Two New Zealand psychologists who studied Mr. Geller's “watch‐repairing” feats found that jewelers were not much impressed. They said that many supposedly broken watches had merely been stopped by gummy oil, and that simply holding them in the hand would warm the oil enough to soften it and allow the watches to resume ticking.
The researchers, Dr. David Marks and Dr. David Kammann of the University of Otago, tested the method and found that anyone holding a “broken” watch in his hand for a few minutes and then shaking it could start it about half the time. This is a slightly better rate than Mr. Geller achieves.
Tricks With Watches
Two New Zealand psychologists who studied Mr. Geller's “watch‐repairing” feats found that jewelers were not much impressed. They said that many supposedly broken watches had merely been stopped by gummy oil, and that simply holding them in the hand would warm the oil enough to soften it and allow the watches to resume ticking.
The researchers, Dr. David Marks and Dr. David Kammann of the University of Otago, tested the method and found that anyone holding a “broken” watch in his hand for a few minutes and then shaking it could start it about half the time. This is a slightly better rate than Mr. Geller achieves.
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/13/archives/magicians-term-israeli-psychic-a-fraud.html