Phones magnetising watches?

[belodion]

Have any wearers of mechanical watches found that phones used in close proximity to the watches, as they are almost bound to be, cause magnetisation? I’ve had two such watches suddenly running abnormally fast recently, and the only likely cause I can think of is phones, despite their relatively weak magnetic effects. One test for magnetisation is the Lepsi app, which I downloaded onto an iPhone, and which uses the phone’s sensors diagnostically. It gave a positive reading, though I don’t know how reliable it is.
If they are causing trouble, the only fix would seem to be regular use of a watch demagnetiser.

 

[Tim1954]

Hmmm, food for thought there... We are wondering if magnets bother our devices, but nobody seems to have thought of the reverse... Any current flow will set up a magnetic field, so one wonders.. I wouldn't have thought the weak and high frequency radiation would be able to do that, however...
You should do a study : park a watch right next to the phone, and another as far away as possible and see what transpires...

 

[belodion]

I will, once I've got a demagnetiser. They don't cost too much.

 

[kramer5150]

Not at all... at least not with my iPhone 5C, LGV10 and any of the mechanical watches in my collection. FWIW I have asian movements from SII, miyota, seagull and Seiko Japan. The only time I notice magnetized objects near my "watch" is with the suunto clipper wrist compass I use on my g-shock. It needs to be about ~1 inch away from the watch body for best accuracy. Not a big deal mind you, since I only really use it to maintain my N-S line while hiking and backpacking.

Do you store your watches nearby a Qi charging pad, like on a night stand? Maybe try unplugging it when not in use?

A lot of mechanical watches advertise as being non-magnetic or magnetically immune, but I am sure that criteria was not established with regard to todays electro-mag environment. Watch making is such an ancient technology, I am absolutely certain neither the watchmakers or the Qi charge makers have each others product in mind when conceiving their designs.

It could also be the NFC coil... is there any way to turn that off?

 

[belodion]

I don’t use a charging pad and so far as I can think have nothing that could plausibly cause this except phones, and even that is not very plausible from what I’ve read. It could just be coincidence, though the app I mentioned did show a positive on a couple of watches. It could also be that tools that I’ve used when opening watches to adjust them have been magnetised, or even that I’m one of those people who exert a baleful electromagnetic influence on delicate instruments, assuming that such people exist all.