Question Regarding Setting the Time/Date

[mmmmp]

Friends,

I'm a new member to TRF, but not to Rolex watch ownership. Now, I cannot remember where I read this but it has been suggested that setting the time / date should not be done from approx. 9pm to 1am...or thereabouts.

Can someone please give me a detailed explaination why this is so. I've had an Air King Date / DateJust and my current Sub w/date but have never had any problems setting the watches during the 9pm/1am 'window'. Is this an urban legend or is there some truth to this?

If there is a link to this somewhere that would be great as I'm sure this has probably been disscused at some point. (I don't wanna' waste bandwidth.)

Thanks for reading,
Mark

[Hawk99]

Not sure if the following explanation will be detailed enough for you, but here it goes: (This is for models with date function)

the reason you shouldn't mess around with the setting during the countdown to 12 midnight (from 9pm to whenever the date flips over) is that the date mechanism is building spring tension between this time. And any messing about could cause the date function to not operate properly for that night only.
On another tech note, I recently read on the Vintage forum, and from an old Rolex service document, that if you need to advance the date on a non-quickset model, it is ok to advance the hands to past midnight (date change time) then back the hands past 6pm, and repeat over and over until the desired date is shown. This is alot quicker than advancing the hands in only one direction.
Hope that helps.

[mmmmp]

Thanks Hawk!

That was exactly the info I needed. The extra tip is also appreciatd too.

Happy Holidays!
Mark - (No snow yet in Toronto, but it's gettin' pretty cold.)

[Vanessa CW21]

Originally Posted by mmmmp

Friends,

I'm a new member to TRF, but not to Rolex watch ownership. Now, I cannot remember where I read this but it has been suggested that setting the time / date should not be done from approx. 9pm to 1am...or thereabouts.

Can someone please give me a detailed explaination why this is so. I've had an Air King Date / DateJust and my current Sub w/date but have never had any problems setting the watches during the 9pm/1am 'window'. Is this an urban legend or is there some truth to this?

If there is a link to this somewhere that would be great as I'm sure this has probably been disscused at some point. (I don't wanna' waste bandwidth.)

Thanks for reading,
Mark

Mark,

on ANY Rolex you can advance the time or date at any time of day, there is nothing you can damage if you do!

There are a few brands out there that you cannot do that with though, like the ETA 7750 movement. That's a chronograph used in TagHeuer, Omega, Baume&Mercier, Hamilton, and a bunch of other brands.
It's always good to browse through the setting instructions for each watch to see what the recommendations are, but like I said, with Rolex you're safe.

[mmmmp]

Thanks Vanessa! (BTW - I always love your tech tips.)

Best,
Mark