We always welcome old friends, even if it is for the wrong reasons.
This is the second time one of our customers in the United States has put his Smiths W10 Military Issue Watch through a full cycle in his washing machine.
The first time this came back a few months ago the dial area under the crystal was still water-logged. The black finish on the iron dial initially blistered and then thank goodness returned to its flat state.
This time around having gone through the same washing cycle, (which is not recommended), the movement has only suffered from minor rusting, we have changed rusty dial screws, rusty stem, broken bolt spring (possibly because we had only de-rusted it rather than replacing it which may have left it in a weakened state), pallet lever bridge screw, scuffed crystal, crown wheel and crown wheel sleeve plate. The lume in the hands has suffered further degradation having already being compromised on the first occasion.
Apart from that it has scrubbed up quite well, as the picture shows.
The horologist Robert Wren once told me that the flik-flak series of childrens' watches were guaranteed to be able to survive a washing machine cycle.
Please try avoid doing this to other brands.