mechanic watch question

[unxsr]

hello, i recently got a rolex speedking 6420 from 1957 and has been gaining time. i've been told the watch might been magnetized so i've ordered a demagnetizer and have been waiting for that to come.

i havent wound the watch for the past 2 days in order for the watch to stop so i could properly demagnetize it, but what i've been noticing today is that the watch is now losing time (-10 min). is this because the watch is almost unwound?

also when the watch is finally unwound and stops, if i give it a tiny shake the watch starts running again.. could you guys let me know if this is normal?

(this is my previous post for context: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=748016)

[Mbalce]

Yes, shaking a manual wind watch will often start it again briefly. Normal.

I have heard one reason you regulate a vintage manual wind a few sec fast at full wind you are compensating for the fact it will slow down at the end of its wind. So you are trying to even it out.

In regards to magnetism. If you have an iPhone with a compass you can download an app that will test a watch if it’s magnetized. I have it and it works pretty well. It’s from Lepsi. The cheapie demagnetizers on amazon also work well too. Hard to say if that’s your issue but I would want to test it before and after you run it thru the demag process.

It kinda sounds like your watch may just need to be regulated. When was the last service? Even if it doesn’t need a full tear down it is certainly possible to knock a watch out of regulation by a pretty minor drop or knock. Nothing broken, just the regulator knocked out of adjustment.

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[unxsr]

Originally Posted by Mbalce

Yes, shaking a manual wind watch will often start it again briefly. Normal.

I have heard one reason you regulate a vintage manual wind a few sec fast at full wind you are compensating for the fact it will slow down at the end of its wind. So you are trying to even it out.

In regards to magnetism. If you have an iPhone with a compass you can download an app that will test a watch if it’s magnetized. I have it and it works pretty well. It’s from Lepsi. The cheapie demagnetizers on amazon also work well too. Hard to say if that’s your issue but I would want to test it before and after you run it thru the demag process.

It kinda sounds like your watch may just need to be regulated. When was the last service? Even if it doesn’t need a full tear down it is certainly possible to knock a watch out of regulation by a pretty minor drop or knock. Nothing broken, just the regulator knocked out of adjustment.

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Thanks so much for your response.

I got this watch less than a week ago and was told the watch has been recently serviced.

I did download the Lepsi app and it shows my watch is magnetized so I ordered a demagnetizer on Amazon. It should come tomorrow and hopefully this would do the trick.

The watch was running + 45 seconds 2 days ago, + 5 minutes yesterday, but today running - 10 minutes. I haven't wound the watch in 2 days so I'm assuming the watch is towards the end of its power.

After the watch stopped 2 hours ago, I did a little shake and it's still running for the past 2 hours, however lost 10 minutes since the shake. Is this normal as well?

[Mbalce]

Sounds normal to me. I have a bunch of vintage watches and many exhibit the same behavior you describe. Keep in mind how old your mechanism is. Even recently serviced that’s 1950s technology and metallurgy you are dealing with. Coupled with 63 years of wear? I generally consider any watch in that age to be great if it maintains time to within 5 minutes a day.

Are you planning on using this as a daily driver or just the occasional special event?

How are you getting those time figures? You have a timegrapher or is it just observation.


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[unxsr]

Originally Posted by Mbalce

Sounds normal to me. I have a bunch of vintage watches and many exhibit the same behavior you describe. Keep in mind how old your mechanism is. Even recently serviced that’s 1950s technology and metallurgy you are dealing with. Coupled with 63 years of wear? I generally consider any watch in that age to be great if it maintains time to within 5 minutes a day.

Are you planning on using this as a daily driver or just the occasional special event?

How are you getting those time figures? You have a timegrapher or is it just observation.


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That makes sense.

I'm planning to wear this every other day rotating it with my Tudor Black Bay 36.

I'm using an app called Toolwatch for measuring these times. I do not own a timegrapher.