New rolex running 8-10 seconds slow.

[BilllyBill]

Hello.

After a few life moments and successes, I jumped at the decision and bought a Rolex Explorer new from an AD. Looks lovely and fits perfectly, however, for the last 3 days the watch (since I noticed) has maintained an average of losing 9 seconds a day.

This seems to be out of Rolex's +/- 2 seconds a day. So I will do one more day and contact the AD.

Should I be more concerned, I'm assuming this is fairly rare, or just send it in to get "regulated"?

[BillA]

Rare. Try keeping the watch in a different position overnight once you have reset it to official time. I have a 16570 and when I sit the watch overnight with the crown up, it loses a few seconds overnight. However, when I sit the watch face up, it is almost dead on.
I have heard that different positions will yield different times. I have always wondered if this is OK or should the watch be in spec in all positions?

[JWD531]

I have one 5-digit and four 6-digit Rolex watches. Every single one is outside of +/- 2 (more like 5-10 depending on the watch - my YM sat at the AD long after being discontinued so it probably needs a tune up, but I’ll wait until closer to the 5-year warranty end).


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[ronricks]

It can take a while for the movement to settle in if it is a new watch. Not uncommon for this to happen at first.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by BilllyBill

Hello.

After a few life moments and successes, I jumped at the decision and bought a Rolex Explorer new from an AD. Looks lovely and fits perfectly, however, for the last 3 days the watch (since I noticed) has maintained an average of losing 9 seconds a day.

This seems to be out of Rolex's +/- 2 seconds a day. So I will do one more day and contact the AD.

Should I be more concerned, I'm assuming this is fairly rare, or just send it in to get "regulated"?

Gravity affects mechanical watches the most thats why they are tested in 5 different positions,and in those different positions there will be slight deviations in the timekeeping.Did you fully manually wind your watch before wearing, as wearing a watch does not wind the watch. Its wrist movement that winds the watch keeping the mainspring at peak reserve.This new marketing spec is a average of -2+2 seconds this dont mean it will perform the same every single day. Many things effect mechanical movements on the wrist, such as earth's gravity,mainspring-power reserve, metal expansion and contraction, temperature variations, subtle changes in lubrication and friction, shocks, and so on.And when they test the movement at Rolex many at a time in a controlled environment on a machine,time of tested could meet the -2+2 spec but on the wrist well thats a different story.So first give your watch a full manual wind 40 full crown turns clockwise only.Then set time with a reliable time source,wear as normal but for 8 hours a day.Check once daily with same setting source write down loss or gain.Do this for at least 5 days then average the loss or gain, if then well out of spec have it regulated,but sometimes they need a few weeks to get used to your wearing habits before accuracy kicks in.

[SlashRothstein]

I purchased a barely used DJ2 with the 3136 movement around a year ago. It was running around -6 the first several times I measured. As I’ve worn it more, and experimented with the resting position, it surprisingly has improved to -2. Face down seems to work the best for whatever reason.

[M45]

Wear it all day for a few days.

[csaltphoto]

I'd give it month of everyday wear and see where it is at then. Watches can be sitting a looonnnnggg time before being sold.

[al503]

Originally Posted by ronricks

It can take a while for the movement to settle in if it is a new watch. Not uncommon for this to happen at first.

x2. I'd give it at least a month or two before worrying about it. I'll bet you'll see a change within the next couple of weeks and then probably another before it settles in. In the meantime, lay it down dial up when not wearing. That should help slightly.

My DD40 started off -2/day after it settled in. It slowly got worse. I got the SD43 and the DD40 went into the safe for about 1.5 years. I took it out and it's right on the money (I know that doesn't make sense since the lube is drying up, etc.) Go figure.

[SparklesMcgraw]

I’m in the same boat with a new Explorer that is one month old. Fully wound, worn for days and I was getting around 6 seconds lost per day for the first two weeks. One month later and the last three days I’m seeing about 9 seconds per day slow. Played with resting positions but makes no difference so just leave it in the watch box over night.

I expected better but am not too bothered. I’ll give it a few months and if it doesn’t improve I’ll have it regulated.

[Tools]

If my watch was new and consistently shows a 9 second variance, I would take it back and have it regulated.

It's unlikely to be able to self-correct a variance more than a second or two.

[Brian Page]

I would send it back

[PatrickGu]

How do you guys check your watch accuracy?

[Tangier11]

I dont use my Rolex to tell time. I use my phone for that

[doboy007]

Originally Posted by PatrickGu

How do you guys check your watch accuracy?

Sundial :)

[SparklesMcgraw]

Yeah I’ll need to get it regulated but no rush really so will give it a few months and keep an eye on it. I’m secure in the fact the watch is certainly capable of better and has a 5yr warranty so no real rush. Might take it to a local watchmaker get it on a time graph to check how it’s running before taking to Rolex

[jburson250]

Originally Posted by PatrickGu

How do you guys check your watch accuracy?

You'll need something extraordinarily accurate to compare your watch with, like this:

[GradyPhilpott]

Put a "time.is" link on your smartphone and you will always have an accurate time signal.

[HogwldFLTR]

When I returned a slow running new Rolex to be adjusted it cost me shipping as I hadn't bought it at the AD who shipped it and it took a month. The shipping cost was $75. Even though it came back in COSC it really wasn't worth the aggravation and cost. If you have multiple watches worn in rotation you can likely handle the inaccuracy you're experiencing.

[BilllyBill]

Thanks for the tips and advice.

Yesterday it was another -10 seconds, today it is on track to be -8 seconds with the dial facing up throughout the night.

So ill give it a bit more time, see how things weigh up.

[dylmariner]

My 114060 was about +/-4 seconds for the first few weeks. It took a bit of time to “break in”. Now after a few months when it’s sleeping crown up I am on max about +/- 0.5s.

[jdpny]

Listen - I was in your shoes.

Last June I bought a new Datejust from an AD in NYC. Ran great (+-2s/day) for 9 months, then it slowed down to -6s/day. I brought it into Rolex HQ and left it for warranty service. I recieved it in the mail last week (4 weeks later) running +0.3s/day.

So glad I sent it in!

[Andad]

Find a watchmaker who can check your watch on a Timegrapher.

Once you have the precision at the various positions you can decide if it requires attention.

E.

[BilllyBill]

Originally Posted by Andad

Find a watchmaker who can check your watch on a Timegrapher.

Once you have the precision at the various positions you can decide if it requires attention.

E.

UPDATE

Cheers. I popped to the AD and handed it in, after a quick back room inspection they confirmed it was running slow. They said they will test it on a timegrapher over next few days, and if fully confirmed that it is off, then they will send it to Rolex.

They were overly apologetic (I said no need to be) and stated how rare it was for a new rolex to be 10 seconds out.

So after one week of ownership I've got a nice Rolex box but am now Rolex-less. But now my bother is being seen to.

[BilllyBill]

Well I had the shop regulate it (authorised by rolex for them to do it in house). Went to pick it up and noticed that the back was scratched/scuffed up. They offered to polish it up and so I've left it at the AD for another week. I left with a sense that they should have taken better care of it.

I'm fairly disappointed to say the least. Fully understand that I'll get scratches on it over time, but it would be nice for me to own those scratches on a new model.

They blamed the scratches on the regulator machine (sent from rolex).

[UK_]

Originally Posted by BilllyBill

Well I had the shop regulate it (authorised by rolex for them to do it in house). Went to pick it up and noticed that the back was scratched/scuffed up. They offered to polish it up and so I've left it at the AD for another week. I left with a sense that they should have taken better care of it.

I'm fairly disappointed to say the least. Fully understand that I'll get scratches on it over time, but it would be nice for me to own those scratches on a new model.

They blamed the scratches on the regulator machine (sent from rolex).

Use it to your as advantage if you can - new watch running slow and they scratch it trying to regulate it, hopefully they will want to make it up to you.......with an allocation in the future


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[SparklesMcgraw]

This is exactly why I’ve just left mine alone. Sorry to hear that and hopefully they will polish it out good as new. My new Explorer now 2 months old is still around 7/8 slow per day. I am in the habit of setting my watches one minute fast anyway so doesn’t bother me. I will keep an eye on I though to see if it doesn’t worsen. I’m sure they will sort it for you, and if not I’d have them send it to Rolex.

I’m no expert on those machines but surely they should lay something between any metal to metal contact point to avoid this. Possibly it was stratched in the case back removal process

[Yess]

I find my Air-King settles down and stops losing time after it's lost 15 seconds. It can lose 5-10 seconds in the first 24 hours, but then stay at 10-15 seconds slow for weeks without me winding it, just wearing it 14-16 hours every day.

On the scratches... My Air-King is already beat to bits and is only 5 months old. But if I took it in for service and they scratched it - I'd be very annoyed. Shows a lack of care and professionalism.

I'm not sure about the retribution aspect as mentioned - you put scratches on my watch now allocate me a Kermit? Let us know how that works out.

[UK_]

Originally Posted by Yess

I find my Air-King settles down and stops losing time after it's lost 15 seconds. It can lose 5-10 seconds in the first 24 hours, but then stay at 10-15 seconds slow for weeks without me winding it, just wearing it 14-16 hours every day.

On the scratches... My Air-King is already beat to bits and is only 5 months old. But if I took it in for service and they scratched it - I'd be very annoyed. Shows a lack of care and professionalism.

I'm not sure about the retribution aspect as mentioned - you put scratches on my watch now allocate me a Kermit? Let us know how that works out.

What you can ‘retribution’ I would call looking after a customer who has not got the service that would be expected with such a purchase.

But I doubt I will agree with someone who is proud to have a watch ‘best to bits’ within 5 months.


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[jdpny]

My 9 month old DJ was -6s/day, I sent it to the Rolex service center - it is now +1/week.