The Rolex Forums   The Rolex Watch

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX


Go Back   Rolex Forums - Rolex Forum > Rolex & Tudor Watch Topics > Rolex General Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 24 March 2022, 12:49 AM   #1
Nanasaka90
"TRF" Member
 
Nanasaka90's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Earth
Watch: 16600, 126600, 126
Posts: 298
How accurate were Rolex watches in the 80’s?

Hi guys, I saw this Watchbox video where Tim and Mike were discussing Rolex in the 80’s. Around 1:33 Mike mentions that Rolex watches weren’t the most accurate at this time (I’m paraphrasing).

Is this true? If so, what we’re some of the brands that made more accurate watches than Rolex at the time?

https://youtu.be/L3yrs08OF-c


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nanasaka90 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 12:50 AM   #2
1665fan
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: East coast
Posts: 6,660
Extremely accurate…..certified chronometers cannot be not accurate lol
1665fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 01:07 AM   #3
Annan
"TRF" Member
 
Annan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Real Name: Ron
Location: Arizona, USA
Watch: 116233
Posts: 3,180
Can't speak for the 80's. Bought my first Rolex, a TT Date, in 1990. Had it for 22 years and it ran at close to +2s/day throughout its life as I recall. I had a complete service done every 5 years.
__________________
so many Rolexes.....so little time
Annan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 01:07 AM   #4
Tools
TRF Moderator & 2024 SubLV41 Patron
 
Tools's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Real Name: Larry
Location: Mojave Desert
Watch: GMT's
Posts: 43,502
COSC came in around the mid 70's, specifically to put a standard on claims of watch manufactures, and by Swiss law, allow them to put "chronometer" on the dial.

So, in the 80's most Rolex watches were COSC tested.

The COSC testing standard of -4/+6 is really a 10 second swing from a reference". Rolex at the time was considered a "5 second" watch and so it easily met the COSC standard.

That's still pretty accurate, even by todays standards.
__________________
(Chill ... It's just a watch Forum.....)
NAWCC Member
Tools is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 01:37 AM   #5
Robf52
"TRF" Member
 
Robf52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Sunshine State
Watch: lots of Rolex
Posts: 5,060
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tools View Post
COSC came in around the mid 70's, specifically to put a standard on claims of watch manufactures, and by Swiss law, allow them to put "chronometer" on the dial.

So, in the 80's most Rolex watches were COSC tested.

The COSC testing standard of -4/+6 is really a 10 second swing from a reference". Rolex at the time was considered a "5 second" watch and so it easily met the COSC standard.

That's still pretty accurate, even by todays standards.
Good info. Thanks.
__________________
126610LV//116508 Daytona YG Black/Champagne
116655 YM40 Everose Oysterflex//126622 YM40 Blue//126600 SD43
126710BLNR//126711CHNR
126334 DJ41 Rhodium/Diamonds//126331 DJ41 TT Wimbledon
124300 OP41 Green//126334 DJ41Mint Green
Robf52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 01:58 AM   #6
911991
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: maryland
Watch: GMT II Evr, SUB
Posts: 657
Wearing this now I purchased in 1985, just as accurate as my new Rolexes, only draw back is shorter power reserve.
Attached Images
File Type: jpeg IMG_0217.jpeg (39.0 KB, 427 views)
911991 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 02:21 AM   #7
Megalobyte
"TRF" Member
 
Megalobyte's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Real Name: Ari
Location: Florida
Watch: ...me go broke
Posts: 2,428
I find modern Rolex to be extremely accurate. Older weren’t quite as good, but still within cosc so fairly good even then. I think part of it is, the typical wearer back then wasn’t as informed as today, and I suspect many watches that ran poorly just badly needed a service.
Megalobyte is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 02:28 AM   #8
padi56
"TRF" Life Patron
 
padi56's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Real Name: Peter
Location: Llanfairpwllgwyng
Watch: ing you.
Posts: 53,045
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanasaka90 View Post
Hi guys, I saw this Watchbox video where Tim and Mike were discussing Rolex in the 80’s. Around 1:33 Mike mentions that Rolex watches weren’t the most accurate at this time (I’m paraphrasing).

Is this true? If so, what we’re some of the brands that made more accurate watches than Rolex at the time?

https://youtu.be/L3yrs08OF-c


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well depending on how they were regulated that matches the owners wearing habits as accurate as any Rolex made today.
__________________

ICom Pro3

All posts are my own opinion and my opinion only.

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop. Now is the only time you actually own the time, Place no faith in time, for the clock may soon be still for ever."
Good Judgement comes from experience,experience comes from Bad Judgement,.Buy quality, cry once; buy cheap, cry again and again.

www.mc0yad.club

Second in command CEO and left handed watch winder
padi56 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 02:31 AM   #9
StanGMT
"TRF" Member
 
StanGMT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Northumberland,UK
Watch: 1675 GMT
Posts: 641
My 1675 GMT has consistently maintained an accuracy of +/-2 sec per day throughout its life, from 1967 to now (which includes the 1980s!).

Stan.
StanGMT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 04:07 AM   #10
enjoythemusic
2024 Pledge Member
 
enjoythemusic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Real Name: Steven
Location: Glocal
Posts: 21,089
Quote:
Originally Posted by padi56 View Post
Well depending on how they were regulated that matches the owners wearing habits as accurate as any Rolex made today.
Exactly
__________________
__________________

----> TAMPA Meetup In December 2024 <----
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?p=13450519

Love timepieces and want to become a Watchmaker? Rolex has a sensational school.
www.RolexWatchmakingTrainingCenter.com/

Sent from my Etch A Sketch using String Theory.
enjoythemusic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 04:14 AM   #11
Chewbacca
Banned
 
Join Date: May 2012
Real Name: CJ
Location: Kashyyyk
Watch: Kessel Run Chrono
Posts: 21,112
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanasaka90 View Post
Hi guys, I saw this Watchbox video where Tim and Mike were discussing Rolex in the 80’s. Around 1:33 Mike mentions that Rolex watches weren’t the most accurate at this time (I’m paraphrasing).

Is this true? If so, what we’re some of the brands that made more accurate watches than Rolex at the time?

https://youtu.be/L3yrs08OF-c


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It’s true. But they were accurate enough for finer automatic watches of the day but the OysterQuartz was even more accurate introduced in 1977 and left the catalog in 2004. So, they clearly knew the market wanted more accurate and reliable options in a fine watch, with more convenient service at her store level (batteries) and lower ownership costs (major service intervals) until automatics got more consistently accurate and more robust with servicing.
Chewbacca is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 04:26 AM   #12
Jackie Daytona
2024 ROLEX DATEJUST41 Pledge Member
 
Jackie Daytona's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Real Name: Brian
Location: Nashville
Watch: 16750
Posts: 6,613
They have pretty much exactly the same capabilities as today’s. Little has changed time keeping wise.

However I think that many of owners maintenance habits didn’t help the reputation even though it lies as the the owners faults.

My father was bad about this, and apparently his friends were too. He liked watches but occasionally if he received a compliment from a fellow Rolex owner they would get to joking as to how inaccurate they were. He never serviced any of the watches he had, or possibly never even realized why they needed it. I never had a chance to discuss it.

Additionally with the addition of so many new devices emitting magnetic fields that no one really though of, there probably a few of those too. By no means am I saying this was a major issue, or epidemic but just combined with poor maintenance habits of many and new ways to mess them up it probably didn’t help.

After I traded my father a Seiko quartz for the GMT Master that was sitting in his drawer I sent it off to an independent and it’s absolutely as accurate as any of my new Rolexes ever since.

Not Rolex exactly but same story with his 60s era Seamaster. A bit different, but once serviced it was fine.

Rolex in the 80s was just as good as today, but the owners were largely pretty different and didn’t have the same support of access to info. Or even really put that level of thought into it.
__________________
16750 | 6516(wife’s) | 126334 | 16570 | SBGA413 | SRPE33 | 126610LV
Jackie Daytona is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 04:28 AM   #13
Mystro
2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member
 
Mystro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Real Name: The Mystro ;)
Location: Central Pa.
Posts: 15,485
Mikes wrong with his ideas of Rolex accuracy in the 80’s.
__________________
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hyitq0aikqgajc0/Time%20sig.jpg?raw=1[/img]
Mystro is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 04:57 AM   #14
telesquire
Banned
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: UK
Posts: 379
I'm guessing that neither of them probably owned a Rolex 32+ years ago.
telesquire is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 05:00 AM   #15
Dirt
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Brisbane
Watch: DSSD
Posts: 8,061
I can't really help here as the only Rolex I had in the 80's didn't have a Chronometer movement.
But on reflection, I can say that it consistently ran within a 4-5 seconds tolerance and on average fast by around 10 or 11 seconds, which made it capable of Chronometer precision

Peter and Larry have basically summed up the situation in the context of the period
Dirt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 05:15 AM   #16
Kowaco
"TRF" Member
 
Kowaco's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Clemson
Watch: G Shock
Posts: 612
What he said was that Rolex compared to some other watches was not most accurate. That’s probably true today. A Rolex from the 80’s is pretty much the same as a Rolex from today. Rolex just had a reputation as a very good watch and not super expensive. They were like a lot of things quality luggage, BMWs, guns, shoes, Nikon I think today a lot of items are the name only today.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Kowaco is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 05:42 AM   #17
CaveDweller
"TRF" Member
 
CaveDweller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Gogland
Watch: Timex
Posts: 267
Back in the '80's, Rolex rated their accuracy at 90 seconds per month - outside that, and they'd "entertain" regulating the watch

Mine runs at +2.4s per day no matter what state it's in, always has done

But it's more to do with predictability than outright accuracy. If the watch or clock can be accurately predicted, then everything else is simple math ....
CaveDweller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 06:00 AM   #18
Vesper Lynd
Banned
 
Join Date: Mar 2022
Location: Europe
Posts: 794
3035 or 3135 at the end of the 80s are chronometers, and therefore very accurate. I have one that is at -1 second. Spectacular.
Vesper Lynd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 06:11 AM   #19
DJ2020
"TRF" Member
 
DJ2020's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Real Name: Wayne
Location: NC
Watch: 226570
Posts: 3,484
My 5513 was about as accurate as a sun dial (1982). But really didn't worry about it much. No cell phones or atomic clocks handy to reference the time. But reset it every Sunday as I recall watching the news when they announced the time.

Which was set to the minute BTW, not to the second. Then good for another week. Somewhere between 7 and 10 minutes off usually. But to be fare, It was just a watch to me and I certainly beat the crap out of it. Most likely magnetized (welded a lot). But good enough for me.
__________________
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count.
It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln
__________________________________________________
Rolex 226570, Explorer II Club
DJ2020 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 06:12 AM   #20
garyk
2024 Pledge Member
 
garyk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Real Name: Gary
Location: USA
Watch: Daytona
Posts: 11,714
Poppycock!!! Always accurate. I was never late for a meeting with clients or production etc over my 40 year working career. Never...thank you Rolex...
__________________
garyk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 09:08 AM   #21
Old Expat Beast
TRF Moderator & 2024 SubLV41 Patron
 
Old Expat Beast's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Real Name: Adam
Location: Far East
Watch: Golden Tuna
Posts: 28,804
Rolex has been putting Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified on their dials since the late 1950s, and without the "Superlative" for years before that.

I'm not sure how involved or successful Rolex was in the Swiss chronometer competitions that were cancelled in the late 1960s after Omega put up quartz movements against Seiko mechanicals in an attempt to beat the Japanese.

Here's an interesting video on that subject.

Seiko at Astronomical Observatory Chronometer competitions - or - How the Swiss lost their honor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayUT5WfkHrA&t=3s
__________________
_______________________
Old Expat Beast is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 09:09 AM   #22
Daytonaman799
2024 Pledge Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: NYC/South Fl
Watch: Rolex, Patek
Posts: 3,690
Mine were always very good
Daytonaman799 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 10:55 AM   #23
GMT Aviator
2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member
 
GMT Aviator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Real Name: Mike
Location: London
Posts: 3,318
I’ve got 1803’s from 1972 that are +1 sec / day.
GMT Aviator is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 March 2022, 11:11 AM   #24
ExplorerI
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: USA
Watch: Explorer I
Posts: 741
I wore a late 60s ref 1500 for a while and it was plenty accurate. If you change time zones every so often or wear multiple watches and let it wind down every now and then you’ll set the time enough to not notice the time gain or loss.
ExplorerI is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25 March 2022, 05:59 AM   #25
TheWatchmen
"TRF" Member
 
TheWatchmen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: The Moon
Posts: 1,365
How accurate were Rolex watches in the 80’s?

I have a 1982 Day Date 18038, calibre 3055, it’s running at -3 per month. You read that right.

In my experience, this one has been more accurate than the multiple 5 and 6 digit models I’ve owned, both with 31xx and 32xx calibers…not that they weren’t also accurate, but not like the early 80s DD is.
TheWatchmen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25 March 2022, 06:05 AM   #26
OrangeSport
"TRF" Member
 
OrangeSport's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Real Name: Jason
Location: Essex, UK
Watch: 14060M
Posts: 2,943
They were as good as anything now if serviced and regulated.

But, I think COSC is red herring - my COSC watches are not as accurate as some of my non COSC watches. Perhaps they could be, but they aren't.
__________________
OrangeSport is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25 March 2022, 07:10 AM   #27
Michael T
2024 Pledge Member
 
Michael T's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Houston
Posts: 1,241
1985 Rolex 1500 Date here, it was 2 to 4 seconds a day off.
Michael T is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 25 March 2022, 11:55 AM   #28
inadeje
2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member
 
inadeje's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Miami
Watch: me lose count.
Posts: 5,895
Properly regulated there is absolutely no difference between a 1980s Rolex and one from the 2000s. In many cases the movement was virtually identical for decades. Save for added power reserve offered of late, the whole lower accuracy of the 80s is utter hogwash
__________________
♛ 218206 Roman ♛ 116689 ♛ 126710BLRO ♛ 16520 white ♛ 16523 white ♛ 16610 ♛ 5513 Birth Year - ✠ Patek Philippe 5980/1R-001 - AP 26331ST Panda - Panerai Bronzo 671 & 111, Ω Speedmaster 1957 Broad Arrow, Cartier Santos XL - Montblanc TimeWalker Chrono 41
inadeje is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25 March 2022, 12:45 PM   #29
Oystersteel92
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: The South, USA
Posts: 989
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanasaka90 View Post
Hi guys, I saw this Watchbox video where Tim and Mike were discussing Rolex in the 80’s. Around 1:33 Mike mentions that Rolex watches weren’t the most accurate at this time (I’m paraphrasing).

Is this true? If so, what we’re some of the brands that made more accurate watches than Rolex at the time?

https://youtu.be/L3yrs08OF-c


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe a little less accurate than today, in general. After all Rolex is the master of using modern technology to make something inherently old school better and better, and technology has come a long way since the 3135 was introduced in 1988. That being said, Rolex made it's name on robust and accurate movements. My most accurate watch, in terms of dial up running on a timegrapher is a 1601 Datejust that was serviced by Rolex Dallas in 2018. +1 sec per day with minimal beat error and it was manufactured in 1968 and isn't even a hi-beat movement.
Oystersteel92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Asset Appeal

Wrist Aficionado

DavidSW Watches

Takuya Watches

OCWatches


*Banners Of The Month*
This space is provided to horological resources.





Copyright ©2004-2024, The Rolex Forums. All Rights Reserved.

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

Rolex is a registered trademark of ROLEX USA. The Rolex Forums is not affiliated with ROLEX USA in any way.