A Salute To The Watchmakers Who Regulate Timepieces

[enjoythemusic]

So i got a cheap Ho' Timex. Figured get a few and give 'em to friends as gifts. 'Problem' is they are not really regulated all that great. Hey, it's a $300 retail mechanical timepiece with Miyota 8215 movement so, really, what does one expect? As delivered she was 0.2ms off-beat and +40 sec/day.

So crazy me got a Timegrapher and went at it. First try got the beat perfect yet she was +5 seconds/day fast. Months passed and when occasional wearing her was not happy with the accuracy. Another try a few days back and she was +4/day.

So on Fri early morning decided to get immersed in getting things right. It's now Sat early morning and she is +0/day. Not sure how long the Miyota 8215 movement will be this accurate, yet this exercise gave me a deep appreciation for those who regulate mechanical timepieces.

PS: Would not do this regulation tweaking with a $$,$$$ piece, yet the Ho' $300 Timex seemed like a safe piece to toy with as a starting point.

Hodinkee_Light_Dial.jpg

[PhilLynott]

Very cool! I bought a $30 old broken watch on ebay to start my watchmaking career and i completely ruined the movement in like 4 minutes and retired from watchmaking. I got the case back off tho!

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by PhilLynott

I got the case back off tho!

Hey, that's further than many others have done!

I keep 'threatening' to the wife I'm turning one of our extra bedrooms into a timepiece 'workshop'.

[Nanasaka90]

How many positions did you regulate the watch in?


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[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by Nanasaka90

How many positions did you regulate the watch in?

Four the first time and that was challenging and learning... and took time.

Two the next.

Just one position the third and final. I'll wear it 24/7 over the week ahead and report back. My plan is to regulate the NIB other one here to give it to a friend. Maybe a TRF giveaway instead?

[enjoythemusic]

Well, looks like she's settled in at -1.5 seconds/day when worn 24/7 on my wrist.

[PhilLynott]

I'd call that a success, very nice results!

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by PhilLynott

I'd call that a success, very nice results!

Thx. This has actually been fun to do and verrrry easy too

Just for the heck of it I cracked her open again and 'reset' the beat (even tho it was accurate to between-ish 1ms to 0, mainly 0 yet an occasional 1ms). Now she is +/-0 after 24 hours. Yeah, think I'll stop here and move on to the backup one I got.

Guess the next step is taking apart a movement and putting it back together. Time to convert one of our spare bedrooms into a workshop