Rolex accuracy?

[carl3150]

I have two Rolex Yacht Masters, one a mid-size, the other a full size. The mid-size is about 10 years old. A year after I bought it, I took it to a dealer (Tourneau) to check, because it was gaining about 2 minutes a week. They claimed the watch was within factory specifications. That works out to 17 seconds a day. It still gains about 2 minutes a week, not very satisfactory. The new full size was gaining about 2 minutes a week, within 3 months of when I bought it. It was sent back to Rolex in NY, where they adjusted and theoretically tested it before returning it. It now gains a minute every two weeks. That works out to a little over 4 seconds a day. I was told that the factory standard is plus or minus 2 seconds a day. What is a realistic expectation to have regarding accuracy of a Rolex?

Carl

[Likestheshiny]

Two minutes a week is not within specs. One minute every two weeks was within specs on a watch sold ten years ago. A modern Rolex is specced to +/-2 seconds per day. Your ten-year-old YM was specced to +6/-4. However, nothing has changed in the movements of most Rolexes in the past ten years, so after a full service I'd expect your YM to hit +/-2.

[rlrobson08]

Originally Posted by carl3150

I have two Rolex Yacht Masters, one a mid-size, the other a full size. The mid-size is about 10 years old. A year after I bought it, I took it to a dealer (Tourneau) to check, because it was gaining about 2 minutes a week. They claimed the watch was within factory specifications. That works out to 17 seconds a day. It still gains about 2 minutes a week, not very satisfactory. The new full size was gaining about 2 minutes a week, within 3 months of when I bought it. It was sent back to Rolex in NY, where they adjusted and theoretically tested it before returning it. It now gains a minute every two weeks. That works out to a little over 4 seconds a day. I was told that the factory standard is plus or minus 2 seconds a day. What is a realistic expectation to have regarding accuracy of a Rolex?

Carl

My is certainly better than thay. My day/date loses a short of a minute a month. My Breitling chronomat loses loses 2.3 seconds per day. Checked with my phone through GMT with seconds. This after I dropped the Brietling from counter top height to a wood floor below.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[timedate]

in my experience plus 2 or minus 2 is a fantasy, bought new 21 months ago,

mine is plus 10, was initially plus 5, i wear it day and night,

people say take it to rolex, but i dont want to be without it for 6 weeks.

plus 2 or minus 2 was why i bought brand new,

not sure they are as great as made out to be, what am i supposed to think?

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by timedate

in my experience plus 2 or minus 2 is a fantasy, bought new 21 months ago,

mine is plus 10, was initially plus 5, i wear it day and night,

people say take it to rolex, but i dont want to be without it for 6 weeks.

plus 2 or minus 2 was why i bought brand new,

not sure they are as great as made out to be, what am i supposed to think?

Send it to RSC using registered mail and tell them the time you observe and the change observed +10 and initiall +5. They can tightly regulate it around your wear conditions and check to make sure everything is well. Warranty work get's turned around first and should be completed before 6 weeks. A Rolex should be able to hold +2/-2 fairly well.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by timedate

in my experience plus 2 or minus 2 is a fantasy

It's certainly achievable. My 116610 has been at +1 since I got it two years ago. Others have reported great accuracy, as well. But obviously not everyone has been so fortunate. I'd like to know the numbers: how many Rolexes released since 2015 (when the company adopted the new standard) have been within +/-2 at the time of purchase, or shortly thereafter, without needing to be regulated post-purchase?

[Pauln]

+/- 2 seconds per day is the spec. To a certain extent, activity level, or the lack of adequate activity can affect this. Mine are very accurate and generally within the spec for new watches and within COSC for older models. If it’s not keeping accurate time to what you consider acceptable, and you want it fixed, send it back to RSC.

[Olliepem]

My 2017 sub c is 15 secs a day fast! It bothers me but not sure it’s enough to send it away and be without it for an extended period of time.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by Olliepem

My 2017 sub c is 15 secs a day fast! It bothers me but not sure it’s enough to send it away and be without it for an extended period of time.

Has it always been that fast, or is it getting worse?

[Olliepem]

Originally Posted by JacksonStone

Has it always been that fast, or is it getting worse?

The honest answer is I’m not sure, generally only wear it weekend and noticed during my 2 week summer holiday something wasn’t quite right. I downloaded a few apps to track the timekeeping in seems to sit around the 15 secs a day fast mark.

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by carl3150

I have two Rolex Yacht Masters, one a mid-size, the other a full size. The mid-size is about 10 years old. A year after I bought it, I took it to a dealer (Tourneau) to check, because it was gaining about 2 minutes a week. They claimed the watch was within factory specifications. That works out to 17 seconds a day. It still gains about 2 minutes a week, not very satisfactory. The new full size was gaining about 2 minutes a week, within 3 months of when I bought it. It was sent back to Rolex in NY, where they adjusted and theoretically tested it before returning it. It now gains a minute every two weeks. That works out to a little over 4 seconds a day. I was told that the factory standard is plus or minus 2 seconds a day. What is a realistic expectation to have regarding accuracy of a Rolex?

Carl

Older Rolexes before like 2015 ish would be under COSC standards. So the midsize is out of COSC, +6/-4 per day, and the big one seems to be within +6/-4 per day. Newer Rolexes are regulated and guaranteed to be +2/-2 during warranty.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by breitlings

Older Rolexes before like 2015 ish would be under COSC standards. So the midsize is out of COSC, +6/-4 per day, and the big one seems to be within +6/-4 per day. Newer Rolexes are regulated and guaranteed to be +2/-2 during warranty.

All the bare uncased movements are still tested at the COSC to a AVERAGE -4+6 seconds over any 24 hour period to get the COSC certification at time of testing only.Then Rolex retests the returned movements after being perhaps stored for weeks, months, on longer in the watches case to this new spec -2+2, and the amount of watches sold by Rolex each year around now 8500000 they must have some sort of machine that tests many at a time.Yes on a machine in a controlled environment they could pass this -2+2 test.But on the wrist could be different as there are many many variables in a uncontrolled wrist wearing environment.Like constantly affected by the earth's gravity positions on wrist, metal expansion and contraction,mainspring power-reserve, temperature variations, subtle changes in lubrication and friction, shocks plus many others.And for any mechanical watch to run to the COSC spec seeing there are 86400 seconds in a day truly is a mechanical marvel.

[HogwldFLTR]

My new Daytona; after a week and a couple of days is 11 seconds fast. I'll set the time on it in a few weeks. I too wear it 24 hours/day.

[AEC]

My Submariner is a year old, and its rate performance is astounding. It's nearly dead-on, no matter what I do with it, and it has been that way since day one.

[Danj338]

Originally Posted by AEC

My Submariner is a year old, and its rate performance is astounding. It's nearly dead-on, no matter what I do with it, and it has been that way since day one.

My 116610ln was also dead on. My wife’s 16610 22 year old sub keeps fantastic time, loosing only 1 second a day. I’m sure that’s not the norm for a watch that old.

[AboutTime]

I bought a SubC 114060 from my AD last July. It loses about 2 seconds per day. I'm satisfied with that performance although I would prefer that it gain 2 seconds per day.

[timedate]

so i am not the only one,

as i say, not quite what it says on the tin. it's probably plus 2 minus 2 if you dont wear it and leave it on a winder at a certain temperature,

i am sure it can be tweaked, but i dont want to risk it in the post, and i dont want to wait,

maybe in the new year,

the grand seiko power drive is the way to do a mechanical watch i believe.

[Pauln]

Originally Posted by timedate

so i am not the only one,

as i say, not quite what it says on the tin. it's probably plus 2 minus 2 if you dont wear it and leave it on a winder at a certain temperature,

i am sure it can be tweaked, but i dont want to risk it in the post, and i dont want to wait,

maybe in the new year,

the grand seiko power drive is the way to do a mechanical watch i believe.

Not quite right. I wear the same rolex 24/7, it’s 18 years old and runs at -.5 seconds per day.

[timedate]

Originally Posted by Pauln

Not quite right. I wear the same rolex 24/7, it’s 18 years old and runs at -.5 seconds per day.

yours is outside the spec aswell then,

i think there are many, many people with the same issue that just live with it,
i would'nt have mentioned it but someone started a thread, i mean they are the worlds greatest watches right, 3 times the price and all that......

maybe if i sleep on my other side it might improve

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by timedate

yours is outside the spec aswell then,

He said -0.5, not -5.

[Jamie1111]

Originally Posted by timedate

yours is outside the spec aswell then,

i think there are many, many people with the same issue that just live with it,
i would'nt have mentioned it but someone started a thread, i mean they are the worlds greatest watches right, 3 times the price and all that......

maybe if i sleep on my other side it might improve

Minus point five is certainly well within specs...

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by timedate

it's probably plus 2 minus 2 if you dont wear it and leave it on a winder at a certain temperature,

Mine keeps the best time if I wear it daily and leave it face up overnight. Keeping it on a winder causes it to gain quite a bit more time. Maybe I'm just lucky, but my particular Sub appears to be engineered to be a true daily, inside and out.

Originally Posted by timedate

the grand seiko power drive is the way to do a mechanical watch i believe.

Spring Drive. A lot of people like them. I can respect GS for building a theoretically better mousetrap, but I don't really get the point. I mean, in the age of thermocompensated quartz and radio-controlled movements, is a hybrid mechanical even really a better mousetrap? If you're going to add a quartz crystal to a mechanical movement for regulation, why not just go full-on quartz? Why stick with mechanical at all at that point? GS's 9F quartz movement is pretty killer in its own right.

I'm not ripping on the Spring Drive. I'm genuinely curious what need it fulfills in the market, or what WIS itch it scratches. I keep thinking I should like it, but it leaves me cold - and that puzzles me.

[Uggi]

I have a December 2016 LVc which I wear 24/7 during every activity and it loses 2 seconds over an 8 day period.
I had no idea until I read this thread what was normal or expected but it seems there is a lot of variation, most (not all) of it acceptable in my opinion.

[Jamie1111]

Originally Posted by timedate

so i am not the only one,

as i say, not quite what it says on the tin. it's probably plus 2 minus 2 if you dont wear it and leave it on a winder at a certain temperature,

i am sure it can be tweaked, but i dont want to risk it in the post, and i dont want to wait,

maybe in the new year,

the grand seiko power drive is the way to do a mechanical watch i believe.

Grand seiko is not a purely mechanical watch, it has a quartz regulator.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by Jamie1111

Grand seiko is not a purely mechanical watch, it has a quartz regulator.

I suspect you know, Grand Seiko does make fully mechanical watches. You're referring specifically to the Spring Drive line of Grand Seiko. (And of course, they also make high-end quartz watches.)

[Sebastian5]

-0.5s after 41 days, not bad. Not sure about the big swing halfway through though. When it gets fast I put it crown up at the nightstand to slow it down a bit. Otherwise I live it face up (most of the time)

OP39 which I got early august this year so basically brand new. I wear it daily

[timedate]

so its sort of 60 40 then, in favour of the advertised accuracy, judging by this small sample, a million watches a year being made, who really knows?

whats not to like about a spring drive? i need accuracy, its why i went rolex.

i think its the work of a genius, i bet their lume is good aswell.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by timedate

whats not to like about a spring drive?

Funny...I could have sworn I explained what.

[timedate]

Originally Posted by JacksonStone

Funny...I could have sworn I explained what.

yes, but why would you not like such accuracy? Thats the name of the game, and its still a mechanical watch, amazing

its very easy to like, but i would have to work out a reason for not liking it, like you did.

but yeh, i do get the bit you say about putting quartz in it, but then maybe that is the perfect watch, the best of both techniques to please everybody.

[Pauln]

Originally Posted by timedate

yes, but why would you not like such accuracy? Thats the name of the game, and its still a mechanical watch, amazing

its very easy to like, but i would have to work out a reason for not liking it, like you did.

but yeh, i do get the bit you say about putting quartz in it, but then maybe that is the perfect watch, the best of both techniques to please everybody.

The cure for whatever ails you is clear: sell your Rolexes. Buy more spring drives.