How accurate are swiss calibrated watches

[KISS_ME]

Just curious to how accurate are some of these baller watches I see on wrist shot Friday thread.
Did some reading on mechanical movements and looks like Japanese made movements (Miyota) are ~ +/- 30 seconds a day. Swiss made (ETA??) look to be somewhat better but still nothing to write home about.
Couldn't find any write up about stuff like Hublot/Patek/Rolex made movements. Anyone care to elaborate how accurate they are?

Thanks

[98type_r]

If it's COSC certified then it's -4/+6 seconds a day.

[Pacman]

It's pretty easy to regulate a non COSC movement to within COSC specs. COSC is mainly all marketing hype which is no surprise, as the entire watch industry is based on marketing hype as well.

I've had $100 Seiko 7S26 movements that were regulated to within +2 seconds per day.

[statick]

:werd: , what Pacman said.

Japanese movements can definitely be regulated to be quite accurate and the 7S26 mentioned is by no means a high end Japanese movement. Some are quite accurate to begin with, such as Seiko's 8L35. Non-COSC swiss movements can be +/-30 a day as well.

Generally speaking, movements from higher end manufacturers are meant to be more robust and accurate, but I'm definitely not saying they are and it also really depends on the manufacturer. For the most part, if you compare, for example, a Baume et Mercier to a Jaeger LeCoultre, the latter will be more accurate and will have undergone their 1,000 Hour Control Test [marketing?], but not all watches in the price range of the latter will necessarily be more accurate. Not to say that the cheaper watch wouldn't be able to be regulated to the level of the higher end watch, either.

As much as we may like to talk about the benefits of higher end watches and in-house movements, the utility of a quartz piece costing no more than a few hundred dollars is tough to beat.

To paraphrase Jordie LaForge, part of the appeal of mechanical movements is simply that a quartz watch is too efficient.

[rage2]

A $2 quartz watch is more accurate than any baller mechanical watch. :)

Pacman is spot on with his post. Also remember that with a mechanical watch, even when it's calibrated to 1s a day, there are many factors at play that determines actual accuracy. Air pressure, temperatures, spring tension (wear and tear), gravitational force, all makes enough of a difference to move accuracy around. Wearing a watch all day vs winding it manually and leaving it on the table for 3 days could have vastly different accuracy. Even going to Vancouver, where there's differences in gravitational forces due to elevation, changes your accuracy. So even with a million dollar Patek with their best movement, it'll still swing back and forth on accuracy no differently than a $300 Swatch/ETA mechanical watch.

I used to be anal about how accurate my watches are, I've stopped caring. I'm happy if it's within a few mins a week (which works out to 20 or 30 seconds a day). My most accurate mechanical watch was a TAG Heuer Calibre 16 Carrera Day Date, which really has a $300 7750 movement. That watch, if worn daily, was accurate to a second a week.

[KISS_ME]

Thanks. I guess i'll go get myself a nice quartz watch this weekend.

[Street_Soldier]

Since we are on the topic. Is a watch with the Co-axial escapement movement any more special than one without? Or is it just an advertising thing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-axial_escapement

[ercchry]

Originally posted by KISS_ME
Thanks. I guess i'll go get myself a nice quartz watch this weekend.

you are missing the point entirely of buying a mechanical watch :nut:

[ga16i]

Originally posted by ercchry


you are missing the point entirely of buying a mechanical watch :nut:

haha, yeah, exactly. Mechanical watches aren't about keeping time accurately. It's about a lifestyle and the appreciation of all things mechanical. It's about doing things the hard and complicated way. It's the reason why you drive a manual stick shift. It's a romantic piece of technology that's been around hundreds of years keeping time w/o the aid of modern technology, battery, circuitry, etc. It's also about the pedigree of the piece and manufacturer sitting on your wrist. It tells people that you know your shit, and have fine tastes. Not just some brand-whore trying to keep up with the latest trends.

[mucat]

Originally posted by ga16i


haha, yeah, exactly. Mechanical watches aren't about keeping time accurately. It's about a lifestyle and the appreciation of all things mechanical. It's about doing things the hard and complicated way. It's the reason why you drive a manual stick shift. It's a romantic piece of technology that's been around hundreds of years keeping time w/o the aid of modern technology, battery, circuitry, etc. It's also about the pedigree of the piece and manufacturer sitting on your wrist. It tells people that you know your shit, and have fine tastes. Not just some brand-whore trying to keep up with the latest trends.

Oh, come on. you make it sounds like you are owning apple products.

Mechanical watches are about cool toys. Nothing more and nothing less.

[Cos]

.

[snowcat]

The allure of a mechanical watch is knowing that there are no batteries. Something is keeping time and date just because you move your hands. Pretty cool.

When people ask to see my watch and they see the case back has the skeleton back to show the inside, and the movement, they seem pretty intrigued!

[flipstah]

Originally posted by Cos


The point is to like wearing them and I have had more conversations with watch people because they are proudly wearing a Hublot, Rolex, Tag and we start talking about it.

:werd:

I love wristwatches because I like wearing it and like discussing it if asked. :)