The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Depending on the season, i do Eczema at the same spot you have your allergies. I put a plaster there so i can still wear my steel bracelets. No problem as long as there are no contact with the metal.

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

Varoom..........blacksteel is still steel..........try the clear nail varnish method......just paint the underside of the SA it drys clear...and it wipes off with nail varnish remover if needed....you never know it just may be the answer

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SUPER AVENGER 563 AIRFORCE BLUE
WHITE SUBS, PRO11 BRACELET

Now i think about it more...

the night i first got the reaction was from a second hand pro2 bracelet.

so it could be that second hand bracelet that started the reaction maybe because it wasnt clean or slightly worn so the nickel is closer to the skin.

and it just hasnt healed up properly yet.....even a hot shower or a glove rubbing against it was causing it to flare up again.

so maybe my new Super Avenger will be ok!

my jeweler thinks my new Super Avenger wont be the problem as its new and good quality stainless steel.

i think ill get all my bracelets ultrasonic cleaned.

fingers crossed.

Cheers guys

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ROLEX SEA-DWELLER DEEPSEA

Could be the previous user could have contaminated the bracelet.....leaving spoors or traces of an infection........steraliziation is needed..........at least.......

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SUPER AVENGER 563 AIRFORCE BLUE
WHITE SUBS, PRO11 BRACELET

Heck I'd see a dermatologist if you just saw your PCP. I had a rash once and my PCP(no offense to PCPs at all, but some....)said it was ring worm. Oral and topical anti-fungals were no help at all. Finally I went to a dermatologist who determined it was merely a contact dermatitis from the wool suits I wear 5 days a week in conjunction with perspiration from the desert summer. A little cortisone cream and gone in a few days.

I have had an adverse nickle reaction too. Years ago my young daughter saw a "gold" chain she thought I would love for my birthday. I didn't, but wore it anyway. Turns out it was cheaply gold plated and I developed the allergic reaction from the high nickel concentration of the cheap base metal used. My reaction looked quite different than yours - distinct bumps.

I'd get a second opinion. What do you have to lose?

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SHARKMAN

I agree with the others here. Probably (and hpefully ) it´s not not nickel allergy. That´s an easy "guess" from your doc. I used to be Cheff in another life. Lot´s and lot´s of washing hands. Due to the eternal moisture my whole hands started to look like that. Cortizon cream helped, but eventually I had to find a new profession.

The Doc did rush me in and out of his room pretty quickly and he only had a quick glance at it from a distance.

so a rather speedy diagnosis

my jeweler thinks its more likely to be a bacteria reaction....

the cream i got is "betamethasone valerate 0.1%" and ive been using it from yesterday afternoon and my wrist it almost totally cleared up but the skin looks a bit wrinkly and shiney like its been burned.

so ill give it a couple of weeks of wearing my watch on the wrong wrist....been 6 days now and no reaction on my other wrist.

and hopefully i can start wearing my Super Avenger back on my normal wrist.

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ROLEX SEA-DWELLER DEEPSEA

that's a good corticosteroid and will help whether it's a nickel allergy or some other contact dermatitis.

I'm left handed. Always wore watches on right hand. Last January after buying a couple Breitlings I figured if I was going to wear a nice watch I may as well not wear it backwards. Switched to left hand. I've had irritation similar to yours but not to the same degree. Daily Lubraderm and occasional OTC hydrocortisone cleared it up.

BTW my AD said it's not uncommon when a person goes to a heavy watch (eapecially on a bracelet)for there to be some irritation associaited with it in the short run(told me this a couple months ago). Certainly was my experience.

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SHARKMAN

WOOHOO!

I've worn my Super Avenger non-stop and slept with it on for 3 days now.

No irritations or anything..

Hopefully It won't happen again

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ROLEX SEA-DWELLER DEEPSEA

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SHARKMAN

But have you been out on a warm day where you would be sweating a lot? That unfortunately could be the difference, and was very recently for me and my gold chain. I'm probably a rare breed around here considering I own 4 watches (2 lings) but don't wear them everyday, and really only my Breitlings if I'm 'going out'. Like you I have never had a problem, but after joining the gym Jan. 12th my neck began feeling very dry and startied to break out. By sheer coincidence I was sick for a few days with a fever so automatically believed my neck was related, never thinking for a moment it was my 10k gold chain. Because of being sick I stayed away from the gym for two weeks and all was well, but once starting to work out again the neck problem started. I probably went about a week until one day it finally clicked what was going on. In my case I have no question it's an allergy to nickel triggered by the sweat drawing the metal out of the chain. I haven't touched the thing in quite a while now but completely believe I can wear it any given day as long I'm in an environment that's not too warm. Of course a chain is one thing, but my Blackbird and SA are a whole other story, and like you it would be a total drag to have an ongoing problem. The good news is breitling watches are much less likely to cause this than my 10k chain, and should it end up they do, then it might just be a matter of making another choice on a really warm day. I actually have warn a watch to workout several times without effect so my nickel allergy is probably somewhere in the middle between a 10k chain and the back of a watch. I hope it's something entirely different you have, but my money would be the rotten nickel allergy. It's a funny thing because I didn't have any type of allergies until my early 30s, but if i hang around a certain type of field, it ain't fun. What am i allergic to? No idea, too stubborn to have ever been tested.

By percentage the nickel content of 10K gold and 360L stainless are about the same - ~15%. But because good stainless is "passivized" in the finishing process it is rare that the acid content of sweat causes the nickel to leach out. Gold however is not finished like surgical grade steel and the acid in sweat causes the nickel to leach out readily.

Acids, not simply moisture, is what leaches nickel from the alloy, resulting in an abnormal reaction in those with a sensitivity.

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SHARKMAN

Yeah i wore it to my spinning/cycling class on saturday morning and sweat'd like a sweaty mofo LOL!

I gave the watch a good wash in the shower and i now wear it 1 fine adjustment looser.

im saving up for a Super Avenger Blacksteel.....so maybe ill wear that on really hot sweaty days..(dont see to many of them in north Scotland)...as it has the rubber strap and very little metal in the buckle.

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ROLEX SEA-DWELLER DEEPSEA

Here's hoping it works for you. I cannot wear 10K gold because of the higher nickel content, but 18K is not a problem. I do know when I switched wearing watches from my right hand to left hand I had some rubbing and very minor dematitis for a while.

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SHARKMAN

yeah, yeah!

THAT'S the ticket!!!

Honey, I KNOW I promised that this was my last watch, but my allergies... I simply HAVE to trade it in for a new Blacksteel!