I have just bought a 1999 Rolex GMT Master 2. It is running at about +10s per day. I can take it back to the dealer to regulate but wanted some advice about whether i can use the self regulation method and how long this gravity method takes?
I have started sitting the watch vertically to fix this but wanted to know if this is temporary and whether I have to do this every day or will it provide a longer term regulation after I stop?
Thanks folks. Though it does mean I get to be tempted by the other wares he has.
The dealer should've had this properly sorted before selling the watch; what did he say about recent servicing etc?
It would be interesting to see what the watch is doing on a timegrapher, a Rolex that's gaining 10 secs/day wouldn`t fill me with confidence. Having said that, I bought an Explorer several years ago that had been Rolex serviced 3 months prior to sale. That gained around 8 secs/day which increased to around +10 after a year or so. Eventually I bit the bullet, bought the correct tool for regulating Rolex movements, and regulated it myself to run at around +2 secs/day. It's a tricky job, there's scope for it to end badly, not a job I enjoyed or would be willing to do on anyone else's watch. I`m happy working on watches but some jobs I dislike, this is one of them. It's all too easy to snap the balance pivots if you're not careful.
At the risk of stating the obvious, be sure the watch is running in a high state of wind before drawing conclusions, and be sure you're checking against something reliable. I never trust the time from a phone, I always regulate against a couple of quartz watches that I know are virtually spot-on. It's so easy to get mislead using computer clocks, phones etc.....keep it simple is my advice.
As for 'regulating' by leaving in different positions, it's vastly over-rated. You'd need to know the positional variations for the watch, and even then it isn`t going to make huge differences on a Rolex in good condition. It can be helpful on vintage watchers where the positional variation is greater. What I do recommend is leaving the watch dial-up overnight purely in the interests of consistency, and it's an easy job to check the timing at night-time and next morning to see how it's running dial up.
Paul
Because the Rolex (and Omega Aqua Terras) use a free-sprung balance that doesn`t have a regulator with curb pins. The watch is regulated by moving small screws on the rim of the balance inwards or outwards to change the effective mass of the balance wheel and thus alter the rate slightly. This requires the use of a special tool and a far higher degree of skill (and nerve) than simply moving a regulator on other watches. There are people around who'll happily regulate an ETA movement but won`t touch a free-sprung balance. There's also the risk of getting the balance out of poise if the screws aren`t moved by equal amounts, and that's the bit that I don`t like. In theory it's an easy job, but it's a whole lot harder to do than I expected. I like the idea of the free-sprung balance, theoretically it's able to get closer to isochronism than one with a regulator, but it does make adjustment harder.
Paul