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Can I swim or shower with GMT ll Ceramic?


Master Chief

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If you plan to get your particular watch wet, 1st, get it properly pressure tested by a watchmaker (& do it once/year if you get your watch wet on a regular basis). Without a recent test, you are playing Russian roulette, regardless of how well Joe Blow says his rep did on a snorkeling trip last Tuesday.

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It is 100% possible with some preventative measures. Grease the seals and make sure the crystal is seated.

The only areas water can get in is the crown, crystal and the case back. They all have seals, but it would be up to you or your watchmaker to check them out first. I swim and shower with a good many of my reps, but they have all been checked and greased.

This one seems to have issues with the crystal not being seated correctly. Search for HikeUSA's problems. He couldn't wash his hands with it.

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It is 100% possible with some preventative measures. Grease the seals and make sure the crystal is seated.

The only areas water can get in is the crown, crystal and the case back. They all have seals, but it would be up to you or your watchmaker to check them out first. I swim and shower with a good many of my reps, but they have all been checked and greased.

This one seems to have issues with the crystal not being seated correctly. Search for HikeUSA's problems. He couldn't wash his hands with it.

You, I know it's crazy, but I've never taken off a rep in the shower because I was afraid of the "waterproofness" of the watch. In fact, I've taken almost every "diver" rep to the beach and/or the pool, and actually dove a few meters in the water with them. And, not just for a while, but for the entire day. The only time I've seen a problem with this is when my wife had set her Rolex TT Datejust just prior to leaving for the beach and DID NOT screw the crown in for some reason - obviously, she forgot. So, the watch was essentially ruined (which is what I would expect from my gens in the same situation).

I've taken the following reps under water, and none have been tested, that I know: Panerai Tantalium, Rolex Submariner ("Perfect" Sub), Omega UPO, Rolex Yachtmaster Rolessium. All got all of these watches from Josh around 2006. I don't know about the quality control now, but, I've read it's gotten worse. In any case, I don't recommend doing it, but, I have plenty of gens and reps, and to me, I don't take these reps too seriously. If one "drowns", I'm not going to cry about it. Heck, if I have to take it off to shower, or at the beach, I'm better off buying an Invicta. LOL

Edited by Nouns Defions
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On my GMT IIC, the water got thru the improperly seated crystal! It's on it's way to China now! This particular model, ASIAN 21J IHS, is guaranted to be water resistant up to 10M, so it should be safe for swimming and snorkling! If the dealer guarantees it as such, I take their word for it (silly me?) or else it goes back! The reason why I dont even bother to open and grease all the rubbers when its guaranteed is because of that! "Guarantee void if opened!" I also believe that in the rep world!

I just ordered an SSD that is guaranteed down to 100M and I'll dive with it in the cold waters of Lake Michigan at the end of the month, out of the box! I'll let you know what happens!

If there's no guarantee stated, then as soon as I get the watch, I open and grease all the rubbers.....caseback and crown! If it doesn't have one where it's suppose to be, I put one on it (happened on a few models)! So far, it works for me! just dont' let me touch the keyworks.....right, SirLance???? :D

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Rule number one: Keep the reps out of water.

Rule number two: See the rule number one.

With all do respect BT im with Freddy on this one if proper persuasions are taken there is no risk at all ...

Also SD4K test seam to tell the same story ... i learned my lesson once now proper greasing the seals a close case inspection and visit to the watchmaker for a pressure test will account safe swimming and showering ...

Just my 2 cents ...

Regards Laz

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just dont' let me touch the keyworks.....right, SirLance???? :D

I dont think you actually ever touched the keyless works. :) I kid.

You make me sick with your trips Hike. I am looking forward to taking next week off to relax at the beach,

BUT you Mr. Hike have like 6 full months of fun [censored] already planned out. Enjoy it my friend but stay away from my girlfriend.

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Guest carlsbadrolex

I have taken almost every rep I own to the beach, pool, dive platform. I dont take the chrono's, but if its a dive watch... its been in the water. I havent had any fail yet. I will admit, the GMT IIc hasnt gone in yet, but when Im working 14-16 hours per day, its tough to find time to go swimming!

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I have a silly question. Why do guys wear your watch in the shower? Seems to me that it would just get in the way no matter how water resistant it is.

@tr4

Because we're lazy to take it off! Specially after working out! That also washes the sweat/salt away!

I dont think you actually ever touched the keyless works. :) I kid.

You make me sick with your trips Hike. I am looking forward to taking next week off to relax at the beach,

BUT you Mr. Hike have like 6 full months of fun [censored] already planned out. Enjoy it my friend but stay away from my girlfriend.

@SirLance

Thanks! Your girlfriend is safe with me! I'll just oogle her! :D BTW: Thanks so much for the re-assembly offer!

I have taken almost every rep I own to the beach, pool, dive platform. I dont take the chrono's, but if its a dive watch... its been in the water. I havent had any fail yet. I will admit, the GMT IIc hasnt gone in yet, but when Im working 14-16 hours per day, its tough to find time to go swimming!

@CBR

I'm glad I have a partner on this! BTW: Thanks so much for the Movement!

ATTN RWG MEMBERS!!!!

Those two guys up there!!!! Sir-Lance and carlsbad are two outstanding members of this FORUM! My hats off to both of them! We need more

members like these two!

Hike!

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@tr4

Because we're lazy to take it off! Specially after working out! That also washes the sweat/salt away!

Hike, I hate to tell you this, but unless you rinse yourself (& your watch) off with denatured alcohol upon leaving your shower, that soap you use to wash the sweat/salt away may also be leaving a nice additive residue on & around the gaskets in your watch which decreases their lifespan & increases the chance for leakage. Just look at the scum it leaves on your shower tiles (unless/until you remove it with a bathroom cleaner). And the repetitive heating/cooling, which leads to repetitive expansion/contraction of the rubber material, does not help either. :thumbdown:

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Hike, I hate to tell you this, but unless you rinse yourself (& your watch) off with denatured alcohol upon leaving your shower, that soap you use to wash the sweat/salt away may also be leaving a nice additive residue on & around the gaskets in your watch which decreases their lifespan & increases the chance for leakage. Just look at the scum it leaves on your shower tiles (unless/until you remove it with a bathroom cleaner). And the repetitive heating/cooling, which leads to repetitive expansion/contraction of the rubber material, does not help either. :thumbdown:

Freddy! Thanks! Yup! I completely agree with you! That's why I wash and rinse them real good when they go back to storage and also re-check the seals every 6 months to a year depending on how often I wear them!

This is good advice!

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@Hike, That's what friends are for, and it's easy to want to help good honest people like you.

I cant tell you how many times someone here has helped me out when I thought my projects were doomed, so it's nice to be able to help someone else out in return.

We need more members like you my friend.

@freddy, I rinse myself in scotch, would it help if I tossed one on the old Polex too?

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Baby shampoo is pretty good to clean your watch. it is gentle, doesn't leave residue (as long as you rinse well), and is still effective in breaking down the oils left from sweat and your skin.

One thing that I highly, and I can't stress enough, is to avoid getting bug spray on your watch! That stuff is nasty! Sure it will keep the mosquitos away, but is also is pretty hard on your watch. We were at the lake and the mosquitos were pretty bad, so I sprayed some Deep Woods Off on myself to keep from getting bites. I got some overspray on my watch and didn't think much of it. The crystal is acrylic, and it is now shot. There are small marks all over the crystal that do not come out. They look like small burns. Also, the tube gasket is toast as some of the bug spray seeped in there. I wore the watch (which was tested WP) in the pool and it fogged up right away.

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One thing that I highly, and I can't stress enough, is to avoid getting bug spray on your watch! That stuff is nasty! Sure it will keep the mosquitos away, but is also is pretty hard on your watch. We were at the lake and the mosquitos were pretty bad, so I sprayed some Deep Woods Off on myself to keep from getting bites. I got some overspray on my watch and didn't think much of it. The crystal is acrylic, and it is now shot. There are small marks all over the crystal that do not come out. They look like small burns. Also, the tube gasket is toast as some of the bug spray seeped in there. I wore the watch (which was tested WP) in the pool and it fogged up right away.

Excellent tip, Stilty. I was not aware of that & I use that stuff too. :(

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Guest carlsbadrolex
If you rinse yourself in scotch, why would you need to shower?

Well thanks Freddy, I will be sure to send you the bill for cleaning my computer. I just spit an entire bottle of Gatorade on to my notebook.

THAT was classic, and with your permission may be my new signature line (of course I will give you credit)

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My Eurotimez Noob was, until I changed the crown I guess, as Chris said it was greased and looked after before being sent out.

p6062453ji1.jpg

and my Bony likes a dip

p5022249tb7.jpg

But who knows with the gmt11c, i know my mbw srsd wasnt and it cost $$$ to repair it. I suppose it depends on the movement if you want to test it for us all. CHS i would look after also Swiss ICH but you should be able to get an asian ICH form your dealer if you screw it up.

st4

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Well thanks Freddy, I will be sure to send you the bill for cleaning my computer. I just spit an entire bottle of Gatorade on to my notebook.

THAT was classic, and with your permission may be my new signature line (of course I will give you credit)

Permission granted (sorry about the spillage).

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