Is your A7750 28.8 keeping good time?

[ericw]

Ive had my IWC 3717 for only about two days now.

It appears its consitently +/- 15 seconds or more a day (not sure it its really directional yet (slow or fast) as its only been a few days; but will keep everyone posted on that). Also when the seconds are at around 30 is when the minute hand crosses the next minute line.

Ive read a bunch on this movt (A7750 high beat) but havent heard this as a common complaint. I observed this by comparing the time on my work phone (which changes at the exact same time as my cell phone to check for consitency) and monitor it througout the workday. I am up and around a good bit throughout the day so its def being wound. Even from 10am ttoday it appears to be about 10 seconds different that it is now ar 4:32pm.

Anyone have any ideas, suggestions or similar experience?

[FxrAndy]

First thing monitor it over a few days to chech that it is a consistant gain or loss then regulate it.

[ericw]

Yeah I plan to. Im no watchsmith, so is there a more "preferrable" way to be off (IE to be either consitently fast or consitently slow or to be plus/minus a wide range and neither fast or slow specifically?) I assume its the former as that seems like something more regulatable.

Is this something fixable in both situations that can be done for a reasonable sum? I plan on having this sent to one of our watchsmiths for both the gen d/d wheels as well as lume for the next AR run.

Thanks a ton.

[freddy333]

To check it, manually wind the watch 40 turns & then set it to an atomic clock (time-a.nist.gov, etc.). Note the time (to the exact second) & then wear it as you normally would (if you remove the watch at night, do that). Check it again in 24 hours, noting any deviation from the atomic clock. This will tell you whether the watch is gaining or losing, and by how much. Then you will need to have a watchmaker regulate it -- an easy & inexpensive fix.

[ericw]

To check it, manually wind the watch 40 turns & then set it to an atomic clock (time-a.nist.gov, etc.). Note the time (to the exact second) & then wear it as you normally would (if you remove the watch at night, do that). Check it again in 24 hours, noting any deviation from the atomic clock. This will tell you whether the watch is gaining or losing, and by how much. Then you will need to have a watchmaker regulate it -- an easy & inexpensive fix.

I cant wind it, right (its the auto movement)? I do not have an auto watch winder but it is stil running in the am when i get up. Since I observe the issue intraday (between morning and night while active) that should dissolves any doubt its due to it not being wound at night, right?

I will set it to the atomic clock online and then check and note observation serveral times a day and come up with a standard deviation and skew.

Thanks

[freddy333]

I cant wind it, right (its the auto movement)? I do not have an auto watch winder but it is stil running in the am when i get up. Since I observe the issue intraday (between morning and night while active) that should dissolves any doubt its due to it not being wound at night, right?

I think you are a bit confused. All mechanical watches (generally those that do not contain a battery) are driven by a mainspring. In a manual-wind watch, the mainspring must be wound manually to keep the watch running. In an automatic or self-winding watch, the mainspring's tension is maintained by a revolving metal weight called a 'rotor' inside the watch case. But both types require manually winding to get them started. I would strongly recommend that you Search out a mechanical watch FAQ & get a basic understanding of what mechanical watches are before going any further (most of the collectors on RWG have an FAQ section on their website that provides an overview of how to care for a mechanical watch -- read it!). (A watch winder is just a convenience accessory that mimics the motion of your wrist & can be useful if you have either a large number of watches that you wear frequently or watches with dates that can be inconvenient to reset when the watch runs down.)

If your watch has a crown, use it (as I indicated above)

The only watches that cannot be wound are quartz, those that do not have a crown (very rare) or those that have damaged/defective/seized movements (your only option with 1 of these is to return it to the seller).

[rogerthat]

I would guess that a few of my 7750's gain 15 seconds maybe even 30 seconds each day when worn.

To me that is accurate enough and a small price to pay.

As long as we are talking seconds not minutes within a day.

Cheers,

M

[frankt]

I think you are a bit confused. All mechanical watches (generally those that do not contain a battery) are driven by a mainspring. In a manual-wind watch, the mainspring must be wound manually to keep the watch running. In an automatic or self-winding watch, the mainspring's tension is maintained by a revolving metal weight called a 'rotor' inside the watch case. But both types require manually winding to get them started. I would strongly recommend that you Search out a mechanical watch FAQ & get a basic understanding of what mechanical watches are before going any further (most of the collectors on RWG have an FAQ section on their website that provides an overview of how to care for a mechanical watch -- read it!). (A watch winder is just a convenience accessory that mimics the motion of your wrist & can be useful if you have either a large number of watches that you wear frequently or watches with dates that can be inconvenient to reset when the watch runs down.)

If your watch has a crown, use it (as I indicated above)

The only watches that cannot be wound are quartz, those that do not have a crown (very rare) or those that have damaged/defective/seized movements (your only option with 1 of these is to return it to the seller).

Slight correction!: Many Seikos autos cannot be manually wound...the "7as" being one of them....

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

I must be lucky with mine... I have three a7750's. All are accurate to within +/- 5 sec per day. I dont recall where exactly it was, but there is a how-to on adjusting the a7750 on this site. I used that to adjust them and it has worked well.

[andreww]

I've actually just finished regulating the 7750 in my Chrono Avenger. Definitely not a job for impatient people . It was running about 2 minutes slow, but as the 7750 has no fine adjustment, it is really a hit and miss exercise. It literally took about 5 days to get it right, and since about this time yesterday it is at -4 seconds. However, I have discovered that the watch runs differently when not worn. For instance, last night it lost about 14 seconds whilst I slept, and it has gained about 10 of those back in the twelve hours that I have been wearing it. Its kind of the nature of the beast with automatic and mechanical watches, so if you want perfection wear a quartz.

Edited February 6, 2008 by andreww

[JuiceMaker]

it's funny how automatic movements gain seconds during the wearing on the wrists...

& loses seconds when not worn...

& loses different seconds depending on the position of the watch being placed at rest with the dial up, down, sideways with crown up or down...

funny, very funny.

[rodwc]

Temperature also plays an important part in watches (reps) gaining and losing time.

Expansion and contraction , hairspring, movement etc. ( due to the lower quality of the materials ).

Even gens. will have a good or bad "going " rate, but theirs will be more stable

because of the better materials used in the movement.

The same applies to clocks, but even antique clocks, over 200 years old are still

very capable of keeping time to within 1 minute per week!

All my reps are gaining approx 20 secs per day, could they be regulated closer than that?,

don`t know and dont really care, as my life and expectancy of rep timekeeping , doesn`t revolve around "seconds" .

[crwolf79]

Bump. Sorry to bring up ancient history. I was just looking for other member's experiences. I'm new to the forum, and to the hobby. I just picked up a sweeeeet Tag Link Chrono. Thanks for all of your posts that steered me in the right direction! It's as good as you've heard. I'm still amazed that I own a watch that is almost identical to the $4,000 overpriced geniune. Another benefit of the Chinese economy and globalization! I always wanted a Tag Link, and while I can afford one, I think it's nuts to spend that kind of money on a watch! This place is awesome.

Anyway, the point of this thread... I've only had it a few days, but it's gaining about 20 seconds in 12 hours over the atomic clock I have. I also have a hard time winding it, only because I'm not sure if I'm doing it right or not. Getting the crown stem to "bite" for the functions requires some "finesse", and I don't want to screw anything up. I feel some slight "clicking" when I tried to wind it manually, so I'm not to keen on doing that anymore--I think the gears are dry too. Same goes for setting the time, you really have to baby the crown--because it has multiple functions on it, it seems like if you aren't applying the right outward pressure, the hands don't turn. When I'm not messing with the crown, all of the functions work perfectly--the chrono is excellent.

Anyway, I'll probably let it die and start it again to see if the on/off cycles affect the time keeping. Adjusting the time doesn't seem like a job for a novice. The price was right, and I can probably live with what appears to be a total gain of +40 seconds a day.

[aliates88]

I had the same problem with my first replica, it was about 15 seconds per day too fast. So I decided to regulate it (I am a little perfectionist ). Even for a newbie this is easy. You only have to open the case, the tool for this is cheap, and then do what is described in the following thread:

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=19163

[crwolf79]

I too am a bit of a perfectionist. I think I'm going to take the plunge and regulate mine too. I have a tool kit on its way as we speak. It's shaking out to look like I'm gaining 40-45 seconds a day. For a daily wearer, that means I have to set the time once or twice a week, which might get old. Thanks for the link.

I hope I'm not in over my head! Look at me, noob as can be, digging into my watch. This is starting to get addictive.

[Polynomial]

The only watches that cannot be wound are quartz, those that do not have a crown (very rare) or those that have damaged/defective/seized movements (your only option with 1 of these is to return it to the seller).

Some autos can't be hand wound too -- some Seikos for example.