parachrom vs. syloxi vis-à-vis magnetism

[Nimettomana]

Hello all,

parachrom vs. syloxi, the main difference as I understand is that the escapement wheel would also be made of paramagnetic material.

Does that make the watches with the syloxi 2236 caliber anti-magnetic?

PS: As far as I know, only the Milgauss is anti-magnetic, right? What does it have that the others don't? Or can I already buy a watch with the parachrom and not have to worry about it getting magnetized?

Cheers & thanks.

[Im Lauf der Zeit]

What kind of magnetic fields are you exposed to?

[Nimettomana]

Radio transmitters, on the telecommunications side. Some of them have highly dense magnets.

[77T]

Transmitters have magnets?

Not that I'm aware. But you can be in a heightened electro-magnetic field if the transmitter isn't properly grounded and shielded.

You shouldn't have problems unless you get on the wrong end of an active microwave horn.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Nimettomana

Hello all,

parachrom vs. syloxi, the main difference as I understand is that the escapement wheel would also be made of paramagnetic material.

Does that make the watches with the syloxi 2236 caliber anti-magnetic?

PS: As far as I know, only the Milgauss is anti-magnetic, right? What does it have that the others don't? Or can I already buy a watch with the parachrom and not have to worry about it getting magnetized?

Cheers & thanks.

Today there are other parts that could get magnetised in any watch but in general its the hairspring that causes the most problems.While in the Rolex video it states the Parachrom is 10 time more shockproof and more anti-magnetic, but what they don't state is to what.Most certainly not the Nivarox ones that Rolex and most of the watch industry have used for the past 40 odd years.And with the magnetic test where they hold a powerful magnet over a open case on a watch.So if you don't wear your watch dial down with the case back off with a powerful magnet near any hairspring.Then I would doubt in the real world that it would make little or no difference whatever the name of hairspring in the case was.The silicon syloxi hairspring is more suited to the smaller movements like the cal 2235/6.And watches like the Milguass have a secondary internal Faraday cage over the movement as further protection.This is for watches used in a very strong magnetic field which I would doubt only a very very tiny percentage would ever come in contact with.

Myself being a HAM radio operator now use and repair and mod high power transceivers and repair powerful RF amplifies and come into contact with quite strong magnetic fields. And never had a problem and all my watches have the Nivarox hairsprings .

Now Nivarox that's the name of the alloy much like Rolex calls there Parachrom. Today it is used mainly in the watch/clock industry, but also in other micro-machine industries and in certain types of medical equipment and high precision surgical instruments. There are several variations of the Nivarox alloy depending upon the intended application. These alloys are stainless steel alloys with high concentrations of Cobalt (42-48%), Nickel (15-25%) and Chromium (16-22%). There are also small amounts of titanium and beryllium. Hairsprings made of this alloy are highly wear-resistant,and they are practically non-magnetic in normal wearing,and non-rusting and possess a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

Nivarox 1 through 5 is a series of grades of hairsprings with number 1 being the best quality. The most commonly encountered Nivarox hairsprings in the watch industry are grades 1 to 3. The alloy is unaffected by heat and normal every day ordinary magnetic fields. There is however, also the Anachron hairspring which is said to be of even higher quality than the Nivarox No 1 grade.Who knows perhaps that the grade that Rolex used over the past 40 odd years.But today if any watch that does get magnetised a very simple process to de-magnetise most high street watchmaker jeweler could do it.


Fact specs from Nivarox Far.

[joli160]

Thanks Peter, learning everyday

[77T]

Originally Posted by padi56

Today there are other parts that could get magnetised in any watch but in general its the hairspring that causes the most problems.While in the Rolex video it states the Parachrom is 10 time more shockproof and more anti-magnetic, but what they don't state is to what.Most certainly not the Nivarox ones that Rolex and most of the watch industry have used for the past 40 odd years.And with the magnetic test where they hold a powerful magnet over a open case on a watch.So if you don't wear your watch dial down with the case back off with a powerful magnet near any hairspring.Then I would doubt in the real world that it would make little or no difference whatever the name of hairspring in the case was.The silicon syloxi hairspring is more suited to the smaller movements like the cal 2235/6.And watches like the Milguass have a secondary internal Faraday cage over the movement as further protection.This is for watches used in a very strong magnetic field which I would doubt only a very very tiny percentage would ever come in contact with.

Myself being a HAM radio operator now use and repair and mod high power transceivers and repair powerful RF amplifies and come into contact with quite strong magnetic fields. And never had a problem and all my watches have the Nivarox hairsprings .

Now Nivarox that's the name of the alloy much like Rolex calls there Parachrom. Today it is used mainly in the watch/clock industry, but also in other micro-machine industries and in certain types of medical equipment and high precision surgical instruments. There are several variations of the Nivarox alloy depending upon the intended application. These alloys are stainless steel alloys with high concentrations of Cobalt (42-48%), Nickel (15-25%) and Chromium (16-22%). There are also small amounts of titanium and beryllium. Hairsprings made of this alloy are highly wear-resistant,and they are practically non-magnetic in normal wearing,and non-rusting and possess a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

Nivarox 1 through 5 is a series of grades of hairsprings with number 1 being the best quality. The most commonly encountered Nivarox hairsprings in the watch industry are grades 1 to 3. The alloy is unaffected by heat and normal every day ordinary magnetic fields. There is however, also the Anachron hairspring which is said to be of even higher quality than the Nivarox No 1 grade.Who knows perhaps that the grade that Rolex used over the past 40 odd years.But today if any watch that does get magnetised a very simple process to de-magnetise most high street watchmaker jeweler could do it.


Fact specs from Nivarox Far.

Much more eloquently put


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[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Nimettomana

Radio transmitters, on the telecommunications side. Some of them have highly dense magnets.

I understand your concern completely.

The balance is not magnetized so it's not the issue.
As previously mentioned, it's actually the Hair spring that's the problem.

I would imagine the Milgauss would be the ultimate solution.

I am surprised at how easily a watch with the Nivarox hair spring can be magnetised.
A little over 2 years ago, I was wearing my EXPLORER 114270 whilst spring cleaning the house, and I moved my HI-FI loud speakers whilst wearing the watch.
The watch had just returned 2 weeks prior from being serviced by Rolex, and was running about +0.25(max) seconds fast per day.
Later that night, I noticed it had picked up about 20 seconds.

So the next day I took it into the AD that I go through for servicing, and told them the problem with the watch, and suggested that I may have magnetised it while moving the loud speakers.
It was sent back to Rolex and returned 1 week later running slightly better than it was originally at no charge.
Rolex reported that it was indeed magnetized and all they did was degauss it.

I now have a watch that has the Parachrom Blue hairspring and have never had a problem with it being magnetized whilst moving the loud speakers.

I have no doubt about what Rolex says about the advantages of the anti-magnetic properties of the Parachrom Blue hair spring, over the Nivarox hair springs.
My experience bears witness, and I don't think Rolex have any legitimate reason to deceive.

The silicon hair spring for all intents and purposes, should be superior again to the Parachrom Blue.

At the end of the day, your only options in a men's watch will be the Parachrom Blue hair spring as it's the only one fitted to the larger movements.
The soft iron core around the movement of the Milgauss takes the anti-magnetic protection to another level again.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Nimettomana

Hello all,

parachrom vs. syloxi, the main difference as I understand is that the escapement wheel would also be made of paramagnetic material.

Does that make the watches with the syloxi 2236 caliber anti-magnetic?

PS: As far as I know, only the Milgauss is anti-magnetic, right? What does it have that the others don't? Or can I already buy a watch with the parachrom and not have to worry about it getting magnetized?

Cheers & thanks.

The balance wheel has been made of non-magnetic Glucydur for years and is nonmagnetic. Rolex did not make the Parachrom because the Nivarox they used wasn't non-magnetic, it is. They made their own hairspring because ETA/FAR was planning to no longer offer the high end Nivarox Rolex used to non-Swatch manufacturers. They simply wanted an in-house source for their own product that was at least as good as the Nivarox. The rest is marketing.

The Syloxi hairspring used in the Ladies movements does not make them any more anti-magnetic than the Parachrom. There are still plenty of parts that can become magnetized in a typical movement, notably the pallet fork. It does make the Ladies movement thinner, hence a flatter, smaller watch can be made with it, potentially.

Today, when a watchmaker says the watch was magnetized, it is no longer the hairspring they are talking about but rather the other parts that can have an affect on the movement. The Milgauss uses non-ferrous parts, different from the standard, and a Faraday cage around the movement to limit this, but still, at high levels, even the Milgauss can be affected.

[Rashid.bk]

You need an Omega, not Rolex.
Even the Milguass is not anti-magnetic per se, it's inside a cage. If magnetism is a concern you need one of Omega's 15,000guass movements vs the Milguass which is just 1,000guass.

But if it must be Rolex, as stated above, your needs will likely not be met.

[Nimettomana]

Thanks all, really appreciate the detailed input.


The Milgauss is an interesting option - for those with huge wrists. For me, the max I can wear is a 38,5.

As regards degaussing, well, I am from a country where it costs 40 EUR just to shorten the bracelet, and none of the watchmakers would have a reasonable cost to de-magnetise the watch! Knowing the local prices, oh, I'd even hate to think about it.

What are the prices around the world is there is a need for demagnetisation?

I am really enamoured by these two models:
http://www.rolex.com/watches/baselwo...perpetual.html

and the

http://www.rolex.com/watches/baselwo...master-ii.html

Some suggested Omega, and yes, I understand that the new anti-magnetics of 1.5 tesla are really the talk around. Why then is Rolex lagging behind?

[rollerball]

The Omega > 15,000 guass movement is having me re-looking at their offerings. I am amaze at how Omega has progress through the years.