This may seem like a stupid question but I have to ask.

While scraping the gunk off of my tiny pocket watch, I got to thinking about all the diseases that could be on the watches I play with.

I know this sounds disgusting, but some of these things were around when there were some serious health issues out there, and they were some of the ones we don't see today too.

Do any of you consider this when cleaning or opening a watch?

I noticed that I often wear one of my husbands masks from his old EMT days, when I open them. I felt like I was being rediculous until tonight when I had to open a tiny 10/0 Pocket Watch type of wrist watch from the 20's. The thing had enough green gunk to cover my lawn, and enough powderey brown mess floating through the air that I stopped so the movement wouldn't be burried in it.

The movement was clean but the case was a total mess.

Does anyone here use a mask or what would you do if anything?

I figured that this line of thinking may have come from the fact that I had just listened to a program about the new concern for the germs and diseases that could still be in Egyptian tombs and the small items they clean up when they open them after thousands of years. What's an 85 year old watch compared to 1000-2000 years? If germs live there, they live in these watches too.

Influenza killed a lot of people back then!

I know, I know, sounds stupid, but I wondered if anyone ever talked about this in this profession.

Clue me in pleasse.
(I'm not paranoid about this, just curious)

Sheila, The DSM-IV (tr) defines paranoia as an irrational fear that someone or something is out to get you. When the situation is real it is called caution. Before retiring, I worked a healthcare career for 35 years. Yes, we worry about germs. If this is a concern to you, I would recommend that you get a bottle of sanitizing gel. This kills off germs on the hands and objects and evaporates quickly.

Tom

Thank you Tom. I had been thinking about this for a while and even though I mostly ignored it, tonight was different.
I had my (wire around my head) type loupe on, and because I was literly under my light magnifier too, all of the "dust" particles were showing up all over the place. They floated onto my clothes, all over my hands, and then I realized I was breathing them.......ewwooo....

lolol Lets just say that I will be using my husbands masks more often.

To be honest, this is the first one that has ever been this bad though.

Nothing like having Green Gunk under your nails. Especially when your the Cook!

Thank you for the germ killer information, I will be buying some.

This is an interesting subject. I've never taken any special precautions while working on watches other than being careful not to breathe any of the vapors or prolonged contact with cleaning solutions.

My biggest fear is the over use of antibiotics where some germs can build up an immunity against them.

I think it would be neat if we could send samples of the gunk, found under watch crowns, to a lab for analysis. We could learn a lot about the original owner.

I agree with John on the overuse of anticeptic (in the big picture). A microbiologist friend used to say, "It's not the 99.9% of the germs Lysol can kill that you have to worry about. It's the .1% that Lysol can't kill that you have to worry about."

It's one reason why bacterial infections that one might catch in hospitals are more potent and immune to treatment.

As for watches... I can't imagine that they offer a fertile breeding ground for infectious disease. There is very little organic media for them. Corrosion, dirt and rust can breed quite well though. Just my thoughts

Unless you are aerosolizing (high speed buffing,etc) the material,there should be no danger at all of catching a disease from the smutch on a watch. Believe me,the crud under the average person's fingernails is far more likely to cause disease!

John,
Good point about the cleaning solution and I agree. We can kill ourselves with the wrong combination too. I think a lab analysis would be so great. May be able to tell us a lot!

Mike,
You got that right, the .1% is the enemy.
Personally I discourage breading grounds with bleach. I'm a bleach person, and I bleach everything, but it may not take care of them either. Who knows?

Sam,
Although I'm not really worried about catching anything from watch gunk, I didn't like knowing that the dust is going everywhere, especially since I have been coughing for 2-3 weeks now.
I sure agree with the fingernail issue though. I hate having dirty nails, ever.
I don't keep mine long and gorgeous like most women, but I do like em clean.
I Find myself using my watch opener for cleaning my nails, as much as using it for opening my watches! lol

I just wanted to add my 2 cents.
I have worked on quite a few dirty watches and clocks.The grossest part of a watch i have found on a wrist watch is the band.I took mine off after 4 years and it was disgusting.
I work in a machine shop and grind cast iron every day, my hands at work are usually black.
Dirt does not worry me as i can see it, it is the stuff i can,t see that scares me.

Just to add to the thread. I watched a program on exhumating skeletons from the "plauge cemeteries" of the dark ages of England, and they seemed to be handling the remains without any type of extra protection on themselves. I think if they can do that, we are pretty safe handling Watches. Just my opinion.


Frank

Specific things, like the green gunk, may seem dangerous, but this is probably more a seeming than a being dangerous. The experience per se may call up fears, which have a reality in them, but not necessarily a reality about the thing they're directed toward.

There are countless bacteria around (and inside) us, so the gunk may be emotionally repellent, but not more dangerous than biological or chemical agents in the air or on the ground that are imperceptible.

For example, many solutions one might use to clean watches contain quite dangerous solvents. "Petroleum distillates" sound innocuous, but many are very harmful if breathed frequently or in concentrated amounts. I was rather shocked to discover that even furniture polish , or most nail polish removers, contain these solvents, and should only be used in highly ventilated places, or with protective gear.

So, if I'm bringing up an already resolved issue, I apologize. But my most serious answer to the problem is that , of course, if the gunk worries you, it's worth wearing a mask. But the greater danger and stronger reason for a mask, one specifically constructed to protect against air-borne solvents and sprays, is the cleaning fluid itself, not the thing to be cleaned.

Best,
Jessica

I worked at a uranium enrichment plant for 12 years, and once walked into the middle of a release of UF6 when a compressor was being cleaned in a process plant.

With that said, the last thing I worry about at my age is what I find inside any of my old watches.

Regards. Mark

Mark,
now that you mention it, I thought I saw a slight glow from the money
order you sent me a couple of weeks ago. Just kidding !!

Could be, Dave....could be... Regards. M ark

If anyone has any real dirty watches they're afraid of, you may send them to me.
Thanks,
Brian C.

Thanks for the narly topic, Sheila. I once looked at an old pocketknife under a loupe - yikes! Those critters were like fossils!

Everyone brings up excellent aspects of caution & paranoia. There's sensible and then there's compulsive. Hope you can find somewhere in the middle.

The point that Sam brings up about aerosolizing is the very reason I will not use one of those portable, hand-held steam cleaning machines to clean the "loo". Steam & germs everywhere! Osmosis & diffusion!

Skin is our natural barrier and if this barrier is broken, due to a cut or dry, cracked skin, it would be wise to take precaution with hand sanitizer, finger cot or gloves.

It's a fact of life that germs exist on our skin. However, once these germs are introduced into the bloodstream, it's a whole other can o' worms. Some bacteria do not thrive in the bloodstream whereas others do. Bacterial endocarditis and necrotizing fasciitis are both serious and potentially fatal results.

Gotta go put on my mask & wash my hands now . . .

As the boys from Buffalo Springfield said back in '67 when I was Waist Deep in the Big Muddy:

"Paranoia strikes deep.....
Into your life it will creep....
It starts when you're always afraid.....
Step outta line, the Man comes, to take you away."

The green gunk often seen especially on gold filled cases is verdigris a copper salt caused by interreaction between the dis-similar metals in a gold-filled watch assisted by heat and acidic sweat.

Other gunk found on old watches is compacted skin scales. We need medics to answer the risk question.

dan