31 Seconds a Week

[miket-nyc]

That's how much my 16800 Submariner is gaining time. Five months ago, when I bought it from Bob's Watches in LA, it ran absolutely perfect for days, but it then started gradually speeding up.

I know mechanical watches have to settle down for a while after you start wearing them, and I prefer them to be fast rather than slow so I can easily synch by hacking, but I was hoping this one wouldn't turn out to be quite this fast.

So my question: is it reasonable to do something about an error of this size? Or am I being completely OCD about the accuracy of my watch? If I do decide to do something, I probably won't send it back to Bob's. They did a fine job initially, but shipping it back and forth from NYC to LA is nerve-wracking and kind of risky for a minor adjustment since there's a local Rolex service center.

[Token74]

I wouldn’t bother doing anything about it. If it goes to 10 seconds a day then I guess it may indicate that perhaps the oils are dried up or something else that needs addressing, but I wouldn’t go to the hassle of doing anything for 30 seconds a week.


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[JacksonRain]

6 plus multiplied by 7 is 42 seconds. Looks to be potentially within spec.

If you have a local RSC, might not be a bad idea to stop by and have them check it out. Why not send it back insured to Bob's. Perhaps it needs to be serviced. If it's only a regulation issue then most ADs and decent watchmakers should be able to do that in less than an HR.

Good luck!

[jimcameron]

Live with it, or take it to the NY RSC.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by miket-nyc

That's how much my 16800 Submariner is gaining time. Five months ago, when I bought it from Bob's Watches in LA, it ran absolutely perfect for days, but it then started gradually speeding up.

I know mechanical watches have to settle down for a while after you start wearing them, and I prefer them to be fast rather than slow so I can easily synch by hacking, but I was hoping this one wouldn't turn out to be quite this fast.

So my question: is it reasonable to do something about an error of this size? Or am I being completely OCD about the accuracy of my watch? If I do decide to do something, I probably won't send it back to Bob's. They did a fine job initially, but shipping it back and forth from NYC to LA is nerve-wracking and kind of risky for a minor adjustment since there's a local Rolex service center.

You are being completely OCD so out of 604800 thousand seconds in a week your watch only gained 31 of those,try resting when off wrist horizontal crown down might loose a couple of seconds over night .

[marty497]

You could try leaving it crown down overnight and see if that helps

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by JacksonRain

6 plus multiplied by 7 is 42 seconds. Looks to be potentially within spec.

As said above, it is within spec. Don’t spend a dime on it until you are experiencing an actual issue.

[mountainjogger]

Congratulations on your sub. Your watch is running less than 4 and a ½ seconds fast per day. That is well within COSC specs.

If I have my history correct, your 16800 is 30 to 40 years old. When it was new, it should have run within -4/+6 seconds per day. That it is still doing so, is a testament to a great watch.

My advice: enjoy it and stop obsessing. If the gain increases too too much for you, spring for a complete service/overhaul from a top notch watchmaker. Like Token74 posted, my number would be 10 seconds a day.

[Thuilln]

Your vintage is running under 5 seconds a day. That’s as good as it gets.

[joli160]

This is OCD.
If you drop it at an RSC they probably will want you to perform a full service which will set you back perhaps a little under 1 K.

Let it be for now

[Chester01]

Originally Posted by miket-nyc

That's how much my 16800 Submariner is gaining time. Five months ago, when I bought it from Bob's Watches in LA, it ran absolutely perfect for days, but it then started gradually speeding up.

I know mechanical watches have to settle down for a while after you start wearing them, and I prefer them to be fast rather than slow so I can easily synch by hacking, but I was hoping this one wouldn't turn out to be quite this fast.

So my question: is it reasonable to do something about an error of this size? Or am I being completely OCD about the accuracy of my watch? If I do decide to do something, I probably won't send it back to Bob's. They did a fine job initially, but shipping it back and forth from NYC to LA is nerve-wracking and kind of risky for a minor adjustment since there's a local Rolex service center.

It may be magnetized. My 16610 was serviced 2 years ago, running +3/day. Went up to plus 8 per day about a year ago. I bought one of those devices for like 12 bucks and de-magnatized it. Now runs maybe +1 per day. I say maybe because it only loses like 3-4 seconds in a 7 day span. Not bad for a 20 year old watch.

[Rolexoman]

As stated by so many others don’t worry about it and don’t get into the habit of constantly checking the time, I got caught up in this when I got my first automatic and was checking it like 8-10 times a day and even sent it back to RSC in Dallas and it came back better and did not have any scratches which some have encountered but it still gains about 3-4 secs a day or almost 30 a week and I have rested in every position possible and it’s not made any difference and when I was doing all of this I was not enjoying the time piece as I was obsessing about the time so now I set any watch I wear and just enjoy it for what it is.

[miket-nyc]

Thanks for the confirmation that this is OCD, which is what I suspected. My Sub is the most accurate watch in my collection so I ideally want it to be perfect, but that's not reasonable. I'll just pull the crown out as needed to stop it when it gets too fast. (And I can't rest it any particular way when it's off my wrist. Those times don't occur).