Preface: Hello everyone, watch friends! Below, I will share an article about the allowable error range of mechanical watches, hoping to help everyone and solve your confusion. If your questions are not answered, I have also prepared Q&A, introductions, and information sections at the bottom of the page!
Ordinary Quartz watch The daily error is less than 0.5 seconds, which is Mechanical watch a fraction of that, mainly thanks to the quartz watch The high and stable oscillation frequency of the quartz oscillator in the quartz watch. The principle that higher frequency leads to more accurate timekeeping was discovered during the long-term research on improving the accuracy of clocks and watches. The higher the frequency of the oscillator, the more stable the oscillation, the stronger the anti-interference ability, watch the more accurate it is. Quartz electronic watch has an oscillation frequency of 32768Hz, which is 10,000 times higher than the frequency of 3Hz of an ordinary balance mechanical watch . Therefore, quartz electronic watch is much more accurate than a mechanical watch. In addition, due to the structural problems of the mechanical watch case, the influence of the earth's gravity, and the offset between the horizontal and vertical positions will produce a positional difference. The torque is unbalanced from the fully wound state to the relaxed state. Coupled with the influence of external temperature, magnetic field, and vibration, even if the frequency of the mechanical watch is increased, it is impossible to achieve the accuracy of a quartz electronic watch.
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As ordinary consumers, the most important thing when wearing a watch is the accuracy of its timekeeping. Some people even have very strict requirements, and are dissatisfied with even a few seconds of error per day (mechanical watch). We know that in the current industry standards for watches, the error of a typical mechanical watch is within +/-30 seconds/day, Quartz watch the error is within +/-0.5 seconds/day. The error standard is calculated daily, and the actual error when wearing a watch will naturally accumulate.
The timekeeping accuracy of a mechanical watch is constantly changing. The biggest factor affecting the accuracy of a mechanical watch is the amplitude of the balance wheel. The amplitude is mainly affected by the size of the mainspring torque (the tightness of the mainspring) and changes in position. Under different amplitudes, the watch has different instantaneous daily differences, which means that its accuracy is always changing dynamically. The accuracy of a quartz watch is mainly affected by temperature. At 25 degrees Celsius, the accuracy is the highest, and whether the temperature increases or decreases, the result will cause the watch to run slow.
The error of a mechanical watch mainly comes from isochronism error and positional error. In fact, the error is greatly related to the amplitude of the balance wheel. I have also seen some meticulous people observe and experiment with their watches, and even record the daily timekeeping error. Some people have high requirements for the accuracy of mechanical watches. In fact, a watch with an error of within 10 seconds a day is already quite accurate, but some people still think it is not accurate enough.
The timekeeping accuracy of a mechanical watch cannot be achieved or maintained through correction
Why is this? This is because the timekeeping of a mechanical watch is constantly changing. Relative to a certain state of mainspring tightness, a fixed position, and a certain temperature, it can be temporarily accurate, but relative to other conditions, it will change, and it will immediately be different. In other words, even if the watch is adjusted to be accurate to the second, you will find that it will not remain that way. The accuracy is always changing instantaneously and fluctuating. Moreover, there are many other factors that affect the accuracy of the watch. The watch error we see can only be the actual running and average error within a unit of time.
The timekeeping accuracy of a watch is best when the mainspring is fully wound.
To ensure that your watch keeps accurate time, you must wind the mainspring as fully as possible. This is even more important for automatic watches. Because the degree of tightness of the mainspring of an automatic watch is directly related to the time you wear it and the amount of movement you get, provided that there is sufficient movement.
The timekeeping accuracy of a watch varies with position.
This is what we call the positional error of a watch. Better watches are tested at three temperatures and five positions during manufacturing. The five positions are: face up (dial up), face down, crown down (3 o'clock down), crown left (12 o'clock down), crown up (9 o'clock down). Only the crown right position (6 o'clock down) is not commonly used (unless you put strap on the palm of your hand or on your right hand). According to statistics, for most people, the face-up position is used for about 35% of the day, crown left for 30%, crown down for 25%, and other positions for 10%. Therefore, the different accuracy errors of the watch at different positions can be used to correct the fast and slow trends of the watch.
First, conduct an observation test and then record the results
The testing method is simple. First, fully wind the watch. Then, synchronize the time, minutes, and seconds of the watch being tested with a standard time. After placing it on a flat surface for 24 hours, compare it with the standard time to determine and record the error. Repeat this process, testing the timekeeping error in the face-up, face-down, crown-down, crown-left, and crown-up positions, and record the results.
For example: Static test results are: face-up +20 seconds/day, face-down +20 seconds/day, crown-down -5 seconds/day, crown-left +25 seconds/day, crown-up +10 seconds/day. The actual timekeeping error when worn is +15 seconds/day.
At night, remove the watch and choose the position to correct the error.
In the example above, it's clear that placing the watch crown-down at night would help reduce the accumulated timekeeping error. Only with an accurate understanding of the causes of watch errors and the characteristics of your own watch's error can it better serve you.
When wearing a watch, we can only feel the actual timekeeping error, but this error is actually an average and comprehensive error value. People who understand watches don't pay much attention to how accurate or inaccurate a watch is, because accuracy is not the only standard for a good watch. In practice, the long-term stability of the watch's timekeeping is the most important. Some watches may run well for half a year after purchase, but the error increases after half a year. This is instability, like ROLEX watches, will not have this problem.
For example: “There are three watches, A, B, and C. Watch A's timekeeping errors over 3 days are (-20 seconds, 0 seconds, +20 seconds), with a cumulative error of 0 seconds; watch B's errors are (+20 seconds, +5 seconds, +10 seconds), with a cumulative error of +35 seconds over 3 days; watch C's errors are (+20, +25, +20), with a cumulative error of +65 seconds over 3 days. Comment: Watch C is best, watch B is second, and watch A is worst!” because only a watch with long-term stable timekeeping can be an accurate watch.
A watch with good timekeeping stability also indicates strong resistance to external interference, high reliability, and good performance indicators related to watch quality. If you are careful or interested, you can also track your own watch and record whether its timekeeping accuracy is stable.
Daily Wearing Knowledge of Mechanical Watches ：
Automatic Mechanical Watches The power source is generated by the movement of the wearer's wrist, winding the mainspring. A fully wound Automatic Mechanical Watches can run continuously for about 36 hours (Swiss movement); If you wear it normally every day, it can operate for about 15 hours. If you don't wear it for more than the above time or the movement is insufficient (the wearer's amount of exercise is small), the watch will stop. Before wearing it again, you should fully wind the watch. The energy storage time of the movement varies depending on the movement.
First, let's introduce what a fully automatic mechanical watch is. It operates using an automatic winding mechanism that can wind the mainspring regardless of the direction of rotation of the automatic rotor (visible in watches with a transparent case back). It goes without saying that only when the watch is worn on the hand, and as the arm moves, the automatic rotor rotates to generate energy. Generally, a fully automatic watch should be worn on the hand for more than 8 hours a day to replenish the mainspring energy, but it's not absolute. It is recommended to wear the watch even on holidays. Only by wearing it on the hand and constantly replenishing the energy of the mainspring will the watch not stop. Nowadays, many office workers often experience their watches stopping. Besides movement reasons, it is because the wearer's movement is insufficient, and cannot supplement the mainspring energy. If this is the case, you can use the manual winding method to compensate.
1) Watches generally have a certain shockproof function, and the internal shockproof function of the watch can be effective when impacted by external forces. If the battery of a quartz watch is disconnected from the positive and negative poles, or the balance wheel of a mechanical watch is misaligned, causing the watch to stop, this may give you the illusion that the watch is broken. In fact, it only needs to be reinstalled at an authorized service center.
2) So-called anti-magnetic watches do not mean that all parts inside the watch are anti-magnetic, only the main parts, such as the balance wheel, hairspring, and mainspring, are made of anti-magnetic materials.
3) Although some watches have anti-shock and anti-magnetic functions, they can only play a preventive role. Therefore, avoid strong collisions or placing the watch near electrical appliances or magnetic objects that produce magnetic fields, such as televisions, stereos, refrigerators, mobile phones, induction cookers, electric mahjong tables, bags with magnets, etc. The above reasons may cause the watch to stop or become inaccurate.
Precautions
1.) Do not adjust the date, day, and moon phase of the watch between 9:00 PM and 3:00 AM. During this period, the calendar function is in operation, and the gear meshing degree is also low. Frequent operations will damage the internal parts of the watch. The adjustment operation of the calendar should be done at 12:00 (12:00 in the 24-hour system, because at 24:00 the date is jumping, the gears are in the locking position, and at 12:00 the gears are disengaged).
2) Day calendar switching, due to different mechanisms, is divided into fast and slow types. The first type completes calendar switching within ±5 minutes, and the second type completes calendar switching within 3 hours.
3) For watches with a screw-down crown, do not pull it hard. First, rotate the crown counterclockwise to unlock it, adjust the time, then rotate the crown clockwise and push it in to lock it to prevent water ingress.
4) For watches with a calendar, to adjust the date, first set the calendar to the day before the date you need, then rotate the hour hand to adjust the date. When the hour hand passes midnight, the date will change. This avoids confusion between day and night by directly adjusting the date.
5) For watches with complex functions, please read the instructions carefully.
Mechanical watches usually have a break-in period, generally two months. It is best to wear them normally for two months, understand the deviation of the watch, and then adjust it if necessary. 『About adjusting the time error of mechanical watches』
First, you need an accurate clock as a reference time, such as the clock in a subway station or on television, which is relatively accurate and can be used as a reference. Also note that mechanical watches usually have a break-in period, generally two months. It is best to wear them normally for two months, understand the deviation of the watch, and then adjust it if necessary.
