Anyone here ever carry a watch long enough to wear out the case? I see a lot of worn out watch cases,and often wonder how long it takes to wear for instance the trains off of the silveroid cases,or the gold plating off the 25 year gold filled cases. I know back in the day folks just kept the same watch for lots of years,but I change watches pretty regular. I have some very nice gold filled,and even one solid gold cased watch,and several silveroid,cases with nice crisp designs that I hardly ever carry,because I don't want to wear the cases. Is there any real danger of putting any significant wear on these cases with casual use?

Cecil,

That depends on what you consider "significant."

As a mechanical engineer I can tell you that loss of detail and wear thru to brass on cases is caused by abrasion, which will vary a lot depending on conditions. A dirty, dusty environment such the cab of a coal-fired locomotive would be particularly hard on a pocket watch for instance.

But there really isn't a way to wear your watches regularly without causing some degree of wear on the cases, particularly for gold and gold-filled cases. You can minimize the damage by wearing only cases of very hard material, such as stainless steel. Another approach is to use a lesser "carry watch" that you really don't care about.

I neither wear nor run the prime-condition high-dollar pocket watches in my collection, that way I know I'm doing nothing that will deteriorate them.