Pls Advise On Rolex Guidelines for Accuracy

[david_ord]

I know it is not unusual for an automatic to be off, but off by this much causes me to tinker with it all the time. I would like to ask gracious members to advise on what the standards actually are-- what actually, are the Rolex guidelines? And what is deemed acceptable to Rolex owners here on TRF? Here's the email exchange between me and my very reputable dealer:

ME: Hello, my Deep Sea 116660 is running about 5 seconds fast per day. This causes me to have to adjust it once every couple of weeks. I'm concerned that the frequency with which I am tightening/untightening the crown will cause rapid wear & tear. Please advise as to what can be done.

HIM: Hello, I just left you a message . The 5 seconds a day is within manufactures standards. Opening and closing the crown on a regular basis is not going to harm the watch. The watch is built so you can do this on a regular interval . Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[ralpie]

I'm not a professional, but I'd say he's correct. If you leave the watch on its side when you take it off, it should slow down slightly.

[Tools]

Rolex standards are Customer Satisfaction; not a specific plus or minus absolute.. The Dealer cannot speak for Rolex, only his Dealership.

I would not be happy with a watch 5 seconds off per day and would insist that they regulate it. 5 seconds is my absolute maximum, yet I desire less than 3.

You will get the usual "COSC standard is -4/+6 blah, blah, blah", But keep in mind.. That is just the standard for independent COSC chronometer testing and it not related to Rolex and Rolex standards in any way..

[azguy]

COSC standards are:

-4/+6 seconds a day, time for a week against a good source

[Megalobyte]

Try resting it crown down overnight. That's my Sub C's slowest position. Also, my Sub loses about 1 a day on a winder.

[david_ord]

Thanks for your input so far. So.... how do you guys deal with it? Are you adjustinng your time every couple of weeks? If so, are you not concerned with wearing out the thread on your crown? What about concerns of overtightening or undertightening? Are there members here who've opened and closed their crowns repeatedly for years without consequential wear & tear issues?

Larry: thx for input. What do you do when your watches are off? Are you willing to part with your watch for weeks to have it regulated? How long do they keep it when they calibrate it for accuracy?

[SeaDweller50]

My watchmaker took an hour to regulate my old GMT from + 11 to + 1 a day so it's quite easy for someone qualified to do the job. He/she should have the correct tool though.

[Megalobyte]

Problem is this is a Deepsea, so if he wants it pressure tested to specs, has to go to Rolex. And I may be wrong, but I thought I heard only Rolex in Switzerland has the "Deepsea" pressure testing machine.

I'd rest it crown down overnight. It might slow it a second or so.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by david_ord

I know it is not unusual for an automatic to be off, but off by this much causes me to tinker with it all the time. I would like to ask gracious members to advise on what the standards actually are-- what actually, are the Rolex guidelines? And what is deemed acceptable to Rolex owners here on TRF? Here's the email exchange between me and my very reputable dealer:

ME: Hello, my Deep Sea 116660 is running about 5 seconds fast per day. This causes me to have to adjust it once every couple of weeks. I'm concerned that the frequency with which I am tightening/untightening the crown will cause rapid wear & tear. Please advise as to what can be done.

HIM: Hello, I just left you a message . The 5 seconds a day is within manufactures standards. Opening and closing the crown on a regular basis is not going to harm the watch. The watch is built so you can do this on a regular interval . Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Just think of all the manual wind Rolex plus the other brands in this world with screw down crown they got wound daily for decades without problems.And I am 100% you could wind reset your watch every day for many years without any problems.And even after 2 weeks your watch would only be just over a minute and a half fast. And I am 100% sure those 90 odd seconds would not effect your life in any way.And the COSC spec at the time of testing the bare uncased movement only.Is that it performed on the test to a AVERAGE of between -4 to +6 over any 24 hour period.

Below is the chart how the bare movements are tested the first column is for movements of Rolex size.As you can see the movement could vary by 10 seconds a day either way in the first ten days of testing.And the certification is for the time of testing only,it does not guarantee that movement will perform the same indefinitely.

[kilyung]

The fact that a mechanical timepiece is 5s/d is amazing! This is an intricate machine assembled by a person. As I reset the time every morning, I'm rarely bothered by regulation issues under 12s but that's just me. Given the nature of these devices it is nearly impossible to guarantee perfect timing. However an AD should be able to regulate it close to your requirements.

[david_ord]

Originally Posted by kilyung

The fact that a mechanical timepiece is 5s/d is amazing! This is an intricate machine assembled by a person. As I reset the time every morning, I'm rarely bothered by regulation issues under 12s but that's just me. Given the nature of these devices it is nearly impossible to guarantee perfect timing. However an AD should be able to regulate it close to your requirements.

Really, so you unscrew the crown every morning to reset the time? Wow, maybe I'm overly concerned.

Peter and other members, about all of whom are more experienced than I am: how often are you guys unscrewing the crown to reset for accuracy? Daily, weekly, bi-weekly....? What is typical?

[SeaDweller50]

On the other side of the coin my new GMT has lost only 3 seconds in the last 10 days. I consider myself very lucky to have such an accurate timepiece.

[improviz]

Originally Posted by david_ord

Really, so you unscrew the crown every morning to reset the time? Wow, maybe I'm overly concerned.

Peter and other members, about all of whom are more experienced than I am: how often are you guys unscrewing the crown to reset for accuracy? Daily, weekly, bi-weekly....? What is typical?

Personally, if it's within two or so minutes of actual time, I don't really care, as there's nowhere that I need to be with that level of precision....so if this is the case for you as well (and it is for most folks) what you can do (assuming changing the resting position doesn't do the trick, it does make a difference in terms of face up or down, on crown or opposite side, etc., there's an old chart for that which I'm certain someone will post in short order--edit: found it and posted below :) ) is determine a "guard band" that you absolutely must have your watch within; if it's essential that you have it spot-on, you'll need to have it regulated by Rolex (again if the resting position doesn't do the trick); but if the guardband is, say, two minutes and the watch is running 5 sec fast/day, then if you set it two minutes *slow*, it will keep you within +-2 minutes for 48 days as it goes from -2 min to + 2 min, or 24 days if within +-1 minute is your limit, etc...

Edit: here's the chart I referred to above, courtesy of an old post by Padi:

[Numismatist]

This: http://www.cosc.ch/

[watch watcher]

The threads will most definitely wear out. My Datejust from the 80s, the crown just barely grabs the threads when I go to close it. I don't know if it's ever been serviced, but I do know it will soon need a new crown tube. I hate to wear it sporadically because it means I have to wind it.

[kilyung]

I have too many watches in rotation so regularly have to wind/set my watches in the morning. All my watches are > 0s/d so if I do wear the same watch I don't reset the time so much as a I just hack the movement to catch up.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by david_ord

So.... how do you guys deal with it?

I do not live my life by seconds.

If Rolex sends their watches for certification under COSC spec, then it is clearly good enough for Rolex.

[azguy]

I adjust the watch a couple of times a month

[Bangel]

I use the COSC numbers of -4 to +6 seconds average per day as a de facto personal acceptance threshold.

I know that strictly speaking, it is a misuse of the COSC criteria (as Padi has expertly explained numerous times whenever questions of accuracy arise ), but I nevertheless find it a useful arbitrary reference point.

Averaging +5 seconds per day is not optimal, but acceptable to me.

If it bothers you, I'm sure you could get it regulated to a smaller range either side of zero.

[Lmbeauleap]

Regarding the threads...My GMT (with the smaller crown) sometimes feels like wants to start cross threaded. I've been careful but this worries me as well.

[bardm]

It's within spec, but I would have it regulated. +/- 3 sec. (or better) should be easy to achieve. I had my AD regulate my GMT IIc from -3 to -1.

[threemonkeys]

Originally Posted by Megalobyte

Try resting it crown down overnight. That's my Sub C's slowest position. Also, my Sub loses about 1 a day on a winder.

This worked for my GMT. It was off by 4 seconds.

[kilyung]

I screw my crown in CCW before turning CW. In my many years in this hobby, I've yet to strip a crown/tube. However, I do get these replaced at each service.

[Z-Sub]

no worries, the crown and tube are sturdy

[boogiebot]

i lose about 2 seconds a day. it use to bug me but as another member pointed out we dont live our lives by seconds.

well unless youre a race car driver.....hehehehe

[mrbill2mrbill2]

It is good to manually wind your watch. The winding gear train is like any mechanical device - it needs to be exercised to keep lubricants dispersed.

To prevent cross threading the crown put your thumb on the face of the crown, where the crown and dots or the line is, and turn CCW until you feel a "click" the crown will fall a little then turn CW.

[pipp]

my gmt and sub get +2 seconds per day.

[Rikki]

Anything 5 seconds down to zero is within Rolex guidelines so in there estimation your watch is fine not to say it can't be tweaked a bit but that's up to you and your watchmaker. Rikki

[al_bongo]

Since my watch runs a few seconds fast I just wait until its a few minutes fast the reset it a couple of minutes slow. I like a hands off approach rather than constantly fiddling for an accuracy that's unnecessary.

[donas]

Originally Posted by david_ord

Really, so you unscrew the crown every morning to reset the time? Wow, maybe I'm overly concerned.

Peter and other members, about all of whom are more experienced than I am: how often are you guys unscrewing the crown to reset for accuracy? Daily, weekly, bi-weekly....? What is typical?

I wind my Sub LV several times a week and have some type of obsessive compulsive problem with loosening and re-tighting the crown whenever I know a fair amount of water is coming. I have never had a problem of anything wearing out.....I would guess mine is loosened/tightened daily.

---you are paranoid in your own special way