Setting the time on you Rolex if lost?

[leopardprey]

Question. Say you are out in the middle of nowhere and you need to reset your Rolex to correct time.

Would this work:

Put a stick in the ground in an open area. You will see the shadow. When there is no shadow, it is 12 Oclock Noon. Then set your watch to 12 oclock.

??

[mlb]

If you were wearing your watch regardless of where you are it would still be ticking...

[rolexfan21]

Originally Posted by leopardprey

Question. Say you are out in the middle of nowhere and you need to reset your Rolex to correct time.

Would this work:

Put a stick in the ground in an open area. You will see the shadow. When there is no shadow, it is 12 Oclock Noon. Then set your watch to 12 oclock.

??

so if u put a stick in the ground in an open area at noon time there would be no shadow?

[leopardprey]

so if u put a stick in the ground in an open area at noon time there would be no shadow? THat is what I am asking?

If you were wearing your watch regardless of where you are it would still be ticking...

Asking just for hypothetical reasons, say I am trekking in the Himlayan mountains. I have 2 Rolex watches, one has been in storage in the Ruck and the power reserve ran out, the one on my wrist is 7 years old and has been banged around a lot and is in badly need of service, and it stops- so need to set the time on the backup Rolex from the Ruck. No watches or clocks around. All the local are still iving in Medieval times. (Don't laugh too much, I ahve actually been out in the middle of nowhere in the Himalayans before fore several weeks at a time with only locals with no watches)

[veilstylez]

I dont think that the stick idea would work. Because depending on where you are on earth....the sun isnt always up right above you at noon. I know in the winters here...the suns path is about 20 degree lower than summers. Plus the suns path doesnt pass directly 90degree above you unless you live in what ever degree the earths axes tilt is.

[Erix]

Originally Posted by leopardprey

Question. Say you are out in the middle of nowhere and you need to reset your Rolex to correct time.

Would this work:

Put a stick in the ground in an open area. You will see the shadow. When there is no shadow, it is 12 Oclock Noon. Then set your watch to 12 oclock.

??

I don't think this would work, you would in fact get the solar time, which is not the official time. Normally the official time is a negotiated artificial value.
Depending on where you would cross a border official time would change.
Also official time changes for things like "dayligth saving time"
Solar time could be used as a estimate indicating "it is noonish".
As far as I know the only place where this would work is at the Greenwhich meridian at 12 noon. and it would work when the shadow is at its shortest, no shadow applies only for the equator.

[mansion]

No.

The local time is not always aligned with solar time. Close, but not very close.

As you move eastwards, local noon (and all other 'times') is behind solar noon. (Noon is at the same moment in New York and Detroit, but, clearly, Detroit is behind NY in solar time.)

Scientists and astronomists will provide more details!

[fat-sam]

the easiest example of why it wouldnt be accurate would be if you stood next to an international border and did it on both sides the shaddow result would be the same but you may have an 1 hour time difference.

i know it was only hypothetical but i would take a casio with me as well for the sake of $20, just in case

[Erix]

If you have a internet connection you should be able to get the time from one of the atomic watches.
http://www.time.gov or http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/
You would get the minutes and seconds correctly and only adjust the hour to where on the planet you are.

If you have phone connection you could call to get the correct time where ever you are. This service exist in most countries.

You could get the time from a TV transmission, or Radio, I think you can get BBC radio almost anywhere on the planet.

If nothing of this works...
then there is really no need for a watch anyway, rigth?
welcome to the stoneage.

[leopardprey]

If you have a internet connection you should be able to get the time from one of the atomic watches.
http://www.time.gov or http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/
You would get the minutes and seconds correctly and only adjust the hour to where on the planet you are.

Yeah, I will just ask the local Yak hearder is I can use his internet! LOL LOL LOL

[nko51]

You must pray to the time gods, for a vision of the actual time!

[astcell]

Unscrew the crown. Pull it out all the way until the seconds hand stops.

The watch will now display the correct time twice a day.

[leopardprey]

Unscrew the crown. Pull it out all the way until the seconds hand stops.

The watch will now display the correct time twice a day

[Flyjet601]

Originally Posted by leopardprey

Question. Say you are out in the middle of nowhere and you need to reset your Rolex to correct time.

Would this work:

Put a stick in the ground in an open area. You will see the shadow. When there is no shadow, it is 12 Oclock Noon. Then set your watch to 12 oclock.

??

...check your cell phone for the time....

[Erix]

If you are out there....and nobody else cares about time..then you don't have to either. Kick back and relax, enjoy the ride.. when you come back to civilization and time actually matters again, then everybody will have the time for you.

[jac67]

I think if you were in the middle of nowhere, the last thing you would be thinking of is setting your watch.

[astcell]

Time is relevant. Remember Robinson Crusoe who had the savage he named Friday, and it turned out he was really a Thursday. If you are retired and have no car payment, why even have a watch?

[WES]

Originally Posted by leopardprey

Question. Say you are out in the middle of nowhere and you need to reset your Rolex to correct time.

Would this work:

Put a stick in the ground in an open area. You will see the shadow. When there is no shadow, it is 12 Oclock Noon. Then set your watch to 12 oclock.

??

What the hell have you been smokin?

[Prince]

Originally Posted by WES

What the hell have you been smokin?

Thank you for saying it, Bill...

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by WES

What the hell have you been smokin?

[fat-sam]

i genuinely laughed out loud at that one!

[leopardprey]

Hey, it was a question open to get a discussion going ! GOt me to thinking myself, think I will go up to the roof and check the shadow of stationary object versus time and see how close it is. I remember as a kid we had a sun dial in the garden that you could tell the time with, and as I remember it was pretty accurate. Of course the US is all screwed up due to daylight savings time.

[Russel]

Set the time with:

Cell phone
Sat. Phone
GPS
Quartz digital watch (Or in some cases here the Rolex on your other wrist!)
Clock in your car
Someone else's watch
or Shortwave receiver.

My preference, assuming that you are alone out in the middle of nowhere, is a portable shortwave transceiver.

And if you don't have any of these things:
A) You are probably in trouble enough not to worry about what time it is.
B) You didn't plan very well.

[leopardprey]

It is a question people!? LOL

You do not have any electronic items with you, only your Rolex.

[Russel]

Originally Posted by leopardprey

It is a question people!? LOL

You do not have any electronic items with you, only your Rolex.

Simple, two Rolex watches...

Seriously, if you can calculate your position with a sextant and accurate time, it seems logical that you should be able to calculate the time with a sextant and your position. Granted this requires a sextant (non electronic), mathematics (electronics would really help, but not essential), your current position (the catch). Not a real good solution, but a possibility.

The sun dial method might be possible if it were calibrated. Such as having a very tall pole (with a fine point at the top) and making a mark on the ground at exactly noon every day for a year. But that isn't a feasible answer is it.

The best answer that I can think of is a sunrise / sunset chart for your location. Two catches here can't be to far from the chart base location, and the horizon must be uniform. If you were next to an ocean or a very large lake it might work.

A sunrise / sunset chart based from the particular location and altitude would work if it took into account the horizon variance, but that still not even close to feasible.

Tough question.

Ironically, two Rolex watches might work if you knew the error rate of each, so that you could set one with the other.

Eventually they would be off, but I wonder...where is John Harrison when you need him!

[leopardprey]

OK, conducted my own unofficial experiment. Went to the 7th floor roof of my hotel. Very sunny and open with no shade. Put a rectagular box on center of roof at 1130 hrs. Sun was still to the East, as a shadow showed quite a bit on the west side of the box. Observed, while relaxing and getting some sun myself, the movement of the shadow. At 1231 hrs exactly, the East/West Shadow was non existent. Then started to gradually show a shadow now on the East side as the Sun moved and started it's setting in the West.

So based on that, if you set your watch to 1200 Noon when no East/West Shadow -meaning Sun was directly vertical overhead - you would be only 30 minutes off and would give you a good time estimate that your could live with.

Ok, now time to go check out the waterproofness of my Explorer II in the swimming pool.

[pcarson]

Originally Posted by leopardprey

Question. Say you are out in the middle of nowhere and you need to reset your Rolex to correct time.

Would this work:

Put a stick in the ground in an open area. You will see the shadow. When there is no shadow, it is 12 Oclock Noon. Then set your watch to 12 oclock.

??

Yes, this will definitely work. No question about it, but you have to make sure you are in the middle of nowhere, because there will be deviations as you move towards the edges of nowhere. At the edges of nowhere you will be filled with a feeling of incalculable existential emptiness, and you will fear going further. You may feel that your soul has been hollowed out, leaving only earthly detritus and a stopped watch. If this happens, go back to the middle and regard the stick closely again. I hope this helps.

[Andad]

You have a lot of polite friends.

[Flyjet601]

Is your stick certified to COSC standards

[fat-sam]

Originally Posted by directioneng

You have a lot of polite friends.