Facts about Water Resistant Watches

Checking Water Resistant Watches

The most common failure of a watch case to be water resistant is caused by a leak resulting from a faulty contact between the case parts such as an opening around the glass, crown, pushers and related parts like worn O-ring rubber gaskets.

Superior Watch Service Inc. co-developed one of the most sophisticated Swiss water resistant testing machines. Even with such, we are more demanding than an ordinary shop. At our service center, we have implemented our own strict quality control using two independent testing machines whereby water resistant watches are subject to five rigorous tests, comprised of air pressure and/or water pressure tests. Printouts are available for water resistant tests (see sample below).

Proper Maintenance

Water resistancy is not a permanent condition, it must be maintained! We inspect all case parts before we close a water resistant watch, and gaskets, crystals and crowns that are defective are replaced to keep the watch properly sealed. All water resistant watches should be tested for tightness of the case once a year.

Printouts from our water resistance testing machine look like these samples. Although these printouts indicate all tests passed, the first test actually reflects a microscopic leak (47 out of 60 seconds shows an inability of the watch to maintain applied pressure for the full sampling time). In our service center, a watch having undergone the first test as shown would be considered as not water resistant. We would continue to investigate the source of the leak, remedy the problem, and subject the watch to further tests until perfect results were achieved.