the drawer?

Everyone,

KEEP THEM DRY! And, DON'T OPEN BASEMENT WINDOWS and let in the humidity!

Jon

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Jon Hanson, nawcc#8801
Founder & President, NAWCC chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

[This message has been edited by Jon Hanson (edited 08-01-2002).]

[mikem53]

Greg.. If you run the AC in the summer which I'm sure you do (after living in TX for 19+ years, I know) you are probably OK.. The heat in the winter also dries out the air.
I now am in NC and its hot and humid.. the AC runs quite a bit and the humidity level is acceptable.
mike

[misterfox]

I store mine in an area that is at a pretty constant temperature. In ammo boxes (they seal) with silica gel to absorb humidity. I always wonder if this is the best way to store watches, but can't come up with anything better.....

Fox

[Tim]

Best to seal the ammo boxes on a dry day to begin with, and open them up for an air exchange every once in a while.

-Tim

[Barry Parker]

Whilst pondering over the problem of the long term storage of items subject to rust and/or corrosion the thought came to mind, that to overcome the effects of the water vapor and other airborne pollutants surrounding the objects, perhaps removal of the air itself would be the solution.
This would mean having a hermetically sealed safe, or storage room, from which the air could be removed by a suction pump, thus creating a vaccuum within the storage area.

Having seen how an ordinary household vaccuum cleaner may be used to remove the air from plastic storage bags, it seemed that it would be relatively simple to fit a one way valve to an ordinary safe and hermetically seal the door to make it air-tight, connect up the vaccuum cleaner and suck out all of the air within.

Seemed like a simple idea so I searched around the internet and only found one commercial Dutch firm which makes vacuum sealed safes. I also found a site which supplies museums with specialised air control systems, mostly used for the storage of important paper items.

I also came across a reference to using 'sacrificial' metals to prevent rust forming. Apparently, by wiring a scrap piece of magnesium metal to a steel object, such as a vintage car or motorcycle, the magnesium will corrode before any rust will form on the connected steel item.
There was also a mention that sacrificial plates were often attached to ship's hulls in order to defer corrosion to copper metal hulls.

I also came across a reference to 'golden rods' at a place called, Frontier Safes.
They have a site showing humidistats and Golden Rods for complete humidity control for storage safes. click here (http://www.frontiersafe.com/options/option.html)

Perhaps some of the more technically minded guys could comment further upon these ideas.
Barry Parker

[John Harris]

Holey Moley

You folks are over thinking this one.

If you are planning on storing the watches for centuries, I MIGHT consider the vacuum packaging and such. However, the 90+ year old Hamilton 992 I have that was my Grandaddy's looks fine. It spent the 1st 1/2 of its life in humid AL witth no a/c the second 1/2 of its life was spent in a controlled climate.

I suppose you folks can get out a psychometric chart and start calculating dew points!!

Just clean and oil them and let them run every now and then.

If you are preserving them for the ages go pack them in cosmoline and never see them again.

FWIW, I think a low wattage light bulb should work as well as a "golden rod". The gr just raises the air temp. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. It doesn't lower the "absolute humidity" it just raises the temp and therfore lowers the relative humidity. Kind of like cold winter mornings the humidity is 100% but there is darn near zero water in the air. it is DRY but still 100% humidity. At work we spec dry air by dew point and not by relative humidity. RH is tempdependant.

I am just rambling on.

I think the bottom line is do whatever makes you feel good. if the air feels good to you, it will most likely be fine for the watch. just keep them in a air conditioned house and not in a damp basement or an outside garage.



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NAWCC Member Number 0156136

[Tim]

A vacuum cleaner and one-way valve can only pump down a room so much. For high vacuum levels, specialized equipment is required.

I think a reasonably well sealed box and a dessicant pack would be more than enough.

[MikeP]

John Harris is absolutely right...if YOU are comfortable, your watch is fine. (So is your piano, or your guitar, or your harpsichord).

Vacuum-ized Safes? Holy Moly! :smile:

[Greg Davis]

Well, I'm just glad it's okay to send watches to Houston. :smile:

[usadude]

The reason I was asking, everyone was saying to have the watch cleaned and serviced every few years. I would hate to think I would have to spend hundreds of dollars on the watches I have every few years. They are nice but after a few years the cost of service would be more than the watches would every be worth. I think putting them in my gun cabinet with a small heater is the way I will go. If anyone was interested in pulling the air our of a container, there are lots of those home devices for use with plastic bags that would work great, they can be found at local swap meets, and would be great for very long term storage. Thanks for the information.

USA Dude

[Tim]

If you use a sealed container, make sure there is some way of absorbing/eliminating ALL of the water.

-Tim

[Kent]

USA Dude:

Yes, watches should be serviced every two or three years - but only if you're actually using them. If a watch is just sitting in a locked box, and its going to stay there for years, there's no need to have it serviced.

Kent

[Tim]

usadude:

However, if you do put a watch in a box for long-term storage, you should wind it and let it run down once every few months to keep the oil properly distributed.

-Tim

[Tom McIntyre]

Why does it matter what the oil distribution is on a watch that is not running? A watch can run dry for several minutes without any harm. It is likely they can run dry for 30 hours without harm as long as it is not done too often. It is not as though the parts had abrasive surfaces. Polished steel running in a polished jewel in the absence of dust and grit should be pretty good.

I wonder if anyone has ever done the experiment of running clean watches with and without oil for something like maybe 500 hours and comparing them for wear?

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Tom McIntyre
Past President, NAWCC Chapters 174 and 87
Member Chapters 8, 87, 149, 159, 161 and 174
NAWCC: Crafts Committee, Web Committee
Pocket Horology Web (http://www.pocketwatch.org)
Tommy the JOAT's Web (http://www.AWCo.org)

[Spike]

?Watches should be serviced every two or three years - but only if you're actually using them. If a watch is just sitting in a locked box, and it?s going to stay there for years, there's no need to have it serviced.?

I believe that lubricants tend to deteriorate (oxidize, congeal, etc.) over time regardless of use or non-use; that?s why lube schedules say things like ?every year or every 5000 miles.? Are watches an exception?

[Kent]

*sigh*

No, that's what I get for not being too explicit. The watch can sit unused in storage for years or decades without being serviced. But afterwards, it'll need to be serviced before being run for any length of time.

Kent

[Tom McIntyre]

I am sure some watchmakers will want to correct me, but I don't think properly applied synthetic oils really congeal. You end up with a very thin film of oil that probably will stay "oily" for 25 years or more.

If a lot of excess oil is applied, that may not be true.

If you think about it a minute, suppose you want to show off your watch collection twice a year. You wind each watch 2 turns to make it go and it runs about 6 hours. That means the watch gets 12 hours of wear a year. Even if the oil is no good at all, there will not be any significant wear to the watch in the 15 years or so you are likely to have it.

I personally think the watches are probably good for at least 500 hours with no oil if the pivots and jewels are in good condition. At 12 hours running per year that would be about 41.5 years before you would expect to see any wear.

If watches typically turn over every 10 to 15 years and get cleaned and oiled by the new owner, then they will last forever.

The existence of running 300 year old watches would tend to support my conjecture.

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Tom McIntyre
Past President, NAWCC Chapters 174 and 87
Member Chapters 8, 87, 149, 159, 161 and 174
NAWCC: Crafts Committee, Web Committee
Pocket Horology Web (http://www.pocketwatch.org)
Tommy the JOAT's Web (http://www.AWCo.org)

[StanJS]

I had a dickens of a time getting my ID verified. This is a test post to see if I'm truly a member.

Here is a practical comment on this subject that is going to sound silly. If you store your watches in a safe deposit box at the bank, don't store them in the bottom rows. Pick a high one.

I live in New England and this spring we had some serious flooding. There was 18 inches of water in the vault of our bank. I was glad my box was at shoulder level. Even if your bank (or house) is not in a flood plain, pipes break. Higher is better.

Cheers,
Stan