Brand new BLNR watch 3186 movement running fast

[rollee1]

Originally Posted by padi56

I would give it a full manual wind first 40 full crown turns clockwise only and test over 5 -10 days setting first with a reliable time source, like say a quartz watch.Then wear as normal say for 8 hours plus a day,check time once daily with same setting source write down loss or gain.Do this for 5-10 days then average out loss or gain.If then still way out of COSC spec take it back for regulation.Even now if watch is a consistent 12 seconds fast its a very accurate watch,and all is needed is simple regulation, consistency is the main factor with any mechanical watch but remember there are 86400 seconds in a day..

That is a great plan, thanks.


My other SD16600 nails time +1s/day right out of the box, and in 3 weeks of wearing gained 8s in total, this sets up the standard for me.

I am surprised that this modern day 'improved' 3186 movement needs a settling down period, I expect it to nail consistency right out of the box.

I agree with everyone's idea, I shall give it a good 3 weeks of daily wear and monitor from there. Since my post 10 hours ago, the watch was sitting in my bench and it slowed 1s during this time.
It looks like it going through its 'break in' period.

To open the case back of a brand new watch for regulation will be my last resort.
After all, my BLNR only started its journey with me less than 36 hours ago.
Perhaps I am too eager?

[rolepam312]

All my rolexes run fast ...it's the least accurate of all my watches.....nothing I didn't know before ...I don't understand why a mass produced watches should be that accurate? Surely you didn't get a Rolex for it's time capability ??

[padi56]

Originally Posted by rollee1

That is a great plan, thanks.


My other SD16600 nails time +1s/day right out of the box, and in 3 weeks of wearing gained 8s in total, this sets up the standard for me.

I am surprised that this modern day 'improved' 3186 movement needs a settling down period, I expect it to nail consistency right out of the box.

I agree with everyone's idea, I shall give it a good 3 weeks of daily wear and monitor from there. Since my post 10 hours ago, the watch was sitting in my bench and it slowed 1s during this time.
It looks like it going through its 'break in' period.

To open the case back of a brand new watch for regulation will be my last resort.
After all, my BLNR only started its journey with me less than 36 hours ago.
Perhaps I am too eager?

In the real world the cal 3186 is just a modded 3185 and if regulated correctly would give the same accuracy as any of the 3 series movements.

[tomchicago]

agreed re: 40 full turns of the crown.

[Mfrankel2]

Originally Posted by TheBluePrince

Sometimes that's just how they are. I've had watches back from RSC service running out of COSC, sent them back for regulating and they've come back still out of COSC.

Unless it's really out like a minute a day or something I wouldn't worry about it unless you have nothing else in life to worry about and really want something to bother you and fret about.

I disagree. Follow your plan (full wind, wear for a few days & note what's happening). If it's still that far off, you're more than twice what spec is and your watch can certainly be regulated (or repaired and then regulated) to be much more accurate than that. YES it's a mechanical watch and YES sometimes these things happen but they happen due to something being wrong & that thing can be corrected

[Mfrankel2]

Originally Posted by rollee1

That is a great plan, thanks.


My other SD16600 nails time +1s/day right out of the box, and in 3 weeks of wearing gained 8s in total, this sets up the standard for me.

I am surprised that this modern day 'improved' 3186 movement needs a settling down period, I expect it to nail consistency right out of the box.

I agree with everyone's idea, I shall give it a good 3 weeks of daily wear and monitor from there. Since my post 10 hours ago, the watch was sitting in my bench and it slowed 1s during this time.
It looks like it going through its 'break in' period.

To open the case back of a brand new watch for regulation will be my last resort.
After all, my BLNR only started its journey with me less than 36 hours ago.
Perhaps I am too eager?

If it needs to be looked at, "opening the back" if done properly is not an issue. A properly equipped and trained person will do it n a clean environment & replace the seal(s) and pressure test it afterwards. There's no "Magic Swiss Air" in there

[SeaDweller50]

I had the same problem. I pulled the winder fully out and advanced the time forward by approx one week. Then rewound back again. It ran perfectly after that. Don't know why but it did.

[fdm79]

Hummm...

My BLNR runs -1 sec / day

[rollee1]

Originally Posted by RolexplorerII

I had the same problem. I pulled the winder fully out and advanced the time forward by approx one week. Then rewound back again. It ran perfectly after that. Don't know why but it did.

That's a lot of turning! Do you mean the hour hand passing the date cycle 7 times?

This might make sense by loosening up all the gears in the movement, letting lubricants run loose.
Similar to wearing it for a week, and let the watch run and adjust to settle on its own course.

What ever it might be, I am glad to hear yours run perfectly. This is how they are suppose to be.

[RollieVerde]

Originally Posted by travisb

I'd give it a week or so of normal wear to see if things settle in on their own. If not, it's an easy adjustment.

Exactly. Chill out give it at least a week of continuous wear.

[I-luv-Rolex]

Originally Posted by wolffram

How do you over wind a Rolex?

Speaking as a mechanical engineer.

A Rolex like all mechanical watch is calibrated to run most accurate during normal use. I.e. it should be most accurate when it is neither fully winded nor almost unwind. It should be most accurate somewhere in the mid wound range.

Not to say the O.P. does not have a problem, but a full wounded watch all the time will run faster. If you don't believe me fully wind you Rolex every hour and compare it to winding it every 48 hours and see if it run faster. Also keeping a spring full winded all the time will also generally shorten the life of the spring. In addition, a Rolex spring is probably design to have a infinite life, however if there is/are unintended flawed in the spring or spring mechanism fully winding a spring will shorten the life of it.

[wolffram]

Just out of interest can you tell if your watch is over wound? I've not tried this, but if you kept on hand winding would you get to a point of resistance or not? All my 2824 watches do, but is a Rolex movement the same? When I bought my Sub the AD wound the crown somewhere between 20 and 40 turns, and said it was not possible to over wind a Rolex- just wondering if this is true or not?

[I-luv-Rolex]

Originally Posted by wolffram

Just out of interest can you tell if your watch is over wound? I've not tried this, but if you kept on hand winding would you get to a point of resistance or not? All my 2824 watches do, but is a Rolex movement the same? When I bought my Sub the AD wound the crown somewhere between 20 and 40 turns, and said it was not possible to over wind a Rolex- just wondering if this is true or not?

I think when Rolex says you can't over wind a rolex. It mean that there is either a clutch or ratchet mechanism in the watch so that you can't keeping turning the crown until the spring breaks. There are lessor watch out there that you can wind the watch until the crown stop and if you force to turn the crown beyond that point you will break the spring.

[RollieVerde]

Originally Posted by Tools

Movements are tested in bulk. They are not in a watch, they do not have dials or hands or the auto-wind modules, they are bare movements. After passing the test they are simply warehoused. They are never tested again, ever. COSC uses standard ISO 3159; each uncased movement is individually tested for fifteen days, in five positions, at three different temperatures. It is the test that allows for a daily variation of -4/+6 (a 10 second swing) during testing; it is not what you should expect your watch to operate at regardless of how many Forum members seem to think that.

When they come out of warehouse, perhaps months later, they are "serviced" and fitted with the parts needed for the intended use, Sub, DJ, etc.

Not tested again after COSC? What's your source? Ariel Adams wrote this after touring the Rolex facility:

"It would be an understatement to suggest that Rolex is obsessive about quality control. A predominant theme in the manufacture is that things are checked, re-checked, and then checked again. It feels as though their goal is to ensure that if a Rolex watch fails, it does so before it leaves the factory. Large teams of watchmakers and assembly people work on every single movement that Rolex produces. This is before and after their movements are sent to COSC for chronometer certification. And on top of that, Rolex re-tests their movements for accuracy after they are cased for several days while simulating wear before they are sent out to retailers."

I don't think they just warehouse it, shove it in a case, pressure test the case and ship it.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by RollieVerde

Not tested again after COSC? What's your source? Ariel Adams wrote this after touring the Rolex facility:

"It would be an understatement to suggest that Rolex is obsessive about quality control. A predominant theme in the manufacture is that things are checked, re-checked, and then checked again. It feels as though their goal is to ensure that if a Rolex watch fails, it does so before it leaves the factory. Large teams of watchmakers and assembly people work on every single movement that Rolex produces. This is before and after their movements are sent to COSC for chronometer certification. And on top of that, Rolex re-tests their movements for accuracy after they are cased for several days while simulating wear before they are sent out to retailers."

I don't think they just warehouse it, shove it in a case, pressure test the case and ship it.

Bear in mind that this article was written on the back of a free Rolex media tour, and parts of it read like a press release. Just saying.

[rokosh]

This DJ2 (gratuitous pic included ) was on a winder for about 3 weeks, just checked the time- it's gained around 4 seconds.
A 4 second deviation in 21 days is just mind-boggling

[wolffram]

I love that watch. And I love that accuaracy. My SubC runs 5 seconds a day fast.

[rollee1]

I monitored my BLNR non-stop (every few hours) since my post

In the beginning, the watch is very sensitive to wrist movements, fluctuating between +4s to +12s like a yo-yo, yet magically did not change (zero) in the morning (sleeping 9 hours dial up)

Last week its running on average +2.5s during the day, then slowed down at night. I averaged out a week of wear, the watch kept +2s for 9 straight days

In the past 24 hours its +1s
The BLNR seems to be alive

I believe the new movement does need time to settle working itself out, magic!

[rollee1]

Testing complete, +1s/ 24hours the past 4 days consistent
A red carpet appearance and off to the safe she goes.

[stil]

Not to add to the OCDness of some of the folks on here but my 14060 had been running at about +2/ day since last summer. Recently it sped up to +5 or so a day no matter how I set it on my night stand at night.

I took it to my AD on Sat who regulated it for free and since then it's only gained 2 seconds.

We'll see how long it lasts. He said it was slow on the machine but obviously in practice it's not...plus I'd rather a watch be on the fast side than slow.

[stil]

...and that last post was my 200th post!

[Tools]

Originally Posted by RollieVerde

Not tested again after COSC? What's your source? Ariel Adams wrote this after touring the Rolex facility:

"It would be an understatement to suggest that Rolex is obsessive about quality control. A predominant theme in the manufacture is that things are checked, re-checked, and then checked again. It feels as though their goal is to ensure that if a Rolex watch fails, it does so before it leaves the factory. Large teams of watchmakers and assembly people work on every single movement that Rolex produces. This is before and after their movements are sent to COSC for chronometer certification. And on top of that, Rolex re-tests their movements for accuracy after they are cased for several days while simulating wear before they are sent out to retailers."

I don't think they just warehouse it, shove it in a case, pressure test the case and ship it.

Once COSC tested, they are NOT COSC tested again...

COSC isn't Rolex, it's a completely different, independent organization. Rolex sends their bare movements: no dials, no autowinders, no hands, etc., just to be tested for 15 days under controlled conditions of humidity and temperature so that they can bear the name "chronometer" on the dial per Swiss law.

Re-read what you posted again.. Nowhere does it say that they return the movements to COSC to be re-tested by the independent COSC organization.

[CT3113]

Originally Posted by rollee1

Testing complete, +1s/ 24hours the past 4 days consistent
A red carpet appearance and off to the safe she goes.

Did it break in on its own, or did you have to take it back to be regulated?

I just got a brand new BLNR... Overnight it was dead on ...but after wearing it all day long... +15-20 seconds.

[rollee1]

Originally Posted by CT3113

Did it break in on its own, or did you have to take it back to be regulated?

I just got a brand new BLNR... Overnight it was dead on ...but after wearing it all day long... +15-20 seconds.

My BLNR behaved as yours when I first got it, the first sleepover was quite precise, then it started to yo-yo.
I had it sat on my bench unmoved for 4 days, did a full manual wind once at 36 hours; then I wore it like normal. Constantly monitoring its accuracy.

Magically, like the watch is alive it settles on +1/24 hours; I did not take it in, it just nails time on its own. Took some patience, it was difficult
Best of luck, enjoy your beautiful watch

[JRT]

My BLNR always runs very accurately within the range between -1 to +1 sec in each single day since last June.

[CT3113]

Originally Posted by rollee1

My BLNR behaved as yours when I first got it, the first sleepover was quite precise, then it started to yo-yo.
I had it sat on my bench unmoved for 4 days, did a full manual wind once at 36 hours; then I wore it like normal. Constantly monitoring its accuracy.

Magically, like the watch is alive it settles on +1/24 hours; I did not take it in, it just nails time on its own. Took some patience, it was difficult
Best of luck, enjoy your beautiful watch

Thanks, good to know! I just reset it tonight to test again tomorrow. Was +15 sec yesterday... +20 sec today. If it's still fast I will try letting it run down over the weekend and try it out with a full manual wind.

[breitlings]

I'd give it two weeks and time the offset. Then you can either see if it settles or tell the watchmaker the observed offset on your wrist.

[GermanyMatt]

My BLNR is ridiculously accurate. I always read those threads about how some wearers were touting accuracy within 1 or 2 seconds a month, and I always thought "B.S." None of my Rolex watches have ever been that accurate. Most have been around +2 or 3 seconds a day, which is totally within COSC. But NO WAY an automatic movement can be that accurate.
But, I've been proven wrong by my own watch. It's dead-on on my wrist, a couple of seconds fast dial up, and a a couple seconds slow crown down. So between wearing it and storing it either crown down or dial up when I'm sleeping (typically alternating), I have managed to keep my watch nearly spot on with www.time.is for nearly a month.
I just checked, and it's currently running -0.5 seconds. I couldn't tell you when I set this watch last.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by I-luv-Rolex

Speaking as a mechanical engineer.

A Rolex like all mechanical watch is calibrated to run most accurate during normal use. I.e. it should be most accurate when it is neither fully winded nor almost unwind. It should be most accurate somewhere in the mid wound range.

Not to say the O.P. does not have a problem, but a full wounded watch all the time will run faster. If you don't believe me fully wind you Rolex every hour and compare it to winding it every 48 hours and see if it run faster. Also keeping a spring full winded all the time will also generally shorten the life of the spring. In addition, a Rolex spring is probably design to have a infinite life, however if there is/are unintended flawed in the spring or spring mechanism fully winding a spring will shorten the life of it.

The main spring is just a serviceable item and mostly changed as part of normal routine service.And a watch will always keep more accurate time if mainspring is at its peak over all operating power reserve.And as the mainspring is wound by gravity by the swinging pendulum ,when it reaches maximum tension it just slips in the spring barrel.

[jthop]

My brand new BLNR was running 8-10 sec fast a day. I took it to RSC Dallas. They put it on their machines and said it's perfect. I told them no, when I wear it it runs very fast.

They asked my permission to do a wrist test. They take off my bracelet and wear the watch for a week or so while they work and keep checking the time. They confirmed it was fast and regulated it.

Now that I have the watch back it runs perfect! At most it is -1 second/week now. I am very very happy.