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does anyone know if i could inadvertantly permanently stop someones watch. if so which brands/makes am i aiming to avoid, thanks.

also i disovered i can turn my mobile phone screen on and off in the same way, anyone else brave enough to try it let me know if it breaks your phone

I wouldn't have thought that you could do any serious damage by stopping a watch as long as what you're using to stop it isn't too strong. Although to be on the safe side I do tend to avoid any that look expensive

thanks lady of mystery, that's what i do and wanted to know if it was necessary.
nothing too strong no, something everyone can see I'm sure you know what i mean
i suspect that even if it didn't start when expected a little shake would get it going. i was just wondering if anyone had had the experience of one not starting again.

I heard on another forum that some watches whose second hands double up as stop watches (i.e. are "zeroable" in stopwatch mode) can get confused after being magically stopped. The watch isn't stopped permanently, but the zero of the stopwatch is reset to whereever the second hand was at when the watch was stopped. If that makes sense. I don't know how true this is, what the particular brands of watch in question were, or whether the watches are fixable simply by stopping them again with the second hand on 12.

i managed to turn off my friends digital watch and apprently I was able to move the batery a little out but enough to stop the watch.

I'd avoid any watch that looks like it would be expensive to replace - so in terms of specific brands stay away from Rolex

I think this is a pretty inelegant thing to be doing anyway if not down right rude. Why stop your own watch? The effect is just about the same without the risk of permanently screwing someone's prized possesion which was a Barmitzvah present from their Nan who dies last month...etc..etc..

My advice would be keep your pk away from those tickers (that includes pacemakers) and find a use it's deserving of.

I've done the Time Stop thing since before stones were invented I think... I've NEVER had a watch go bad when doing the effect.

Now, if it is a mechanical watch and in some cases, the newer electronic types, you may want to have your patrons go to one of the old Jewelers in the area... they older guys know what's up in that certain people naturally magnetize watches and to fix a frozen up watch it was placed through a machine that basically demagnetizes, that's the fix.

The funniest experience I ever had with this routine happened to involve a $5,000.00 Rolex.

I was doing a morning Radio show in Nashville and did the typical "put your watch near the radio..." spiel as I stopped the DJs watch... long story short, this guy calls into the station threatening to sue me and the radio station claiming that I destroyed his brand new Rolex via this demonstration...

Well, once he realized things weren't going to go anywhere he finally gave up, but damn was that some great PR material

I have read somewhere that you should avoid those new watches that get charged from the movements your hand make.

Mr_Grue wrote:I heard on another forum that some watches whose second hands double up as stop watches (i.e. are "zeroable" in stopwatch mode) can get confused after being magically stopped. The watch isn't stopped permanently, but the zero of the stopwatch is reset to whereever the second hand was at when the watch was stopped. If that makes sense. I don't know how true this is, what the particular brands of watch in question were, or whether the watches are fixable simply by stopping them again with the second hand on 12.

Now that's interesting, Dave's got one of those watches and the second hand is a couple of a seconds out. I hope that wasn't me that caused that, it is quite an expensive watch.

thanks for the advice all, i think i know how i'll work it now.
use my own and if someone says it a gimmicked watch and challenges me to do it with theres i will just blatantly ask them how much its worth and if its got a stopwatch thing etc.
as for being rude i suppose thats down to how you handle it.

Lady of Mystery wrote:

Mr_Grue wrote:I heard on another forum that some watches whose second hands double up as stop watches (i.e. are "zeroable" in stopwatch mode) can get confused after being magically stopped. The watch isn't stopped permanently, but the zero of the stopwatch is reset to whereever the second hand was at when the watch was stopped. If that makes sense. I don't know how true this is, what the particular brands of watch in question were, or whether the watches are fixable simply by stopping them again with the second hand on 12.

Now that's interesting, Dave's got one of those watches and the second hand is a couple of a seconds out. I hope that wasn't me that caused that, it is quite an expensive watch.

I have a watch like this and they are usually very easy reset to zero with a certain combination of buttons

Many of the very expensive items such as as a Rolex have shielding so PKs are useless. Same with Breitling watches.

I have had a problem occur twice in that when I returned the watch to the participant after stopping it it was running backwards. The first time was ok, it was in front of friends, the second time really freaked the audience member because the whole thing was done in her hands. It was quite good, because I just repeated the routine and got it it working the right way.

Since then it hasn't happened again, but I have got a get out script if it does.

I've been doing PK watch stops not quite as long as Craig (cos I'm not quite as old as him ) and I've never had a problem either.

If you understand the mechanics of a watch, you'll realise that it's almost impossible to completely kill it with a very quick and gentle magnetic stop.

Using a sensibly sized magnet with a watch is favourite, and don't repeatedly go for it. After all, remember from your school physics lessons that it's easy to 'magnetise' a needle to make a compass. The same can be done to the delicate parts of a watch.

As said, don't mess with expensive watches just in case. However, all isn't lost. Any jeweler or watchmaker shop should have an electronic demagnetising kit which can sort it out for a couple of quid.

My young bro has a Tag Heur watch, which I know cost him the price of a decent second hand car, and I've 'experimented' with it and PK effects.
The watch has more dials than an aeroplane cockpit, and it seems unscathed after being stopped.

But, if you're dubious, don't do it!

Secondly—on the subject of pacemakers... Before I released my 'Get Fluxed' series of books to accompany magnets, I researched pacemakers pretty extensively. Basically, the pacemaker is fitted with a magnetically operated switch which puts the pacemaker in programming mode. As soon as the magnetic field is removed, the pacemaker goes back to normal. In fact, it won't really do a great amount of harm.

Obviously, this doesn't mean you can try holding a 3" cube of neo next to someone's chest... cos that's tempting fate, but the 'urban myth' as it appears is pretty old-hat.

In fact—here's a true tale... at my main local post office (Shrewsbury, inside WHSmith) one of the clerks, a young lad, has a pacemaker. Although cautious, he has handled many magnets for me, including monster and megabertha kits. Which, incidentally, stick to the counter, and mess with the scales' ability to weigh correctly.

He's still alive, and unscathed.

All in all, I think this all boils down to common sense.

The only problem I have ever come across is that the watch needed a little shake after to make it work again, saying that thoe the first time this happened I did follow through just for a second until I worked out it needed a little shake.