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Oil filled watches


yankeedog

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Hello all, 

Of late I have noticed that some folks have taken to filling their quartz  watches with oil. Either mineral  or silicone. In an effort  to increase their water resistance  by making them incompressible.I am also thinking I could not hurt to have the movement  immersed  in lubricant. Does  anyone  have any experience  doing this? Please  opine. 

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The real reason is to be able to see the watch underwater at angles without distortion. Silicone oil is the way to go as mineral can disintegrate plastic parts. Really unless youre a scuba diver its really not worth the effort as any future work will require extra work. Also once its filled theres no turning back without a complete restoration.

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did you notice if you go to YouTube where the video is the comments have been turned off? Always suspicious when I see a video or you cannot comment.

to get a better understanding I found a company that's doing it. Notice if you look at their link below the reference to mechanical watches can't be used because too much friction of trying to run in the fluid.  this is an interesting comment because quartz watches are even more susceptible to friction than mechanical watches. My suspicion is they designed a special quartz watch plus the reference to the lithium battery they probably have a super large battery to make up for all the energy loss of trying to drive the secondhand through a fluid. Also a note they don't actually say what the fluid is but I suspect that it's probably superlight fluid. So all the hobbyists filling their watches with mineral oil are going to get a very short running time.

 

https://www.sinn.de/en/HYDRO.htm

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Thanks to all on your input.I suspect a higher  torque   movement  like maybe a ronda lithium  battery  one would be in order. What also intrigues  me is possible  increased  resistance  to vibration. I know that certain  instruments  used  in high  vibration  environments  were once oil filled.  I  ride a motorcycle  and have noticed that neither mechanical  nor  quartz  movements   can long tolerate  the vibration.  I was  wondering  if an oil filled  watch would have better  resistance  to this .opinions  please. 

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