Chronometer Tolerance

[Jamesha]

How fast/slow is your Rolex running?

[Jake B]

Which one? Based on another recent poll a lot of us have several

[REDiesel]

116400GV 1-2 slow off wrist 3-4 fast on wrist
16570 1 sec slow
18038 1 sec slow
16014 is a freak keeps perfect time 1-2sec/MONTH

Cheapest watch keeps the best time go figure.

[rockmastermike]

214270: +/- 0 on the wrist - spot on!
+2 when off and positioned dial up over night
-2 on the side with crown up overnight
soooo, I just try to wear it as much as possible :)

My now gone Pelagos was + 1/2 (.5) second a day.

[Friar]

214270 +1s/d on wrist at the worst
216570 0 to +.5s/d on wrist

Both can be brought to perfect time each morning by proper positioning at night--if I think about it.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by Jamesha

How fast/slow is your Rolex running?

Which one?

[Roller07]

I need to vote more than once. I have more than one Rolex.

[De Sisti]

My other chronometer (Aristo/Vollmer pilot) loses 2 secs per day. :-(
I'd rather my watches run fast than slow.

[jwill051]

I really don't pay any attention to the seconds + or - on a daily basis, it is just not that important to me.

[Chris B]

I must admit its not something that overly concerns me

[jack81]

I dont do this often but sometimes its fun meassuring it. Last time i check my ym +2 sec a day.

[fmc000]

1991 Daytona - less than 1 second fast per day.

[REDiesel]

Originally Posted by REDiesel

116400GV 1-2 slow off wrist 3-4 fast on wrist
16570 1 sec slow
18038 1 sec slow
16014 is a freak keeps perfect time 1-2sec/MONTH

Cheapest watch keeps the best time go figure.

Here are some of my recent notes...

116400
9-6-14 Time set @ 4:00PM
9-8-14 4 sec slow @ 5:20PM
9-9-14 6sec slow @ 6:50PM Off wrist from 9-6-14 to 9-9-14
9-12-14 6sec fast @ 5:00PM Worn 9-10-14 to present

18038
9-6-14 23 sec fast @ 4:00PM
9-7-14 23 sec fast @ 7:15PM
9-8-14 23 sec fast @ 5:25PM Time set @ 5:30PM Worn 9-6-14 to 9-9-14
9-12-14 7 sec fast @ 5:00PM

16014
9-6-14 0 sec off @ 4:00PM
9-8-14 3 sec fast @ 5:20PM
9-9-14 4 sec fast @ 6:50PM
9-12-14 2 sec slow @ 5:00PM

[HogwldFLTR]

All over the board with five of them.

[iclick]

Depends on the watch:

GMT 1675: About -2 per day on my wrist but can be kept near zero variance by resting dial-up at night. Between July 1 and Aug. 31 it was +3 for that two-month period with only self-regulation.

Tudor Big-Block Chrono: Easy to regulate internally and now runs around +1 or +2 on my wrist, kept near zero variance by resting crown-down overnight. Like the GMT there's quite a bit of variance among resting positions.

Daytona cal. 4130: Despite its state-of-the-art Rolex movement this watch is less accurate than the other two. The reason is that it was internally regulated by RSC too fast during service in Aug. 2013, running +5 on my wrist. It has very little variance between positions and they're all are in positive territory, which makes it impossible to self-regulate in its present configuration. If I could get the internal regulation spot-on it would vary less than the other two, as it is much more consistent among the various positions. I don't wear it often enough or long enough to warrant messing with internal regulation.

[eco8gator]

All I can say is Seiko Spring Drive if you worried about being as close to dead on all the time...

I believe -4 +6 is in spec...

My Tudor -1/day
My SD +4/day
My Seiko SD...maybe +/- 1s per month.

[jrgougeon]

I'm able to maintain my 14060M at +1s by keeping it crown down at night.

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by Jake B

Which one? Based on another recent poll a lot of us have several

Yes hard to answer.
MY LVc runs about +3s a week
My Deepsea ran +12s a week
My old SD4000 ran about the same as my Deepsea

I love them both for how the perform. I'd rather a fast watch than a slow one, as long as it's not some crazy number like +30s a day.

I find there are a lot of variables too, like how active I am, how much the watch has been manually wound and the last time it was done, how I set it down at night if I take it off....so it varies.

[curtiskey]

Sub-C is about -1s / day. Any way to self-reg such a small variance?

[iclick]

Originally Posted by curtiskey

Sub-C is about -1s / day. Any way to self-reg such a small variance?

Try resting it dial up at night. If that doesn't work put it on a Timegrapher and see if there's a position that will give you close to +3, which is +1 while it's off your wrist at night. Newer movements don't seem to be as amenable to self-regulation, which although a testament to their precision makes them hard to self-regulate, but there should still be some variance between positions.

[curtiskey]

Should I own a timegrapher? Any suggestions on which to consider?

[iclick]

Originally Posted by curtiskey

Should I own a timegrapher? Any suggestions on which to consider?

Unless you're a watchmaker you don't really need a Timegrapher, of course. I'm just anal enough to have bought one, a Timegrapher 1000 purchased from Acetimer. That's as good a price as you're likely to find on this particular model that seemed to be highly recommended by owners. I've had it for about eight months and don't regret buying it at all, as it's a neat gadget that gives you useful info about not only the watch's regulation but also its amplitude and beat error. The latter two can serve as warnings for mechanical problems.

Actually, I was going to also buy a microstella tool and the other hardware needed to internally regulate a Rolex but decided against going that far. That would only invite me to mess with the watches and potentially damage an expensive movement, as it is a delicate procedure. Instead, I'll have the watchmakers get it close enough for me to self-regulate and that's good enough. OTOH my Tudor uses a common lever mechanism to internally regulate it, which is easy and something I can do with little risk of screwing something up.

[mschafer]

On my GMTc current nearly daily wearer (20of30 days per month), I loose about 45 sec. I reset every first of each month And don't care about it for the next weeks. That with the watch face up at night and sometimes stuck in a bag for the day. Pretty happy for a mechanic watch.

[MovieGuy]

Mine averages .5 seconds/day fast. Point 5 seconds! I chose +1 on the poll.

[tkerrmd]

Originally Posted by jwill051

I really don't pay any attention to the seconds + or - on a daily basis, it is just not that important to me.

+1

[vitalsignsrn]

I voted 0. I have never tested it. Keeps perfect time with my iPhone. And my G Shock if I've actually set the time to my iPhone time. ** shrugs ** I'm satisfied. :-)

I guess I shouldn't be so flip about this time testing thing. I don't notice anything off & I always put my watch down dial up. Just the way I lay it down on my bedside table after I take it off. ;-)

[Old Expat Beast]

My older ones with the 15xx movement are most accurate in that they can be kept spot on with overnight postioning. Later models tend to stick to whatever they are out by (usually 2 or 3 secs per day), however they are laid down. Consequently my 1964 Air King can be maintained to a higher accuracy than, say, my 2013 Milgauss GV, and even my Oysterquartz (+2 secs per month). Same goes for my Sub 5513.