Tag Heuer - Skin Problems?

Brian McCabe

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Jul 21, 2001, 9:37:59 AM7/21/01

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Hi - I have a Tag Heuer gents watch and experience skin irritaton when
wearing it for more than a day or so at a time.

The wrist becomes irritated and red and eventual starts to flake.

If anyone has any advice on this please email to brian....@hushmail.com

Thanks in advance for any help given

Fred Ekleberry

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Jul 21, 2001, 12:23:33 PM7/21/01

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My guess is it isn't the brand of watch man. I have heard of people who
can't wear metal bands because of a reaction between their skin and the
band. Is the band gold plated? If so, try a stainless steel one (just to see
if it has the same effect). You may have to switch to a leather band.

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Scott A. Ekleberry
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billh

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Jul 21, 2001, 1:35:34 PM7/21/01

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"Fred Ekleberry"

> My guess is it isn't the brand of watch man. I have heard of people who
> can't wear metal bands because of a reaction between their skin and the
> band. Is the band gold plated? If so, try a stainless steel one (just to
see
> if it has the same effect). You may have to switch to a leather band.

Most like it is stainless steel and the reaction is to the nickel content.

Fred Ekleberry

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Jul 21, 2001, 3:34:01 PM7/21/01

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That's also possible, didn't think of that, I've been up way too long!

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Scott A. Ekleberry
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Darryl Bryant

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Jul 21, 2001, 8:28:14 PM7/21/01

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stainless steel case and bracelet?, sounds like you have an adverse
reaction to the nickle content of the st/steel.

well the obvious you will have to stop wearing it.

try a watch that has a gold case (solid not plate), leather band, or a
resin case and band like a swatch, also a titanium case and bracelet would
work since titanium is pretty inert to most things.

dAz

Steve Rayner

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Jul 21, 2001, 8:45:45 PM7/21/01

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"billh" <williamhu...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
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>

I have known quite a few people with this problem, and it was the nickel in
the stainless steel alloy. This is a common allergy.

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Steve.

***Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he
will sit in a boat all day, and drink beer!***

Brian McCabe

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Jul 22, 2001, 5:18:29 AM7/22/01

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Ahhhh! But I love the watch so much...wouldn't look the same with a leather
strap :-(

It is a steel strap by the way.

Thanks for all your responses..

Brian

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Trash

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Jul 22, 2001, 5:16:21 PM7/22/01

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>stainless steel case and bracelet?, sounds like you have an adverse
reaction to the nickle content of the st/steel.

well the obvious you will have to stop wearing it.

try a watch that has a gold case (solid not plate), leather band, or a
resin case and band like a swatch, also a titanium case and bracelet would
work since titanium is pretty inert to most things.
<

A long shot, but cant you spray the underside of the strap and body with
some form of barrier spray.

John Woods

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Jul 22, 2001, 8:03:56 PM7/22/01

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Brian,

I think that the real problem is the fermented skin oils and dirt that have
accumulated in the stainless steel band.

The solution is to take a tooth brush or similar, brush it across some hand
soap, and scrub out the band.

If the watch case is not waterproof, you will have to remove the band from
the watch.

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Speed

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Jul 26, 2001, 11:41:54 PM7/26/01

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Just use some clear nail polish on the back side of the band ans you
will have the barrier that you need to protect your skin. Dave

wayne erickson

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Aug 4, 2001, 2:56:47 PM8/4/01

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If the watch is used, it could very well be an alergy to the previous owners
sweat/oil/bacteria as John suggests. If so, it may also have a slight foul
odor. Since Tags tend to be expensive, spending $20 for a professional
cleaning or professional cleaning solution makes sense. A jeweler or
watchsmith can suggest some solutions that won't harm the metal. You
probably will only have to do this once since the watch will repopulate with
your sweat and your benign bacteria. Unless you're one big rash, you should
be resistant to these. Wiping the watch off when you take if off to shower
should suffice.

If the watch is new, take it back, you're probably alergic to the band metal
or the case back metal. Don't mess with it, it will just be one big hassle.
Metal alergies are fairly common. There should be plenty of other watches
and metal alloys that you're not alergic to. Nickle is a common metal alergy
and a common part of the stainless steel alloy used in watches. Titanium is
purported to be "hypo-allergenic", but that doesn't mean you can't be
alergic to it or a particular alloy of it.

I strongly discourage the suggestion to use nail polish. If you're alergic
to the previous owners sweat and not the metal, this won't make a
difference, the bacteria and sweat is inside the bracelet links and will
just repopulate the nail polished surfaces. If you're alergic to the metal,
why bother? Either way using nail polish will at least devalue the watch
and possibly be caustic to the watch or you.

I looked for a site that described nickle allergy symptoms (yahoo: +nickle
+allergy) this one looked pretty valid even though skinsite.com is a
commercial interest.
http://www.skinsite.com/info_nickel_allergy.htm

wayne...

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