This app was mentioned in 40 comments, with an average of 4.83 upvotes
Set the time using http://time.is and then check it again at the same time tomorrow.
Or there are several apps out there for iPhone / Android. I use WatchCheck on Android.
I have been owning a Zenith El Primero Classic Cars for about a month, and I decided it's time to test its accuracy.
I used WatchCheck to compare the watch reading to GPS time. What you see in the chart are some of the latest measurements that I took. Each dot corresponds to a 12-hour measurement, where the watch was resting with vertical dial with the 12, 3, 6, or 9 mark up.
As you see, different resting position consistently gave different errors (always less than +/- 5 seconds a day). However, when the watch is worn, it becomes extremely precise: +0.1 sec/day! I like how wearing the watch keeps it in different positions so that at the end of the day most of the error cancels out. This watch really wants to be worn!
Loosing 3 second or - 3 seconds and gain 3 seconds and + 3 seconds are two of the same things. This means that in 24 hours (approx) the watch will gain 3 seconds or loose 3 seconds. Mostly in reference to mechanical watches as quartz watches are more like +3 seconds a month or something. You can check your own over a couple of days by using WatchCheck app for your android.
As the watch adds seconds you will have to set it back or forward to keep it relatively accurate. Most watch enthusiast like doing this as it's a quest time to spend with our beloved time pieces.
Sounds like they just gave you a generic answer to sell you a service. Use watchcheck to check it for yourself. Then you can regulate it. I can never remember which way demagnetizing works. My thoughts is to rule it out but I guess if you have one then you'll know more about it then me. Good luck. If you decide to throw it away because it's no good, contact me. ;)
I'm in love with my SARB, a belated 21st birthday gift. I've been wearing it on a Hirsch Highland brown leather strap daily since receiving it. I love the contrast of the brown leather and cream dial. It came with a stainless steel strap, but I am just not a fan of metal straps in general, hence why I ordered a couple of leather straps with the watch.
While waiting for the watch to be delivered I was worried that it would not suit my tiny wrist, but it seems to be a perfect fit and I doubt I would look at getting anything bigger than 38mm in the future. I don't like the idea of having a huge chunk of watch banging around on my wrist. My dream watch would be either a Nomos Tangomat/Orion, or a vintage Seamaster De Ville (or both!).
The photos were taken during a recent trip to Cape Town. The view of Table Mountain had been obscured by the mist rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean and I was glad to have a few minutes of clear sky to take these photos. Apart from the mist, this was about 12 stories up on the roof with a strong wind blowing. Glad my phone did not grow wings and take off out of my hand!
On a side note, I got an awful watch tan after spending a day taking the cable car up Table Mountain and walking around on top of it. Better get used to it though I guess, because I think I won't be taking the watch for any extended period of time.
According to WatchCheck (great app for logging watch accuracy over time, if you haven't heard of it), the SARB has been gaining less than 3s per day which I'm very happy about. I did not expect to have to set it so infrequently.
That's cool. I wonder if there are any third party solutons similar to this.
I use the WatchCheck app for Android but it's very reliant on how fast I can press a green button.
its safe as long as you are careful. mechanicals are pretty delicate pieces of machinery.
nudging the regulartor will probably take some trial and error. its VERY sensative, even the slightest movement will set it off quite a bit one way or another. might take a couple weeks to get it running +/-5 seconds a day.
so, you can do this...but I'd do it as a last resort.
you can try setting your watch in different positions over night to help regulate. leaving it dial up, crown up, or crown down will have some impact on the accuracy. I'd use an app to help keep track of all this. For an android app, I can suggest this app just use it, and keep track over a few days with the watch in different positions over night and you'll see over ~5 days which way works best.
7 seconds a day is pretty good, though it CAN get better.
if you REALLY need an accurate watch, I'd sell the bambino and get a quartz watch. if you like the look of the bambino, look into the Orient Capital. its a similar style watch (case and high domed glass) but a couple of more traditional dress style dials. but $100 with the same great quality of an Orient in a somewhat similar style and size.
man, I must have gotten lucky with my watch. I have the orient Mako and its within +/- 1 second a day. I have been tracking the watch with an watch check and while its not a perfect way, its accuracy is probably within a half second.
for the entire month of Feb it averaged -0.3seconds/day...maxed out at +3.1, and -5.7...but most were under half a second off from the previous day.
Hello, welcome to the sub. I think it's unnecessary at this moment if you don't see anything wrong. You can check it's accuracy using a time grapher or a WatchCheck app (Android). Usually any internal damage can be seen from it's timekeeping accuracy.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
love this app. once a day you tell it what time your watch is reading and it tracks how slow or fast it's running.
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My SARB035s about as accurate as yours and I've not dropped it. Check WatchCheck out if you have an Android phone. It's a useful app for recording watch accuracy over time. Might help you monitor any big changes in your watches timekeeping.
Using the WatchCheck Android app I can report my SNK809 is currently running at +6.1 s/d, but as another post mentioned there is about a wide amount of variation in this movement. Mine took about a week to settle down to this level after initially being around +15 s/d.
This Watch Check app tracks timing with watch position as well. It's a very easy way to track exactly what you're talking about.
Story
I’ll just go straight to the watch itself, courtesy of this unpopular opinion.
Unexpected things
The date/moon complications changes gradually at 1:15 AM and each small hand asynchronously snaps into position by 2:15 AM. I was not expecting this piece to act instantly like A. Lange & Söhne Terraluna, but I had hoped that it changes at midnight +/- 10 minutes.
The rotor is made of solid gold according to JLC concierge and boutique. I was expecting plated or PVD gold only. The rotor however creates sound from the ball bearing whenever it rotates clockwise (seen from the back), i.e. whenever I lift my forearm.
My local official boutique is extremely helpful even though I did not purchase from them. There is a workshop inside the boutique with a European repairman who made adjustment to the alligator strap and performed date correction of 300+ days without charging me any fee.
The moonphase complication is accurate to 122 years, far better than the popular Omega Speedmaster Moonphase that only has 10 years accuracy.
The average daily rate according to the WatchCheck app is a jaw dropping +0.3 seconds per day.
The sunray finishing on the black dial is more pronounced than the airbrushed pictures found online. There are subtle radial lines all pointing towards the center.
Half of the hour and minute hand is closer to white color than sandblasted silver. This half does not reflect light at all, but it makes the watch more readable at night.
The balance wheel is so tiny compared to an ETA 2824. I did not feel it when browsing the pictures of the JLC 868 movement.
The 4-digit year at the bottom left does not make me feel unbalanced, the same reason wearing the watch only on my left hand does not make me feel unbalanced.
There are at least 3 instances of dust inclusion on the watch face when inspected under 10x magnification with a Triplet Loupe. It seems that the manufacturing environment is not up to the standards of a Cleanroom.
Black vs Silver Dial
I read from many comments that the silver dial has silver hands with silver hour markings, making the time hard to read at an angle or at night. Some pictures also show the silver dial being washed out under indoor lighting.
I feel that a black dial is more versatile with weekend casual clothing. The silver hands and hour markings also shine like diamonds with the black dial.
The best of both worlds is the White Gold version (1303520) with white dial and black hands/markings that is extremely legible, but that of course is a different story.
Ultra Thin
The watch meets my standard of Ultra Thin, despite having a 9.2mm case thickness, as long as I only make comparison with other Perpetual Calendars. I think it is unfair to say that another ETA 2892 watch is only 7mm therefore this piece is not Ultra Thin. Had JLC removed the second hand and transparent case back, I’m sure it would have been thinner than what it is right now.
Heritage
Wonder how JLC perpetual calendar watches have evolved over the last 30 years?
It seems that the names get longer as we go…
Choices
Out of the list above including the holy trinity, only JLC has Central Seconds models available widely. I am obsessed with Central Seconds, because without it, I do not even know if the watch is broken or a quartz.
Does Patek 5327/5140/3940 have Central Seconds? No.
Does Lange have Ultra Thin? No.
Then I have reached my endgame for Quantième Perpétuel.
Even better, the W800 is crazy accurate. Watchcheck shows that my W800 has gained 0.1 seconds per day since July 28.
I enabled the countdown timer, but I can't hear the alarm sound unless I hold the watch up to my ear. Good luck.
Last, the AE1200 is the darling of this thread. But since I don't travel, all of that extra garbage on the dial is useless to me and not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as the clean, simple W800 dial.
I think it's miraculous that Casio can design, mfg, promote, sell, and deliver it for approx $13.
My equally accurate MW 240 $15 Bauhaus watch, and $35 MDV106 deep sea diving watch with a Cyclops.
I've been wondering if my W800 would be more legible if I put some commonly used yellow photo gel inside? Opinions?
WatchCheck is pretty good for a freebie if you're on Android. Not sure if they do other platforms: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck&hl=en
It's called WatchCheck. Though there are a few in the Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
I use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
Been lucky with my speedy, it's very consistent at +1s/day.
I use WatchCheck
It's free and it works very well.
I'm not sure about using your camera but I've seen some reviewers using watch check so that's what I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
Watch check to measure the accuracy of my watches. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
I have been using WatchCheck on Android. It is pretty barebones, but keeps the history for as many watches as I want.
I've been using this android app called Watch Check. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
I use time.gov as my reference.
On Android I use Watch Check (free). Here's an example of how it works:
I set my time to true 10:00pm right now. Then I open the app to log the baseline time (should be accurate to 0.0s). The app knows it's 10:00pm, so it starts calculating that the next time (down to the minute) is 10:01pm. I wait for my watch to reach 10:01:00 pm and tap a button to log it.
Then tomorrow, let's say at 10pm I get ready to log my app again. Right when my watch hits 10:01:00 pm I log it. The app compares my watch's deviation from the true time, in seconds. If my watch was 2 seconds slower than true time, with the fact that it's been 24 hours (1 day) since baseline, that comes out to -2 seconds/day rate.
You keep using the app (logs don't have to be 24 hours apart from each other), and the app will average everything out. Here's an old log: https://i.imgur.com/ok3SmyA.jpg
On Android I use Watch Check. Free.
"WatchCheck" is what I use for android.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
Can you please measure the accuracy in the next few days! There is an app, called WatchCheck. It can help me a lot! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
This one is free but the developer has more or less abandoned it
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
For Android: WatchCheck
Watchwcheck Link is a great little Android app that can help you see how accurate your watch is
I've used this, doesn't use the camera. You manually check in, I'm happy with the results
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.uhrenbastler.watchcheck
watch check for Android.... Very basic but so far, so good
I use Android App WatchCheck. Which isn't bad.
I use the Android app 'WatchCheck' rather that Watch Accuracy. I found Watch Accuracy a bit too gimicky and inaccurate.