setting minute hand precisely...

[Nicky G]

Folks, mega-apologies in advance if this has been covered before, many times. I did read something about it in a sticky I believe, but I could use some more clarification...

New Explorer (F-series 114270) I've been wearing for less than a week seems to be keeping about +3 seconds a day. I love this thing!

However, the minute hand has more "play" in it, when setting, than my other Swiss, a Baume & Mercier w/ Soprod-tweaked ETA 2892-A2. That thing is pretty easy to set "precisely" so the minute hand lines up with the minute markers quite exactly. However, yeah, it keeps about +7 seconds a day.

So anyway, I am trying to get the "feel" for setting the minute hand on my Explorer in a fashion that leads to the minute hand staying pretty well put on the minute markers as the sweep second crosses zero, even over many hours/days. I figure this should be possible.

What I do when setting is go to time.gov, wait for the "00" to slick off and right as it does, I engage the watch by pushing in the crown.

I find that the minute hand does have a wee little bit of play in it, so despite it being lined up with the minute marker, it doesn't always stay aligned over the next several hours, and eventually ends up either a little ahead or behind of the minute marker it should be on.

To remedy this I wiggle the minute hand back and forth a little before setting, then with the hand moving forward, let it land a WEE little bit ahead of the minute marker I am aiming for. This does "ok" but after a few hours I still end up "off" by a little bit, and usually behind about a third or quarter of a minute marker.

Any tips, gang?

OK, so I think I am a little OCD, which manifests as WIS-itis. But I figured this would be a compassionate crowd...

Thanks in advance!