Acceptable power reserve?

[Rollieo]

What do you think is an acceptable power reserve when rated at “approximately 70 hours” (per Rolex website)?

And does anyone know what is “within tolerance” of factory specs?

I have a 2019 GMT II, ref 126710.

I’ve noticed a few times now, when I put the watch down on Friday afternoon, by Monday morning it’s not ticking and shows it’s stopped sometime Sunday night. So roughly I’d guess I’m getting around 60 hours of power reserve.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Rollieo

What do you think is an acceptable power reserve when rated at “approximately 70 hours” (per Rolex website)?

And does anyone know what is “within tolerance” of factory specs?

I have a 2019 GMT II, ref 126710.

I’ve noticed a few times now, when I put the watch down on Friday afternoon, by Monday morning it’s not ticking and shows it’s stopped sometime Sunday night. So roughly I’d guess I’m getting around 60 hours of power reserve.

Power reserve depends on how much wrist activity while wearing and if watch was fully wound up before wearing.Now on a full manual wind that at least 40 plus full crown turns clockwise only then should run around 65 -70 hours give or take a hour or so either way.

[ArtNouveau]

As Peter says, it depends. I typically wear my watches from roughly 8 in the morning until 11 at night so they stay pretty wound up. They will still be running three days later if I repeat the routine. I rotate them around, the only Rolex I might wind between wearings is the GMT. It’s the only one I have with a date and it’s kind of a pain to reset the date.

[puma1552]

AFAIK you should be getting the advertised 70 if the watch is fully wound and you set it down and don't touch it. If anything, the 70 should be a conservative rating to avoid complaints if people don't get the full amount. If Rolex is smart, which I'm sure they are, the true power reserve is probably 75+ hours so then they back off the official rating to 70 to ensure everyone can hit that number.

FWIW I think when I did a PR test on my Datejust earlier this summer, I let it die, did 40 winds, and set it in the watch roll and left it alone, and I think I got something like 80+ hours; it well exceeded the 70 as I expected it would. Also note that it's very likely the accuracy falls off sharply in the final hours of the power reserve.

[mdwsta4]

Totally relatable! This is the primary reason I prefer no-date watches or at minimum quick date set features. Such a PITA to adjust otherwise

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

As Peter says, it depends. I typically wear my watches from roughly 8 in the morning until 11 at night so they stay pretty wound up. They will still be running three days later if I repeat the routine. I rotate them around, the only Rolex I might wind between wearings is the GMT. It’s the only one I have with a date and it’s kind of a pain to reset the date.

[Rollieo]

So if you wound it 40+ times and set it down, and watch dies at 60 hours - would you find that acceptable or think it’s worth bringing into Rolex service?

I realize I’m right at 4 years on my watch. With 5 years being the warranty period, feels like it wouldn't hurt to send it in for a warranty check up.

[puma1552]

Originally Posted by Rollieo

So if you wound it 40+ times and set it down, and watch dies at 60 hours - would you find that acceptable or think it’s worth bringing into Rolex service?

I realize I’m right at 4 years on my watch. With 5 years being the warranty period, feels like it wouldn't hurt to send it in for a warranty check up.

I wouldn't find it acceptable. I'd also perform the test as described and especially in the last 1/3 or last 1/4 of the time as 60 hours approaches I would check it every few hours to see how much, and more importantly, when, the accuracy starts dropping off precipitously. If it's only making it 60 hours and its losing accuracy at like 48 hours, that really sucks.

Again it's normal to lose accuracy near the end so I wouldn't say losing accuracy at 48 hours is bad on a 60 hour total power reserve, more just relating the fact that your real power reserve where it stays accurate is even less if you're already crippled to 60 hours.

Curious to see the results if you let it die, wind it 40x, and let it sit in a case/roll and keep an eye on the accuracy. FWIW I happen to be doing sort of an unintentional/not well controlled PR test on mine (2023 36mm DJ) right now - I wound it at 10:30 AM Friday, and have played with it a little several times since but not a lot, and haven't worn it out of the house. It's still going (79.5 hours), but it's about 15 seconds slow right now. 2-3 hours ago it was 10 seconds slow, so it's definitely nearing the end. Again not a super controlled test this time as it is unintentional, and I have played with it a little, though I don't know how much the rotor has turned when playing with it, maybe a little but not a ton, and I'm nearing 80 hours and it's still going. Earlier this morning it was 4-5 seconds slow around the 72 hour mark, so in my case I did actually keep pretty good accuracy throughout the rated period, but that may not always be expected necessarily. Watch is dial up, FWIW.

EDIT: It died minutes after posting this, so 79.75 hours and was about 15 seconds slow at the point it quit.

[Calatrava r]

To me power reserve on a simple time only with quick set date automatic watch is irrelevant as long as the watch runs day to day with 8 hours or so of wear. I would prefer a longer PR to 60 or so hours on something like a manual wind PC or AC, but even then, it's just a simple matter of advancing forward, setting the time and winding. Long PRs are not a big selling point to me.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Rollieo

So if you wound it 40+ times and set it down, and watch dies at 60 hours - would you find that acceptable or think it’s worth bringing into Rolex service?

I realize I’m right at 4 years on my watch. With 5 years being the warranty period, feels like it wouldn't hurt to send it in for a warranty check up.

Is 40 turns still applicable to the newer high reserve models? Does power reserve affect how you wear and use your watch?

What is a "warranty check up"?

[puma1552]

Originally Posted by Tools

Is 40 turns still applicable to the newer high reserve models? Does power reserve affect how you wear and use your watch?

1) Yes.
2) It doesn't affect how one wears and uses their watch any more than being 10 seconds out of spec per day does; Rolex publishes a spec and stands behind it, so if OP is falling short of it by what appears to be about 15%, it's not unreasonable to have it looked at especially since it's under warranty and very possibly will result in a free overhaul. It's about holding the manufacturer accountable to their own stated specifications and making sure that you have what you paid for...these tools aren't cheap. Assuming he's fully wound, there's definitely something wrong with the movement if he's coming up 15% short on the PR, again considering the advertised PR figure is almost certainly conservative for liability/complaint purposes.

[Rollieo]

Originally Posted by Tools

Is 40 turns still applicable to the newer high reserve models? Does power reserve affect how you wear and use your watch?

What is a "warranty check up"?

Originally Posted by puma1552

1) Yes.
2) It doesn't affect how one wears and uses their watch any more than being 10 seconds out of spec per day does; Rolex publishes a spec and stands behind it, so if OP is falling short of it by what appears to be about 15%, it's not unreasonable to have it looked at especially since it's under warranty and very possibly will result in a free overhaul. It's about holding the manufacturer accountable to their own stated specifications and making sure that you have what you paid for...these tools aren't cheap. Assuming he's fully wound, there's definitely something wrong with the movement if he's coming up 15% short on the PR, again considering the advertised PR figure is almost certainly conservative for liability/complaint purposes.

It does affect how I wear it. My BLNR is my “weekday” daily. On the weekends I like to wear my other pieces. So it’s pretty common situation that I put my BLNR on the winder over the weekend now because I don’t want it to run out on Monday morning. It’s an extra step that I’d rather not do given the rated is 70 hours.

On Rolex’s website though, even they list “approximately 70 hours”. So seems like they could very well say 60 is normal.

As far as what a “warranty check up”, you obviously can’t send it in for nothing wrong, but if there is something tad out of norm, why not send it in during the warranty period. Cause after warranty passes you’re definitely paying out of pocket.