Moisture ingress to 5711

[waspy1]

Can anyone advise what I should expect to hear from PP service centre regarding moisture ingress to my 3.5 year old 5711? Clearly it's outside the warranty period but does that mean I'm stuck with the cost of service and repair to the movement, hands and dial?

I was swimming in the pool, only on the surface, no diving etc. Watch was fine when I came out. I even took photos of it by the pool and it was perfect. Next day I was driving with my hand near the a/c vent and I noticed fogging on the crystal. I checked the crown and it was tight.

It'll be several days before I can get it to the service centre so I'm worried that the damage could be extensive and hence costly. Does anyone have experience of something like this?


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[lapince]

Oh that sucks, sorry man, hope it's gonna be taken care off

[waspy1]

Originally Posted by lapince

Oh that sucks, sorry man, hope it's gonna be taken care off

Thanks lapince!


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[enjoythemusic]

It is good you discovered the problem early. Yes, you will need to pay for the cost of service and repair to the movement, hands and dial if/as needed. Am a bit surprised a watch that is less than four years old already has a gasket problem.

[PJ S]

Overlapping from your service thread, but assuming Patek are using the same gasket material that the rest of the world does, nowadays, they shouldn’t have perished in this short a timeframe.

OP, is this the first time you’ve swam with the watch?
If so, then I’m surmising there may have been an issue for a while, if not from day one – but that’s assuming it has been water ingression.
As you stated, with your wrist near the car’s air vent, I wonder if it was simply an anomaly resulting from the cold AC’d air chilling the crystal?

Before rushing to drop it off, if you have a local watch repair centre, ask them to pressure test the watch (120m) and see if it passes.
If it does, then either the crown was slightly unscrewed when swimming or it’s the air inside condensing on a cold crystal – either way, it should be looked at, just to be on the safe side.

[waspy1]

It's not the first time I've swam with it, have fine pretty often. I noticed it when held near the blower but even in a cool room I can see signs of condensation so I'm sure it needs opened up.

Pretty gutted if I'm now expected to fork out several k for repair on a relatively new piece. The crown was definitely seated fully so it must be a gasket issue.


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[texex91]

Pics...

[HorologyK]

I have mine pressure checked yearly for this reason. Gaskets can go bad at any time unfortunately.

[malarky_hk]

That sucks if indeed there's a defect!

[waspy1]

Originally Posted by texex91

Pics...

Sorry, I never took a pic of it. Looks just like a blue 5711 with a foggy crystal though...


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[PJ S]

Originally Posted by HorologyK

I have mine pressure checked yearly for this reason. Gaskets can go bad at any time unfortunately.

When they’re old, yes – but this is only a sub-4 year old watch!
An almost 10½ years old Seiko of mine – never been serviced (working perfectly), gets cleaned/rinsed as needed, doesn’t have a screw-down crown – is possibly still 100m water resistant. Even if not, the washing of it hasn’t given rise to anything bar a clean watch.
Anecdotally, this seems typical of Seiko’s quality/durability – so if they can do it, Patek (and the rest) should be just as capable.

With modern watches and seals/gaskets, I wouldn’t even begin to think about pressure testing for at least the first 5 years, especially if worn in rotation and needing started each time with a bit of winding.
If the crown was being unscrewed every other day or so, then yes – insofar as theoretically speaking – you would imagine they had a bit more wear than normal, and have it tested as a precautionary measure.

[waspy1]

Btw, this watch had seen a maximum of 2 months wear and possibly only half that.


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[incontrol]

Awful news! It is too new for the gaskets to be bad already. I hope it does not cost you a lot to repair.


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[HorologyK]

This is why I'm drunk on Rolex again. Too many of these issues happening.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by waspy1

Btw, this watch had seen a maximum of 2 months wear and possibly only half that.

Ok, even I am in disbelief. Ok, I believe you as the owner, yet still... just hard to believe how far downhill Patek has gone.

[locutus49]

Not good. Hope you get it fixed. But a lesson to the rest of us: don't go swimming with a Nautilus.

[soundserious]

Would a recommended service prevented this?

[martinr]

Originally Posted by locutus49

Not good. Hope you get it fixed. But a lesson to the rest of us: don't go swimming with a Nautilus.

I've had blue and white, no problem with swimming or washing under water.

[HorologyK]

Originally Posted by martinr

I've had blue and white, no problem with swimming or washing under water.

Agree. I swam with all my Aqua & Nautilus' frequently and never had an issue.

[cinch]

Maybe the crown wasn't fully screwed down, it's easily done.

[lapince]

Originally Posted by HorologyK

Agree. I swam with all my Aqua & Nautilus' frequently and never had an issue.

Sure you never do until you do, even an AP CE diver in the AP section got water inside his, and we're talking about a 300m diver watch, I avoid to the max swimming with my watches, sure in 99.99% all will be fine, but if you fall on the 0.01%, then it can be big problems... I even sleep with my 5712, but 2 things I would never do, swim, bathe and shower...

[RUK]

Scary! A friend forgot to screw the crown down fully and the dial got discoloured after some time. Full serve plus new dial came to 5400USD!

[HorologyK]

Originally Posted by lapince

Sure you never do until you do, even an AP CE diver in the AP section got water inside his, and we're talking about a 300m diver watch, I avoid to the max swimming with my watches, sure in 99.99% all will be fine, but if you fall on the 0.01%, then it can be big problems... I even sleep with my 5712, but 2 things I would never do, swim, bathe and shower...

I'm living life on the edge.

[Passionata]

Originally Posted by waspy1

It's not the first time I've swam with it, have fine pretty often. I noticed it when held near the blower but even in a cool room I can see signs of condensation so I'm sure it needs opened up.

Pretty gutted if I'm now expected to fork out several k for repair on a relatively new piece. The crown was definitely seated fully so it must be a gasket issue.


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Do you pressure test your watch regularly?even if you do do not expect FOC repair from PP but let s hope i m wrong .there are gaskets which can fail and also the screws getting loose to let water inside under pressure the 5711 12 and especially 5980/90 are very delicate in terms of WR.

[Moloch]

This happen to one of my Omega few years ago and all I paid was for regular service charge. I was out on a dirt trail with my bike and sudden rain storm ruined my day. Noticing the condensation on inner side of the crystal during the evening I brought it to the local boutique the next day and technician there said watch needed immediate service. Long as you don't wait and take immediate action there shouldn't be any or much damage to the dial, hands, and the movement.

Since you live in Malaysia it might be a good idea to test for water resistance once a year because watches doesn't like humidity.

One bright side to water ingress is that your watch will go to the front of the line. :)

[waspy1]

Originally Posted by Passionata

Do you pressure test your watch regularly?even if you do do not expect FOC repair from PP but let s hope i m wrong .there are gaskets which can fail and also the screws getting loose to let water inside under pressure the 5711 12 and especially 5980/90 are very delicate in terms of WR.

I've never pressure tested the watch. I don't know what to expect from the repair. I guess they can always turn around and say the crown wasn't fully tightened even through I know it was.

There was no free water in the case, just light condensation so I hope there is no further damage. By the time it has been opened, however, could be several weeks after the original event so I can't imagine that's good with pool water.

The watch supposed to be rated to 120m so I would expect it should cope with surface swimming.


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[Passionata]

Originally Posted by waspy1

I've never pressure tested the watch. I don't know what to expect from the repair. I guess they can always turn around and say the crown wasn't fully tightened even through I know it was.

There was no free water in the case, just light condensation so I hope there is no further damage. By the time it has been opened, however, could be several weeks after the original event so I can't imagine that's good with pool water.

The watch supposed to be rated to 120m so I would expect it should cope with surface swimming.


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I never bring my watches into water w/o PT them regularly(yearly).
PP is a multimillion organization i really doubt they won t disclose the cause of trouble,a bad gasket or a lose case won t heal from one day to another they will surely can detect where the water got into the case.The good news it was pool water ,seawater would make its mission really quick.

I know it sucks and you have totally right a three years old watch should be waterproof ,as I told you i bring my watches regularly for testing and -knock on wood -always passed with flying colors even 6-8yrs old watches.


Let s hope PP will take the costs and you get back your watch with a short turnaround.

[Snow-Dweller]

Originally Posted by HorologyK

This is why I'm drunk on Rolex again. Too many of these issues happening.

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Ok, even I am in disbelief. Ok, I believe you as the owner, yet still... just hard to believe how far downhill Patek has gone.

I do feel like I'm reading about an awful lot of issues with Pateks in recent times. I have my name down for a 5711, but unfortunately this does not inspire confidence.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by Snow-Dweller

I do feel like I'm reading about an awful lot of issues with Pateks in recent times. I have my name down for a 5711, but unfortunately this does not inspire confidence.

For decades collected and enjoyed Pateks, yet saw many of us experiencing problems crop up years ago and seems things have not.... You may want to wait a few more years before getting a Patek to see if the situation has become more to the standards one expects considering the price. For now, collector friends and myself no longer appear to have the same high opinion for Patek Philippe as we did years ago. There are also some truly wonderful alternatives to Patek via creative independents and even some speciality pieces by certain manufacturers.

If you do have your heart set on the Patek Philippe brand name, then wait a few years (perhaps five just to be sure) and then revisit your thinking would be my suggestion. It will also be interesting to see how the factory handles Waspy1's present situation.

[Hairdude1]

Sorry to hear, that sucks