Question about SUB-C accuracy

[Bigazzi]

Hello M8S
Well im new here and first time owner of a SUB-C
I notice that my LV looses about 3-5 seconds per day depends on the wearing time
Whats your SUB-C accuracy?
And i want not loose but gain secs per day so i suppose must go to the service.Correct?
Thanks in advance for your answers and your time
Dimitris
Greece

[Danand]

However it has been regulated the thing that seems to arise from most of this type of thread is how incredibly consistent the subc is. 3-5 s slow is still good, if a little annoying. But if it is regulated you will have the same range of a couple of seconds even if it is "spot on". It is a great movement and a great watch. Enjoy it.

[robertgrom]

I've tested two Subs C in the last three weeks. Both of them are on the slow side for about two seconds a day. Five seconds a day on the slow side would be a red flag for me. I'd regulate the watch. Is this too much to expect from $8K watch?

[RRGHOST1]

Another post about accuracy to the seconds per day saga. It is a mechanical movement and is open to various anomalies that make it gain or lose seconds in a 24 hour day. It really wouldnt bother me if my Rolex lost 60 seconds a day,i would still think it a great timekeeper. I am with Stephen.S on this so i await the flood of replies telling me that i have spent thousands on this watch so i want it accurate to the second.

[Lol-x]

Originally Posted by rolexplorer2

Another post about accuracy to the seconds per day saga. It is a mechanical movement and is open to various anomalies that make it gain or lose seconds in a 24 hour day. It really wouldnt bother me if my Rolex lost 60 seconds a day,i would still think it a great timekeeper. I am with Stephen.S on this so i await the flood of replies telling me that i have spent thousands on this watch so i want it accurate to the second.

There's nothing wrong at all with the original poster's question. He never said he expect his watch to have atomic clock like accuracy.

There is nothing untoward about discussing time keeping accuracy and what affects it, how it can be altered and every aspect of that issue. If you don't like it or are not interested then simply don't post about it in a negative sense. O.K. Move onto a different topic.

I can well understand the original poster wanting whatever slight timekeeping variation to be gaining time rather than losing time. It may be that if you leave your watch in a particular position overnight it may gain time, but if not then the only way to change from losing time to gaining time may be to take it to a watchmaker for a minor adjustment.

[L.J.]

Welcome Dimitris and congrats for the Sub-c LV ! Loving mine and it's on my wrist right now !

Like some mentionned already it seems the 3135 equipped with blue parachrome hairspring tend to be on the slow side. It's been the case anyway for my ( now gone) SDDS and my Sub-c LV.

It can be a little annoying the watch is losing instead of gaining since it's a lot easier to just pull the crown now and then to adjust the time. Much less practical with a watch running slow.

You have two options : leave it alone, and set the time a couple minutes ahead. Your watch will then be more and more accurate every day ;)
That will buy you a month before having to adjust time again.

Or take it to Service Center it takes just about half an hour and won't cost you.

[Megalobyte]

Do some go overboard with accuracy? Yes, but, it's absurd to suggest that accuracy isn't an important thing on a high end watch. If a $500 watch can be made fairly easily to stay within +/- 3 seconds a day, there's little reason to say it's acceptable that your $8000 watch isn't. I know there are things other than sheer accuracy you're paying for, but to say accuracy isn't at or very near the top of the list for things a good watch must do is just ridiculous.

You buy a $200,000 sports car reputed to have incredible power and handling, but yours handles like a jeep wrangler and somehow only makes 50% of its rated HP, but it's ok because what's a little more power, or a few G's on the skidpad?

And, keep in mind, while 3-5 seconds a day won't impact your life much, 5 seconds a day turns into minutes after just a month. Personally I prefer to not have to set my watch every month, particularly on my $8,000 "superlative chronometer". I'm crazy that way.

And it's very easy to know exactly how many seconds a day your watch gains/loses, atomic clock time is readily available, there are even apps that turn your iPhone into an atomic clock.

I like my watches to be accurate. I know they can be, and at this price level, they really should be. I don't expect perfection, but damn if I'll accept an $8,000 watch that's less accurate than a $300 Seiko automatic, I'd feel cheated.

[Darlinboy]

Mine wad running about 2 sec/day fast the last time I bothered to check - incredible performance.

Haven't checked it in various positions. Life's too short as it is.

[crowncollection]

its all good still within cosc range

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Bigazzi

Hello M8S
Well im new here and first time owner of a SUB-C
I notice that my LV looses about 3-5 seconds per day depends on the wearing time
Whats your SUB-C accuracy?
And i want not loose but gain secs per day so i suppose must go to the service.Correct?
Thanks in advance for your answers and your time
Dimitris
Greece

In the world of mechanics, anything assembled of small parts gears cogs etc which are capable of maintaining 99% accuracy would be considered a very top end piece of machinery.Now when you think of your Rolex chronometer watch with a average accuracy of 99.995% IMHO thats a marvel.Accuracy is dependent on a quite few different variables,such as gravity the main one to over come, some watches might gain or loose more time if laid to rest in a single position. The Rolex balance wheel has been adjusted to compensate for losses and gains in different positions,now a well adjusted Rolex watch should perform overall within the cosc specification when worn throughout the day too a AVERAGE -4 to + 6 over 24 hours. If you remove your watch at night you may want to find the best position that will compensate for any beat drift while at rest.Temperature plus the working environment may have an impact on how accurate any watch operates. Temperature changes expand and contract many of the movement parts, changing the dimension and shapes - especially the balance wheel and hairspring. Today in modern Rolex watches most materials are designed to compensate for the changes and maintain a consistent beat rate.

It is very important to understand that a new watch off the shelf or newly serviced and regulated may need a break-in period of a few weeks/month or so to settle in.Plus it needs to be fully manually wound to start around 40 full crown turns clockwise and must have a good daily power reserve to perform accurately.Now this allows the watch to find its true beat rate and distribute the oils evenly around the moving parts.Now if you find your watch not to be as accurate as you would expect after the break-in period, there are generally two courses of action to take to increase the accuracy, both very minor in nature,but require any good competent watchmaker to do it.Now if your watch runs consistently too fast or too slow remember the keyword being consistent. The solution for the watchmaker would be to regulate the true beat rate accordingly plus or minus.Now this is a very simple and quick procedure achieved by turning Microstella adjustment screws and nuts.And with the use of a time-measuring machinery a good watchmaker can accomplish this in a matter of minutes I just cannot understand why they send watches back to the RSC for such a simple task. Regulating is most probably one of the most common tasks for any watchmaker to do.Now when a watch is fast or slow or does not have a consistent rate, especially in different positions.Then the balance wheel needs to be adjusted further to compensate for the different positions. Although this too is a simple procedure, it does require a little more time to correct as each position needs to be monitored and adjusted carefully.But don't be in a hurry to get the back off for a few seconds either way.The most important thing with mechanical watches is consistency.And even when regulated on a machine to say +2 seconds it don't always mean it will perform exactly the same on the wrist.

[tulsaokusa]

At first I got less than -1 second/day. Now I get -2 seconds/day.

[mapula]

My SubC lost 2 secs per day, until i read from another forum that face up position helps to gain seconds. So i did that and make it face up 24 hours every other day. Now it gains1-2 sec per day and i am very happy with it. Hope it helps.

[Turnaround]

My Sub-C has been running about 6 seconds fast per day since I got it 7 months ago. Now, not a big deal, but I've read so many that are within a second or 2, and being a tech junkie anyway, I asked if they can get it closer.

The ADs technician say she could, and I dropped it off today. Should have it back in a few days.

I'll keep you posted.

As far as if it matters, I'm just testing the tolerance and I think it is acceptable to do so.

[Tudor Geneve]

Mine loses about 1 second a day

[DucS2R]

Mine is new and like yours loses 3 to 5 seconds per day. Face down is neutral or a slight gain. On the winder loses 5 seconds plus per day. I am happy with it but with a new watch I always like to check on it, like a new baby. For my old watches, they all run slow and I set them a few minutes fast and adjust them every few months and never give it another thought.

T

[Turnaround]

Got my Sub-C back. The Rolex tech spent a good time with it. Got it to +1 a day.

I was impressed by the fact that they even would consider trying. Rolex is great for the service.

So far it's been dead on.

[Sunny Arizona]

I agree with the orignal poster. It drives me crazy that a watch looses time rather than a slight gain. Its all perspective though. I work in an area that is full of crazy compulsive people--me included, maybe many of you are the same and it translates into your private life.
With that being said, being in the intensive care unit is more serious than the accuracy of your timepiece and you want people working in the former to have those characteristics and in the latter is a mere inconvenience.
Currently pontificating poetically on my third (ok...fourth) beer this evening. Might be a good time to shoot me an offer on my IWC currently for sale (Just Kidding Steve)

[Megalobyte]

Originally Posted by Sunny Arizona

Currently pontificating poetically on my third (ok...fourth) beer this evening. Might be a good time to shoot me an offer on my IWC currently for sale (Just Kidding Steve)

$50 and a case of your favorite beer?

[A.J.R.]

Mine runs about a second a day fast. Very impressed.

[CoopJr]

-1 per day.

[karmatp]

Dimitris, all you need to do it try a few different resting positions at night. Look inside your manual and it will give you a few recommendations, but every movement has a different personality so you need to figure out yours.

It could be as simple as resting the watch at night with the crown up, you will figure it out. Every mechanical will gain or lose depending on the resting position, crown down, crown up, face down, face up, crown left, crown right, it makes a difference.

[Megalobyte]

Problem is Sub C's tend to have very little positional deviation, which is great, the downside being they're very tough to self regulate.

If it's any help, my Sub C runs fastest dial down, followed closely by dial up, crown up is a hair slower and crown down is slowest, by that I mean less than half a second slower than the fastest position. That's how well adjusted they are for position.

I'd also recommend giving it a manual wind once a week in the morning. Hold it to your ear as you wind and pay attention to the sound and feel of the crown, you'll feel when the spring starts to slip and you'll know it's fully wound.

Don't worry about overwinding, you can't, but I still don't like to use the overwinding clutch mechanism more than I have to.