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Old 14 September 2018, 11:31 AM   #1
etp
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Icon5 Accuracy for 20+ year old watches

For those that have bought vintage pieces (I think 20+ years counts?), what is the accuracy you are seeing?

My oldest piece is a Kermit and it still runs +4. As I look at older pieces, I'm wondering what accuracy you can expect. I saw a video on Youtube of a watchmaker claiming +-15 seconds a day on 50 years+ is acceptable.

Does that sound right?
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Old 14 September 2018, 11:34 AM   #2
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My 1984 GMT II is in need of service and still holds about +2 per day. It's not difficult to regulate it closer to zero. It just takes a little extra time and effort.

Newer movements aren't more accurate. They're simply regulated better from the factory than before. Many seem to conflate the two.
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Old 14 September 2018, 12:07 PM   #3
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My 1997 16570 cal 3185 is +0.75s per day, self regulating on wrist +3 seconds in a month.
With care and a careful watchmaker, high accuracy is achievable.
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Old 14 September 2018, 12:13 PM   #4
tkc324
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1978 DJ +1 sec a day
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Old 14 September 2018, 12:17 PM   #5
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The older Rolex Movements are plenty accurate when it good repair.
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Old 14 September 2018, 01:23 PM   #6
Richard Carver
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This 50 year old DJ does a minute a month fast. It was serviced in 2015 and rotates with my 16570 as a daily wearer.



1570 movement.
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Old 14 September 2018, 01:59 PM   #7
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I have a few 1960s and '70s Grand and King Seikos that still keep +/- 1 or 2 secs per day. In those days Seiko had a higher beat rate than Rolex though. Age doesn't really matter too much if the watch has been well looked after and the movement is good quality.
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Old 14 September 2018, 02:48 PM   #8
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1987.5 Fat Lady RSC serviced in 2005, +2sec/day
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Old 14 September 2018, 04:31 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by etp View Post
For those that have bought vintage pieces (I think 20+ years counts?), what is the accuracy you are seeing?

My oldest piece is a Kermit and it still runs +4. As I look at older pieces, I'm wondering what accuracy you can expect. I saw a video on Youtube of a watchmaker claiming +-15 seconds a day on 50 years+ is acceptable.

Does that sound right?
No matter the movement brand or age it's only as good as what its been regulated to match wearers wearing habits.And even if it was +-15 seconds hardly life threatening out of 86400 in a day.
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Old 14 September 2018, 06:30 PM   #10
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Ummm +/- 15 secs/d seriously? I certainly hope not. We wouldnt allow a non chronometer cal 1520 leave our shop unless its between -4 to +6 secs/d and quite frankly 0 to +6 is truly what we would deem acceptable .


All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
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Old 14 September 2018, 07:14 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROLLiWORKS View Post
Ummm +/- 15 secs/d seriously? I certainly hope not. We wouldnt allow a non chronometer cal 1520 leave our shop unless its between -4 to +6 secs/d and quite frankly 0 to +6 is truly what we would deem acceptable .


All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
Peter is not speaking of watches that are newly regulated, I do believe.

I believe that he was speaking of watches in a collection whose precision falls outside COSC standards as not being detrimental of one's life and responsibilities.

I heartily agree with that position.
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Old 14 September 2018, 07:24 PM   #12
ROLLiWORKS
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50+ years old is pre-1968. Perhaps 70+ years old +\- 10 secs/d


Not recently regulated and falling out spec = needs service = pivots dry grinding against jewels metal dust acting as abrasives accelerating damage exponentially


All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.
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Old 14 September 2018, 07:31 PM   #13
roosvelt
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1979 DD with 3055 last serviced 15 years ago plus 2.
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Old 14 September 2018, 10:30 PM   #14
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My 16610 was bought in 1998 And was running about +4/5 before I got it serviced last year.
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Old 15 September 2018, 12:19 AM   #15
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My N serial 16700 is ~+5 seconds/day last serviced in 2009
My 8.1 serial 16800 is ~+3 seconds/day unknown service history
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Old 15 September 2018, 12:43 AM   #16
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Accuracy for 20+ year old watches

My 1967 Oyster Perpetual (now sold) was running at a consistent -1spd.

It had been serviced about 6 months prior.
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Old 15 September 2018, 12:45 AM   #17
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1977 1680:
+1 sec/day
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Old 15 September 2018, 03:52 AM   #18
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I do not test the accuracy on any of my vintage or modern Rolex

Nor with any of my haute horology timepieces
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Old 15 September 2018, 05:24 AM   #19
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Got to be honest , the older the watch the more leeway I give it . As long as it's there or there abouts I'm happy
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Old 15 September 2018, 06:46 AM   #20
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I am sometimes amazed how well these watches hold up. A couple years ago I took a 1966 5513 Gilt Sub into my watchsmith and he tested it. He believes the watch had never been serviced and was still -2 secs per day. Same day he tested my 1970 1675 GMT and it was +1.5 per day. The GMT had been serviced so not as impressive but still pretty cool.

Hard to find other mechanical object that stand the test of time. One of the reasons I like Rolex so much.
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