How to obtain excellent timekeeping over a period of several months.

[CharlesN]

I have, again today, kept logging the timekeeping of my Rolex Explorer II model 226570.

I will continue to do this for the foreseeable future as well.

My watch has a 3285 caliber as it’s beating heart.

I have been taking readings with an application on my iPhone called WatchTracker. On this watch i have now been doing it for 144.9 days.

I take the readings first thing in the morning and last thing at night before I retire.

That’s one application I highly recommend to all watch fans especially if you want to know how well (Or badly) you watch is at timekeeping.

I also have a TimeGrapher.

The TimeGrapher has allowed me to see and record very quickly and simply how my watch performs in different positions this has enabled me to choose my watch overnight resting position.

I use the recommended 5 positions when measuring my watch (CH, CB, 9H, 6H, 3H).

Personally I measure is a slightly different order (CH, 6H, 9H, 3H, CB) as i find this allows me to change the watch positions with the least amount of movement.

With the TimeGrapher information I am in a position to decide how want to lay my watch at night.

I do not take TimeGrapher readings on my watch daily … I do then once in a week or less often even.

I find most days my watch looses a little time on my wrist and I manage to compensate for the loss in time by positioning my watch overnight in a position that it will gain time.

From the chart and graph below you can see that at this mornings reading my Rolex Explorer II was 0.1 seconds fast.

I got up at 7am this morning, If I had stayed in bed an hour or two more my watch would have had zero error. I got up as i had some urgent errands to perform.

I can already sense that some of you are rolling your eyes or similar to say who cares about a small error on a watch as the error shown is such a tiny one compared to the 86,400 seconds in one 24 hour period.

The simple answer is …. I do !

I enjoy my watches and i enjoy the effort, even though it is a minimal effort, in getting my chosen watch of the period to run not just within COSC or Rolex specifications but a lot better than those. I do strive for perfection.

There is, of course, another benefit of monitoring my watch in the way I do.. If there is any fault or problem with my watch it will show up quite quickly as the timekeeping would show itself declining in both precision and accuracy.

For those of you who say that your watch runs “Dead On”, or words to that effect, I would have to take exception to your comment.

My watch, although it appears to run “Dead On” does not … if it was just on my wrist continually it would loose time. Considered compensation is the key to gaining close to perfect timekeeping over a period of time.

This method of adjusting the timekeeping is often referred to as ‘Self-Regulation”. The advantage is you do not need to be a watchmaker, have any training in how a watch runs or have any technical expertise. You simply have to have a little patience.

You do not have to wear a watch to know if it is keeping good time.
you only have to wear the watch if you want to know if it keeps good time whilst being used daily.

If a negative error builds up within my watch’s timekeeping then I would be late for everything and that’s something I am totally against.

Tardiness is not acceptable.