Why Does my Watch make my Wrist Black? Explained!

Why Does my Watch make my Wrist Black? Explained!

Have you ever removed a watch from your wrist and noticed that the watch has left your wrist black? Sometimes, wearing a watch can leave black stains/residue on your wrist. But what is it that is causing it? And what can you do about it? Matter of act, can you do anything about it? In this article, we’ll explain why your watch makes your wrist black and what you can do about it.

Why does my watch leave black marks on my wrist?

The answer is that there are several different reasons for this. But in most cases, the black marks/stains on your wrist left by your watch are dirt.

The black marks and residue left by a watch predominantly tend to happen when you wear a watch with a metal bracelet but may also happen if you wear other types of straps such as rubber and leather. The reason this primarily happens to metal bracelets and not other straps is that other types of straps tend to either absorb the dirt or don’t catch it. On rubber straps, for example, the dirt will have a hard time staying on the rubber. On NATO straps, the dirt will get into the fabric and therefore not easily come off when you wear the watch.

When you wear a watch, a lot of dirt will accumulate on the watch over time. This is especially true when you don’t have the habit of regularly cleaning or rinsing your watch. Whilst your watch may not look dirty, the fact is that a lot of dirt accumulates in particular between the links on your metal bracelets.

Black marks on your wrist tend to appear most frequently when you are sweating a lot. When your wrist sweats, it will dissolve some of the dirt that has been gathered between the links and all around the bracelet. Even if your bracelet is seemingly clean, dirt will hide in the clasp, on, and between the links in particular. But also on the case back of the watch, which is why it’s not only watches with bracelets that may cause your wrist to become black – it can happen to any type of watch, even if it’s most common that the black residue comes from the bracelet.

In short, the black residue on your wrist left behind by your watch is dirt. Think about it, when you wear a watch, it accumulates a lot of dirt. You sweat, your skin produces oil, dust, and other types of dirt will accumulate on your watch. When you then put the watch on, there’s a risk that some of this accumulated dirt will come off and stay on your wrist. And as mentioned, this particularly happens when you sweat or when you have been swimming with the watch.

Most of the time, you won’t notice any black stains on your wrist after wearing your watch, but to summarize:

• It tends to happen primarily with metal bracelets
• When you are sweating a lot or have been swimming as the moisture dissolves the dirt accumulated on the watch
• When you haven’t cleaned the watch for a long time and a lot of dirt has built up

The same will happen if you have cleaned your watch poorly and put the watch on your wrist whilst the watch is wet. This is because the dirt is dissolved by the water and will then end up on your wrist.

If you clean the watch carefully and then put the watch on again, the black stains on your wrist will disappear if you have cleaned it correctly.

The metal of your watch may leave stains

In some cases, the reason your wrist turns black is not that your watch is dirty. Instead, it may be because of the metal of your watch case.

This doesn’t happen with stainless steel or gold but it may happen with other materials such as bronze or aluminum. Stains from metals like aluminum tend to happen when they are subject to a lot of sweat from the wrist. The same can happen with jewelry and tend to only happen with cheap jewelry (and watches) due to the lower-quality metals they use. In many cases, the residue left on your wrist will more lean towards green than black.

Most of the time, the black stains on your wrist are from dirt and not from the actual metal, but it can be good to keep this in mind so that you can evaluate whether it is in act the metal. But usually, if it is in fact the metal, you’ll notice it because the residues on your wrist will mostly be greenish, and if you have an allergy to the metal, you would also experience a rash and itching.

Clean your watch on a regular basis

The fact is that your watch bracelet may be dirty even if it looks clean. Gunk and dirt will ”hide” between the links and come off when you wear wearing it, particularly when sweating. For this reason, it may not always be enough to just give your watch a rinse underwater to get rid of all the residue.

Rinsing your watch on a regular basis, for example, once a week is a good idea to prevent more dirt from building up. But every now and then, it is advised that you do a deep cleaning of your watch, in particular of your metal bracelet.

One method is to use a soft toothbrush, warm water, and soap. Scrub each link and make sure that you access the creaks where dirt tends to accumulate. 

The absolutely best way to clean your watch bracelet is to use an ultrasonic cleaner. An ultrasonic cleaner will access places that are difficult to access when cleaning it by hand and therefore generates the best result.

It can therefore be a good idea to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner to keep your watch clean and prevent your watch from turning black. The good news is that ultrasonic cleaners are quite affordable. You can refer to our list of the best ultrasonic cleaners here.

Wear your watch less tightly

Wearing your watch very tightly may amplify the issue you are experiencing with your wrist turning black. When you wear it very tightly, the inside of the bracelet will push and rub against your wrist and cause more of the dirt to rub off on your wrist.

The most important solution is to clean your watch on a regular basis so that there’s no dirt on the bracelet in the first place. However, wearing your watch tightly can also be bad not only in the sense that it may increase the dirt that is left on your wrist. It may also be bad in the sense that more dirt from your wrist will be transferred to the bracelet, thus allowing faster build-up.