Proper handling of a possibly damaged watch

[chamen]

Hello Forum...
I dropped by watch yesterday by accident. It fell about 3' onto a ceramic tile floor. Fortunately there was little to no cosmetic damage, however I am definitely seeing some adverse effects on the watch's timekeeping: Its losing 1 second per hour.

What is the correct next step? Should I stop the mechanical movement of the watch? Wear it normally until I have it serviced? Or something else?

Your guidance is appreciated.

Thank you!

[dddrees]

Have you noticed any damage to the crystal?

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Is it fully wound?

[chamen]

Thanks for the replies...

I see no crystal damage. It doesn't appear to be loose or broken.

I generally wear the watch daily while swimming so it gets a good winding. The day I dropped it was no exception. That said, my assumption is that its fully wound, or at least sufficiently wound.

Prior to dropping the watch, it was running at around -1sec/day.

[crowncollection]

you have likely dislodged your balance staff mate, take it to a watchmaker not a big job, that is the most common problem when you drop a watch, i would say its not broken as then the watch would stop, this can happen when you drop a watch also so your lucky their, good luck mate.

[dddrees]

Sounds as though no external damage took place. The best test would be to make sure it is fully wound first. Give it 40 turns and then set it in accordance with an atomic clock. Then take a look at where it again after 7 days to get a better idea as to how it is running.

[chamen]

Watch wound, and set to time.gov. My fingers are crossed for the next week.

Thanks everyone

[mjclark32]

Good luck!

[jay_man2]

A couple of days ago I dropped my TT Sub C LB from about three feet to a rug-covered vinyl kitchen floor. No external damage at all, and so far it's keeping the same or better time. Fingers crossed for both of us!

[Darlinboy]

Originally Posted by chamen

Watch wound, and set to time.gov. My fingers are crossed for the next week.

Thanks everyone

You mentioned earlier it was losing 1sec per hour. If that is so, I wouldn't wait a week!

I'd stop the movement and have it looked at posthaste, if that happened to me.

[chamen]

Well, after 10 hours, the watch is running at -6 seconds, which definitely sits outside of the COSC standard and well beyond the measure if was running prior to its fall.

This brings me back to my original question. What is the right thing to do until I am able to have it serviced? Should I stop the mechanical movement? Or just wear it as I usually do?

Thank you!

[dddrees]

If you have good reason to believe a part is loose or broken like the crystal and trapped in the watch the best thing to do is to pull out the crown and stop the watch. Then turn your watch in as soon as possible. It didn't sound like that was the case when you described the condition of your watch earlier.

In order to really get a good idea as to whether your watch is running with in COSC spec it is best to let it run over the course of a week and then take a daily average after giving it a full wind and setting it by an accurate time source.

[chamen]

Thanks again for the feedback.

I stand by my original statement that I do not believe that there is any crystal damage. The watch shows no cosmetic imperfection after its fall save for a very small scratch near where the band attaches to the body (I wear the watch with a nato band, so that also reduced the stainless steel that could have been affected). The bezel spins evenly (this is a Submariner), the watch hands do not have any "jerky" movements or stop during a rotation. The date flipped at the appropriate time last evening as well. The only item of note is that the watch appears to be running out of COSC standard and slower than prior to the fall.

Last evening I gave the watch 40 solid winds and set its to time.gov. I'm in Tampa for business this week so I'm resolved to at least letting it run for the remainder of the time I'm here to see just what the difference is on Friday.

Thanks

[Sherwooddavid]

Good Luck Charles.

[dooder202]

Originally Posted by chamen

Well, after 10 hours, the watch is running at -6 seconds, which definitely sits outside of the COSC standard and well beyond the measure if was running prior to its fall.

This brings me back to my original question. What is the right thing to do until I am able to have it serviced? Should I stop the mechanical movement? Or just wear it as I usually do?

Thank you!

Send it in for service. Why would you wear it like you normally do? Obviously you want to have it fixed.

[Jagatai]

Don't wait till service time. Bring it in to have it looked at by your trusted watchmaker.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by chamen

Well, after 10 hours, the watch is running at -6 seconds, which definitely sits outside of the COSC standard and well beyond the measure if was running prior to its fall.

This brings me back to my original question. What is the right thing to do until I am able to have it serviced? Should I stop the mechanical movement? Or just wear it as I usually do?

Thank you!

If you had damaged your watch in any way its very very doubtful your watch would have ran for 10 hours and just be a little bit off spec.Expect you have just upset the balance regulator escapement it could right it self, worst case it might need to be re-regulated a very simple process.

[chamen]

Again, thanks for all the feedback.

Dooder202- I should have clarified my meaning behind stating "should I wear it as I normally do"

Yes, I obviously do want to correct the issue. I was curious to know if I should stop the movement until I'm able to take it in for repair or continue wearing it as I normally do (on a daily basis) until I head in to the watch shop.

For what its worth, I'm on the 18th hour since the wind/reset and its running at -10 seconds. I'm slightly relieved to read the posts saying that its likely a minor repair to put things right. If nothing else, you've at least brought my blood pressure down some.

[chamen]

Watch is in the hands of my repair shop. Thanks for all your input!

[dddrees]

Cool, hope it isn't to bad and you get it back soon.

Please keep us posted.

[chamen]

Hello again Rolex Nation...
It wasn't a few minutes after walking into the watch repair shop that I realized I didn't take the due diligence to find out just what I should expect as far as pricing and repair time to re-regulate my watch.
After a short discussion about the condition of the timepiece and a review workmen, they told me $60 and 10 minutes time should put the piece back to where it should be. Sure enough, roughly ten minutes later, I was handed a receipt for a watch that was adjusted and pressure tested. 24 hours later, the watch is running at -2sec.

I'm planning to let this run for the week and see what the overall +/- is, however I had to ask the forum: is a 10 minute job really what I should have expected when asking someone to re-regulate a watch?

[Tools]

Originally Posted by chamen

Hello again Rolex Nation...
.....

I'm planning to let this run for the week and see what the overall +/- is, however I had to ask the forum: is a 10 minute job really what I should have expected when asking someone to re-regulate a watch?

Sure... It doesn't take long at all to regulate a watch.. Now, if it was serviced, then you would want your watchmaker to keep it for a few days, check in in different positions, and tweak it after monitoring it's timing over a few days..

But you won't usually get that for your 60 bucks..