Reply With QuoteMagnetism perhaps?
My SKX007, which has barely been off my wrist since I got it at Christmas, has always kept good time, right out of the box. But a couple of days ago, it started gaining dramatically – 10-15 minutes per hour. I can't think of any knocks etc it might have received that might have thrown things out of whack. In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary was that I didn't wear it for a day.
Any ideas?
Magnetism perhaps?
I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
Yes, that's what I thought too....Originally Posted by mr1973
Alex
Could it be that the hairsping has got slightly stuck to itself, increasing it's rate/reducing it's period of oscillation?
Indeed - that's why I also think magnetism!
/vince ..
Demagnetising a watch is a matter of minutes, if you can find someone with a de-magnetiser! Where are you?
Ninja edit - any watchmakers in Gateshead?
I've got a demagnetiser :D
Does smacking it with a hammer count?
Thanks, all. There appears to be a bit of a consensus forming… Hmm, I wonder how that happened then? It was on my bedside table, so, I suppose, would have been next to a phone and an iPod in its dock. Normally, it would only be there overnight, but on this occasion I didn't wear it the next day, so it was the day after that when it was next moved. Presumably then, it was most likely this extended exposure which caused the problem?
Would something like this be considered a warranty job or is it so patently down to user error that I'll have to cough up myself to get it fixed?
Definitely sounds like she's magnetised!
Replacement movements can be had for 20-30$
Regs
Bry
De-magnetizing job at any decent watch jobber should cost less than $5 usd (and if the guy or gal is feeling generous it might even be free) since it should take all of 30-seconds on modern equipment. If the shop has to "send it out" forget it, they don't know what they're doing, and find the place that has the $200 piece of equipment on hand. Even the old equipment, where you run the stuff through manually, should take no longer than 90-seconds - 2-minutes.
If you are sure you did not drop or accidentally jar the watch unusually hard (the SKX is known for its hardiness) it does sound like could be magnetized, though 15-minutes an hour is a lot of time for just magnetization. There is still the chance that it is the hairspring that is caught on itself somehow, for whatever reason. Do you have pets? Perhaps it knocked your watch off the table and your wife/partner picked it up and put it back? Anyway, if de-magnetizing doesn't work be prepared to shell out some money for repairs.
[Edit]
I've re-read this and I"ve realized that this is a gain of 15-minutes/hour and not per day. I've heard really really hard "magnetization" might get you 20- or 30-minutes gains per day on older watches (meaning older alloy hairspring more sensitive to magnetization), but 15-minutes/hour sounds like something more drastic.
And, and by the way, not warranty.
Very interesting info about this issue. Good to know about demagnetizing.
Cheers,
Markos
Pets, yes, but it definitely didn't get knocked off the bedside table. Or so my wife says anyway.
BTW, I corrected the time at half-five on Wednesday afternoon and it's now gained nearly 12 hours since then!
My skx went from +7 secs per day to +2 minutes after falling off the bedside table, but they're not too hard to adjust back to normality, plenty of links in 'mods and wreckers' section about how to try it at home :wink:
Steve
For braver men than I, I think…
My SKX started gaining 2 secs / minute a while back.
This usually happens when hairspring coils stick to each other or touch the balance cock for some reason. If the spring is magnetic, it can be due to magnetization. Grunge on the spring can do it too.
Not that I'd recommend this but, I got frustrated and gave it a good bang on the table. Sorted.
Seriously, don't bang it on the table. I'm an idiot.
And now back with Seiko for a check-up. Will report back if it turns out to be anything really wacky.
Just heard back and Seiko want £130 for a service, because I couldn't supply a sales receipt. No hint of a diagnosis at all.
The thing that's made life complicated is that as it was a present, I don't actually have the receipt myself, although I know it was an eBay jobbie, from one of the respectable Seiko guys there (not quite sure who at the moment though). I've got the guarantee card, although as it was inside the box it wasn't stamped and dated so effectively useless. I just know that my missus won't have kept any of the emails in the same way as she wouldn't have thought to have kept the receipt which presumably would have been in the box when it arrived… Ech!
That's pretty disappointing. Have you tried flattery / appealing to their better nature / begging?
That'll be next! In the meantime though, I just managed to track down the eBay dealer she got it from and have dropped them a line. I guess this is the point at which I find out whether watches which are presumably grey imports still carry a guarantee. Mind you, if it's a proper company selling through eBay and not a private seller, then I assume they should be responsible for dealing with customer service issues like this. Whether it'll turn out to be quite as straightforward as that though remains to be seen…
FYI a replacement 7s26 movement is about 15-20quid tops!
Regs
Bry
I know it's hardly any consolation, but you're not alone in having this kind of trouble. I hope you get it sorted soon. Tell us how it all turned out.
Most likely cause of rapid gaining on the 7S26 will the hairspring hooking up. It can just as easily unhook itself , you can give it a slight knock if you like! I had one sent to me that had unhooked itself in the post. There isn't a fix for it really it can happen to any of them.
Most likely cause of rapid gaining on the 7S26 will the hairspring hooking up. It can just as easily unhook itself , you can give it a slight knock if you like! I had one sent to me that had unhooked itself in the post. There isn't a fix for it really it can happen to any of them.
Ha! And even I could make a living servicing hundred quid watches for £130 a time!
Picked it up on Friday after declining Goldsmiths' offer of a £130 service. Just out of curiosity to see how far it was out now, I set the time. And well, what do you know, it's now running perfectly well again! I'm guessing that it did indeed get a little nudge on its journey to and from Seiko, and this sorted out a sticky hairspring or some such. I'll keep a close eye on it over the next week or so, but it's looking good so far.
(In the meantime, I'd actually managed to track down the eBay seller where it had been bought from and he was prepared to stand by his watch and sort out the warranty repair, so as it turned out I was covered anyway. I'm not sure what the etiquette here is on mentioning other dealers so I won't name names, but it was a relief to find out that he was one of the good ones.)
Before xmas my then new to me (but still several years old) seamaster dropped all of about a foot onto carpeted floor and started gaining 10secs/minute. The consenses then was not magnetism but a component coming out of place. £130 seems a little steep to service a watch which can be bought for under £100...
It may a bit high, but not by much. The watch was originally built by robot, but has to be serviced by hand (human, or some close approximation). People are like this too: it usually costs less to create them than to repair them or keep them in good running order.
Best wishes,
Bob
Posting Permissions