Obsessive regulation!

[azguy]

life's to short for compulsions like that

[Old Expat Beast]

Life's to short to take 30 seconds a day to appreciate and interact with the movement of your watch?

[Friar]

I have eight watches and, unfortunately, only the latest is a Rolex (more to come!). But, I do the self regulation dance with all of them. Seeing how accurate I can keep them is part of the fun. Admitting my powerlessness over this obsession early on, I bought only COSC grade watches. Also got a little Timegrapher to set a benchmark. The 214270 gains a second on the wrist and loses it crown up at night. If it is 2 seconds fast, crown down slows it appropriately. Playing this game, it is dead on after six weeks.

[rwleigh]

It's not just me then...

[Starbucksboss]

Each sunday

[threemonkeys]

I don't worry on a daily basis. My watches are off three seconds a day. So I might reset the time every few weeks. My watches mean more to me than just telling time. In fact, it's the date feature I use the most.

[AndyK]

I used to obsess over the accuracy of my watches but over time it has become less important to me. I set it to the second and a few days later if it is within +/- 15 seconds than I don't sweat it. I no longer tinker with resting positions because I started sleeping with my watch on, so that helped me stop fretting so much.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jjgriss]

For the last 4 or 5 nights, I have tried to lose seconds by trying these methods. See pic. It's not working for me and my sub continues to run fast. Could the efficacy of these methods vary by year and model. My sub is from 2003

[padi56]

Originally Posted by azguy

life's to short for compulsions like that

Have to agree I check mine around every two weeks or so then its mostly well less than a minute fast.

[landroverking]

Originally Posted by padi56

Have to agree I check mine around every two weeks or so then its mostly well less than a minute fast.

I need mine to be dead nuts on for back timing into network news. So every couple of days for me. Most of the time adjusted about every ten days.

[jjgriss]

Originally Posted by jjgriss

For the last 4 or 5 nights, I have tried to lose seconds by trying these methods. See pic. It's not working for me and my sub continues to run fast. Could the efficacy of these methods vary by year and model. My sub is from 2003

I apologize in advance for quoting my own post, but wanted to get a response or two regarding my question...I am still not seeing any movement one way or the other when I lay my sub in different positions. thanks guys.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

How fast is it running? If you don't get any results from "positional correction", in fact it's a very well regulated watch. And if it's within the COSC norm of minus 4 to plus 6 seconds, all is well.


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

[HogwldFLTR]

Four seconds gained in over gain in 36 hours; what should I do. And that's on a relatively new watch. (j/k)

[Girkmonster]

It seems to me that obsessive "regulation" is more of a product of insecurity regarding the fact that the owner's expensive mechanical watch is far less "accurate" than a $20 Timex. It is a hopeless attempt to keep perfect time. That is never going to happen. Your Rolex is very accurate, it just doesn't keep perfect time. Funny thing about that, it was never held out to do so. Even the COSC standards admit this.

PLease don't play the slot machines thinking that you are going to win big! When they say 97% payout, that means that they keep $3 out of every $100 you give them (on average). That 97% doesn't improve if you play longer either.

[rmfnla]

Originally Posted by locutus49

It is Rolex time: I just live with it and adjust every few weeks.

Is it true that there is an adjustment inside the mechanism to adjust the speed faster or slower for chronically fast or slow watches (I mean more than seconds a day)? Seems like I had one of my Cartiers adjusted for losing too much time many years ago. Had to have it done by the service center, but it worked.

Rolex movements are regulated by small adjustment screws in the balance wheel. It takes a special tool and lots of training to make these adjustments; definitely not a DIY task for most of us...

[iclick]

Originally Posted by rwleigh

Is it just me or does anyone else use the self regulating technique of placing the watch face up or crown up to gain or lose a minute amount of time to keep your watch accurate? I can't help but check mine with http://time.is/ and keep it within 1 second of perfect.

I'll put up my OCD credentials against anyone's! I even wrote a computer program to keep up with the regulation of my two Rolexes and one Tudor. I check it twice per day or more and log in when I first arise in the AM, when I retire for the night, and usually check it with www.greenwichmeantime.com several times during the day just for good measure. I even bought a Timegrapher to determine each watch's accuracy in various positions.

Unfortunately my GMT 1675 runs tad fast with dial up and slow to very slow in every other position, so self-regulation is not easy. The good news is that it tends to be very accurate when I wear it and has gained one sec. in the past 2½ weeks. I can't complain about that and rarely remove the watch at all.

The Daytona 116520 (4130 cal.) runs fast in every position, so self-regulation is not possible with it, and it runs about +5 sec/day on my wrist. The good news is that I only wear it on special occasions, never more than a day at a time, so it really doesn't matter. The bottom line is that the GMT is regulated better and is more accurate when worn on my wrist, but the Daytona is much more consistent in its various positions.

I was going to buy a case opener, Microstella tool, and tweezers to equip myself for more surgical regulation but only got as far as the first tool. I stopped there knowing that if I tooled up for that I would be messing with the watches far too much, exposing them to risks that aren't necessary. I decided that all of my watches run within COSC specs and that's good enough. The Tudor with its Valjoux movement is the exception and does not need special tools once the case if opened, so it will see some interference from me to get it as close as possible. On that watch it is a low-risk proposition to surgically regulate it, but the Rolexes are another story.

[rmfnla]

Wow, you have it bad...

[iclick]

Originally Posted by rmfnla

Wow, you have it bad...

OCD is fun. Normalcy is dull.

[Racerdj]

I have to admit that I do this sometimes.

[datejusting]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

It's not being obsessive about seconds, it's taking a keen interest in the performance of a type of movement that has taken generations of hardworking watchmakers many years to perfect. For me, anyway. Still got time to enjoy life

You are right Adam! Those who do not care about the performance of their watch are probably just buying the name. Just my opinion.

[Rock]

People vary a lot on what we might call an "obsessive" scale.
Some can't function with an untidy desk and others flourish in absolute chaos.
I check my watches daily for accuracy & log it. Doesn't worry me, I enjoy it and like to know how they are travelling. I adjust them about once a month or when they are out more than a minute.
Both vary, at any time, between +1 sec and +4 secs a day but usually in the +2 or +3 range. I am quite happy with this.
I find the monthly adjustment is often a 'trigger' that changes the 'rate of gain' of a watch.
I find "positioning" the watch does work, but frankly can't be bothered. I just leave 'em in the winder each night.

[melons]

I self regulated my very first Rolex, without knowing I was for quite some time. On the wrist during the day, dial up at night. It ran +1 for the entire time I owned it. This technique has worked on every one I've owned for 30+ years, including my 217570 and 114060. It even works on the Tudor Black Bay.

[kegan]

Membership,reading and posting on a watch forum is probably an obsession. I am guilty as charged. Spending a few minutes of research and a couple seconds
a night trying to get the most out of your 5000$ and up chronometer is more
like common sense... to me

[night]

I am guilty of this, I love the fact that my watch keeps great time as it is aengineering marvel to me