My only bad experiences have been with falls from low height onto carpet, which to my surprise has damaged the movement and required expensive repairs.

No damage so far from any wrist related activity, including heavy stuff like using a sledge hammer and the like.

 

My only bad experiences have been with falls from low height onto carpet, which to my surprise has damaged the movement and required expensive repairs.

......I would have been so disappointed and felt like I need to reconsider staying in this hobby. A low height fall onto a carpet is barely an impact.... it's like when the train stutters once and your bottom wrist hit the hand rail. The watch bracelet/strap hit it and the watch itself is on the other side of the wrist and it STILL got damaged....
like...... what...... I'm not sure if I need this in my life.

 

Omega claim 5000G shock resistance for all its modern watches (3100G approximately correspond to drop from 1m height to wooden floor) IWC Big Pilot claim 30000G (10000G is considered to be enough to play tennis or golf safely). My own experience is limited - I'm jogging with Omega chronograph, hit a wall several times, no effect.

 

(10000G is considered to be enough to play tennis or golf safely)

Says who, or rather, where's that ridiculously high number taken from? How does a watch get accelerated to 10000g by playing golf or tennis? Assuming the watch is on the wrist, of course, not substituting for the ball..

Serious question. I'd really like to know where this nonsense comes from.

 

The nature of my trade means I tend to be hard on my body as well as my watches. From rotary hammers to sawzalls to door frames, none has damaged a movement.

Miyotas, ETAs, Selittas, a P6000 and an 8800.

The cases on the other hand carry a few nicks, dings and scratches.

 

I once dropped a watch on the ground. It landed on the crown; the crown stem was fine, but the crown itself was damaged. The movement was fine as well.

 

Any modern mechanical watch with a decent movement can take far more than one punch in the face. As you say very correctly, there are anecdotes of everything and even more people expressing their fears based on hearsay and some watch manuals that unfortunately foster this fear for whatever reason (e.g. Seiko's manuals saying you shouldn't play tennis etc.).

But the whole topic is actually not that hard to tackle. Since 1984, there's the ISO 1413 standard that describes what a shock resistant watch is. The ISO test procedure simulates dropping a watch from 1m onto a hardwood floor. Why do they simulate this scenario for the standard? Because it's the most severe shock a watch in everyday use will most likely encounter. It subjects the watch to an acceleration of 5000g, 100 times more(!!) than the impact in a typical 35mph car crash. So, that's a lot.

It's the direct impact of the hard watch case on a hard surface at considerable speed that's responsible for this very sharp acceleration. It causes the balance wheel to move severely due to its inertia and possibly bend a pivot, entangle the hairspring coils or move the regulating lever a little. Nothing you do while the watch is on your wrist and only makes contact with clothing or soft, human skin gets remotely close to this level of g-forces.

As a rule of thumb, unless the watch case makes direct(!) contact with a hard surface at some speed, any impact or shock while the watch is on your wrist will injure your wrist long before it damages a mechanical movement in your watch.

Personally, I've never had an issue due to shocks and I don't even own a G-Shock or quartz watch of that sort. I've spent years in geological surveying using jackhammers, big drills and other rattling equipment, always with a mechanical watch on my wrist. I've also dropped several watches onto concrete floors or tiles and dented their cases, but never had an issue with the movements. Some of these weren't even constructed to be tough, I remember e.g. one Junkers dress watch with a Miyota 9100 movement I accidentally dropped in the locker room after training.

It's really easy to chalk any sort of failure up to shocks and vibration. When some movement problem occurs, people will always find some activity they did in the past and conclude that this is what caused it. Even when it's completely unrelated.

 

It's the direct impact of the hard watch case on a hard surface at considerable speed that's responsible for this very sharp acceleration. It causes the balance wheel to move severely due to its inertia and possibly bend a pinion, entangle the hairspring coils or move the regulating lever a little. Nothing you do while the watch is on your wrist and only makes contact with clothing or soft, human skin gets remotely close to this level of g-forces.

Well, this isn't really true. Watches can contact hard surfaces while on your wrist - walking through a doorway and clipping the door frame is the most common. Balance springs can get tangled on the studs from this pretty easily, if the shock happens in just the right direction, at just the right time. That's what happened to this 7750 based watch:





After unhooking it, the balance spring had to be adjusted, as it was bent and no longer centered:



Same issue with this Rolex:



So it does happen when wearing the watch. If you consider this "damage" or not is debatable, but it certainly requires an intervention. You aren't going to bend a "pinion" (I think you meant pivot) while wearing the watch that is equipped with shock protection, but things can happen without damaging the body.

If the watch is dropped, it can do other damage. This one the bracelet fell apart:



The dial shifted to one side and jammed up against the hour wheel, stopping the watch:



This is an example where the direction of the shock made a huge difference.

So although I don't recommend wrapping your wrist in bubble wrap or anything, the idea that nothing bad is going to happen while you are wearing the watch (without you being damaged also) just isn't the case.

Cheers, Al

 

Please share your experiences (good and bad) regarding shock and mechanical movements.

I think I'm obsessed with the topic. I have never damaged a mechanical watch from shock, but maybe because I'm hyper aware of my left arm in action. And I will take my watch off before activities such as chopping wood or using power tools. Reading the forums one gets all different anecdotal evidence, and differing opinions on the subject. I have a physical lifestyle (both work and play) and am interested in mechanical watches that can take a punch in the face. (I was punched in the face once, but it didn't slow me down or make me stop working.🥴)

Any recommendations would be cool. I have G Shocks already, and quartz watches, but am interested in mechanical. Just bought myself a Marathon GSAR (Arctic white, 36mm) as an early Christmas present, and I'm saving up for a Stowa TO2. I know Marathon watches don't have shock resist, but so many people claim they are tough. I like Sinn but they seem to sell out fast....

Thanks.

My watch movement had to be serviced after I was scooting around the city (non electric scooter) which has very small wheels. I could feel the vibration on my scoters and sure enough it translated into a problem

 

Try a 1950s/60s Timex with the V-Conic escapement. Not the most accurate watches, but the toughest mechanicals I've ever known. The balance wheel is held in place between two plates, and the pivots sit in bearings made of an indestructible alloy.

You can drop them off a skyscraper and they will survive.

 

Dropped the watch head (Had no strap on it) from 1.5 meters onto a marble floor, checked accuracy and amplitude using an app, it was all over the place so i took it to the shop. It was an NH35 movement and from what i understand, the drop broke something in it. Cost was 30 bucks to repair.

 

I’ve never managed to damage a mechanical yet and this is perhaps more by good luck than good management. I do take the precaution of not removing/putting on a watch over a hard surface but other than that they take their chances.

 

A couple months ago I launched my SKX009 into the tile floor. It started gaining a couple hours per day.
I checked the balance and it was bad. Swapped it with another balance from a parts movement but found a chunk of jewel loose in the case.
Don’t know where it came from but ended up ordering a new movement because the old one is erratic.

 

I will add that strapping on a watch is when I have dropped watches. The SKX vents also act as a sling shot and propel the watch to the floor like a catapult if your not careful! Bracelets are inherently safer.

 

I agree, the majority of us don't have much to worry about in our day to day wear.
ISO 1413 basically says a watch that experiences shock equal to a 1 meter drop should maintain an accuracy of +/- 60 seconds per day. If that's good enough for you OP then don't fret too much about it.
If you're interested in watches that can withstand a 3 meter drop with no deviation in accuracy, check out Seaholm watches.

 

My Omega Speedmaster '57 with 9300 movement was accidentally tossed across a room at chest height, landed on a hard wood floor, and clattered around before finally coming to a stop, with my heart. Amazingly, the watch has shown no change in accuracy or power reserve, or any problem at all, still the same +2s/day, in the 6 months since impact. But then, it seems there's a load of luck involved: what exact angle was it shocked, with what force, and what were all the movement's part's various orientations at the instants of shock. When it's due for service, I'll see if there's more than the usual parts replaced.

 

When the going gets tough, the watch comes off and I avoid any possible issues as best I can.....

 

I've worn my mechanical watches whilst playing tennis plenty of times. Granted, I have a one-handed backhand, so the watch never experiences any shock from the ball contacting the racquet. But I've never experienced any detrimental effects from waving my arm around during sport.

I've never experienced any shock-related damage to my mechanical movements, but I've also never dropped a mechanical watch onto the floor, as I'm very cautious when taking off and putting on my watches. I feel like damage from falls is a far greater risk to mechanical movements than almost anything that could happen to the watch while it's on your wrist.

 

I play tennis all the time with a mechanical watch, that has a vintage movement. I've also played while wearing a vintage Speedmaster, and a JLC Master Compressor Memovox...



All were fine. I used to have a 2 handed backhand so the watch was more involved, but have switched to a one handed backhand now. I've never had any issues either, even when I've hit the deck going after a shot...

 

I had an NH35 die due to a bad landing. smuggled a movement from another NH powered watch and moved on with my life.

 

I knocked a watch off the rail in my kitchen and using my cat like reflexes I tried to catch it before it hit the floor. Rather than catching it I batted it across the room where it bounced off the wall and fell 4-5 feet to a tile floor.

In the aftermath I was left with a gouged wall, dented case and a watch that runs fine

 

I have done a reasonable amount of shock testing. I agree with the watch being worn as stated above.

What I have found is that as long as the watch is on the wrist, the body takes most of the G load and slows the watch down. A strap has slightly move shock absorbing qualities as a bracelet, but not enough to matter.

What kills a watch is a drop or direct impact of something hard.

As long as there is a person between the object and the watch, the watch will be ok.

 

Something that's related to watch shock resistance is watch cold resistance.

A watch is more shock resistant on the wrist the same way it is more cold resistant on the wrist.

The watch needs the wrist to absorb energy in shock situations, the same way it needs the wrist to provide heat energy in cold situations.

 

With my watch on my left wrist, I remove my left hand from the shopping cart when I go over the yellow detectable warning truncated domes. I don't honestly fear damage to the watch, but why risk it?
I did drop a watch from my wrist onto a tile floor when a hollow steel rivet in a Sinn (mostly) titanium bracelet clasp broke. It suffered a tiny nick in the edge of the case and a slight change to the accuracy, so no disappointment there. I was more disappointed to learn that Sinn was using hollow steel rivets in their pricey tegimented titanium bracelets. The second time it happened it only fell to a soft landing a few inches. Despite the obvious weakness in the clasp, I still adore the watch.

 

With my watch on my left wrist, I remove my left hand from the shopping cart when I go over the yellow detectable warning truncated domes.

You have speed bumps in your supermarket?

 

I rode a mountain bike for a couple years wearing my Sinn 8829 ti I and eventually the rotor came loose. Fairly simple repair and it was back running.

 

Maybe I’m a maverick, or just dumb, but I’ve chainsawed, mowed lawn, hiked, banged my left wrist into my dog and kid more times I can count. I have no movement damage yet on any mechanical, other than my SARB running obscenely slow (-1 minute a day) that happened after a few months of NOT wearing it.

 

Some people aren't too concerned. Never forget Richard Mille-gate

 

Shock is calculated based on the acceleration due to gravity, the height of the fall, the mass of the object, and most importantly - the distance in which it decelerates on impact.

It is that final factor that can result in some ridiculously high g "shocks".

 

I do not recommend wearing a mechanical watch, at least one you care about, while riding hard and fast on a road bike. Every time I did it my watch lost time, but the last time the hair spring got entangled, making the watch run visibly fast. Now I wear my dad's old Seiko QS diver.

 

Maybe lower your tire pressure a bit 😀