How do you measure your watch accuracy? And what do you find acceptable?

Just wanted to find out how others are measuring accuracy.

I am using an app called toolwatch, but am not sure how accurate it is plus with a small variance in reaction times it could well be out.

Do you use a timegrapher? (If so any recommendations)

Also, out of curiosity, at what point do you find it unacceptable? (For example the Bell & Ross thread may be within specs, but I wouldn't be happy about it).

I know that Seiko tend to be conservative with the accuracy, but I wouldn't be overly happy with a watch within specs that was near the limits as they have quite a big error tolerance depending on the movement.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using TZ-UK mobile app

Set it according to time.is and then check a couple days later.

Time.is when setting them for the first time after a period of not being worn (all mechanicals).

Check accuracy every so often, again against time.is

Acceptability is personal, but I know what mine usually do, and as such can see when something is awry. I tolerate 15s from old mechanicals that have no service history (actually very pleased with that inaccuracy!) and anything under that is great. It just depends on the model and manufacturer as to what is good enough for you.

I also use toolwatch and use it to give a rough idea as like you say reaction times could impact accuracy of the readings. as long as my watches are within COSC spec I'm happy. I also like them to be consistent e.g one of my watches runs consistently at +4spd.

I check against this watch;
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bdc2ce1cc4.jpg

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Originally Posted by verv

Set it according to time.is and then check a couple days later.

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This ^^^^^^^^^^^. I have two mechanical watches , one runs at +2 spd the other 8 spd. Im happy with that. I tried toolwatch, but I found the daily reminders to check my watch tiresome so I deleted it.

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Originally Posted by Skyjack

I check against this watch;
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bdc2ce1cc4.jpg

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me too! The exact same watch, and time.is when I'm out and about.

G shock for me as well :-)

Scottie

I have an atomic Casio (PRW2500) which resets every night, so I use this most mornings to see how my current watch is doing over the last 24 hours. My least accurate so far is an Omega Seamaster 300 (gains about 4 secs a day - which seems fine to me); oddly my most accurate is a Seamaster SM300 ceramic (which loses about a second a week).

I use time.is and time the watch I am wearing at 10.00am every Saturday morning. For Rolex I expect and get around 10 seconds accuracy over a week. The best, which does surprise me, is a 1980 Explorer11 1655 and that one consistently gives a gain of 2-3 seconds over 28 days. I have to kick myself to ensure I am not dreaming.

The JLC which was serviced by JLC in Switzerland is about 20 seconds per week, which for a 1954 model is not too bad.

The 1986 Omega Constellation which was serviced by a local indie (big mistake on my part) is accurate to about 1min over 7 days which I consider not to be good. But I rarely wear it, so no big deal.

Never check the accuracy. By the time I remember I'm wearing a different watch or its already stopped in the watch box. I set from either a g shock, watchville or the clock on my work laptop. I know, not useful at all.

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Originally Posted by wileeeeeey

Never check the accuracy. By the time I remember I'm wearing a different watch or its already stopped in the watch box. I set from either a g shock, watchville or the clock on my work laptop. I know, not useful at all.

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Not that it's not useful, but how would you know when a watch needs a service? Or do you stick to manufacturer recommended cycles?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using TZ-UK mobile app

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Originally Posted by verv

Set it according to time.is and then check a couple days later.

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This.
And not worry too much about it unless I see a marked change.
I did notice the other day that my 114060 was out by more than I expected but I think that was down to the fact that I haven't worn anything else for ages. I timed it from Monday to yesterday and its 5 s fast per day.

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Originally Posted by Wyvern971

Not that it's not useful, but how would you know when a watch needs a service? Or do you stick to manufacturer recommended cycles?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using TZ-UK mobile app

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My GMT is 4 years old so I'm going to try and check the accuracy soon in case it needs a warranty service.

The rest seem to go before I notice any issues. Serial flipper disease but I will start to monitor the two I have which are "keepers"

I use an app called Twixt Time which works really well. I’m never bothered about absolute accuracy, in fact one of my fave vintage watches loses about 30 seconds a day but it’s a hand winder so I quite enjoy setting it anyway.

Wow, time.is is pretty aggressive. Could read that from the other end of the office!

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Originally Posted by wileeeeeey

Wow, time.is is pretty aggressive. Could read that from the other end of the office!

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Yes, good way to spot a watch nut at work!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Used to be a tad OTT with this - now I don't care that much. When I did I'd simply time a week using phone - and then get annoyed if was outside of expectations (one of my 5513s lost nothing in a week, that oddly made my week!)
Mad hobby this

I use 'The local time is' website on my computer, or a quartz analogue watch that gains 1 sec/week and lives either on my wrist or on the bench.

However, I`ve used the stopwatch function on my iPhone to check a watch whilst on holiday.

For quartz, time.is. Then check mechanicals against the quartz (if I remember).

I check it against this. If you want a watch to tell the right time anywhere in the world then it's tough to beat....https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e48ab1f06e.jpg

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Yes, I know the time and date are wrong. It's an old photo......

atomic g shock, most of mine are within 5 or 6 seconds daily with a couple of the older vintage unserviced ones straying out to 30 secs or so daily.

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Originally Posted by verv

Set it according to time.is and then check a couple days later.

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+1 having seen it recommended on here. Very handy.

As an aside my SD43 is very impressive - last time I wore it for a spell and therefore kept it in a good state of wind, it lost 3 seconds in 28 days. The current winner is my Seamaster: I tested it after it came back from a recent Omega service and it was absolutely bang-on after a week. I don't actually fetishise accuracy with a mechanical - my Squale has always been about +20 per day which doesn't bother me - but it's useful to chart them just to get a feel for when they might need servicing.

I use an app called watch tracker. But I became obsessed with checking my sub and my wifes date just, so I stopped using it :)

I generaĺly set from my Breitling B1, but accuracy is rarely critical for me.

I've my Sinn Arktis on at the moment and it's running about a minute slow, as it was a couple of days ago when I set it.

That's good enough for me.

The Longines Pocket watch that sits on a stand on my desk loses about 5 minutes a day since it was knocked off it more than a year ago. I mean to get it sorted out, but I just reset it when I wind it... (ETA and bizarrely, no sooner do I mention it than the watch magically resumes near-perfect timekeeping! It hasn't lost a minute in 5 days!)

M

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I use a Python script written by myself that logs PC system clock time (synced to NTP) against watch dial time, and keeps a record in a MySQL database.

As for what's acceptable - for a fun watch that I'm not going to wear for more than a few hours every now and then, 40 secs a day wouldn't bother me. For a practical watch that's going to be worn regularly for a few days, ideally within 5 secs per day.

I use an app called "Atomic clock & watch accuracy tool". its simple and useful.
Displays time from an atomic clock to set against.

Calculates the accuracy based on 2+ checks, but the more the better.

How often do i do it? not all the time, sometimes the mood takes me and ill use it for a few weeks and get an idea of my watches accuracy.
Whats acceptable for me? Id probably be ok with 15-20 +- per day. if i want super accuracy ill go digital. My watches are all sub 8 +- so haven't had to really worry about it.

Using the "The TZ-UK British Summer Time timekeeping challenge" method.

Started March 31, and in the intervening time my Explorer has gained 1.5 seconds per day. That's within Rolex's stated +/-2 seconds per day precision, so I'm very happy. Anything outside that, and it'd be back to Rolex for regulation.

I’m happy if my autos run within cosc but much prefer them to run fast than slow.

As for timing, I set my quartz SMP to my iPad and measure my autos against this. Not very scientific but I know how accurate my SMP is and this works for me.

https://www.rlfrazier.org/images/wat..._01Apr2008.jpg

The acceptable rate depends on the watch (age, condition, etc.).

Best wishes,
Bob

I don’t. If I need accuracy I use iphone’s timer.

If I need accuracy, I connect to Chronos[1]. :)

https://www.rlfrazier.org/computing/...ronos_2019.png

[1] An inexpensive Raspberry PI with a Trimble GPS timing receiver attached.

Best wishes,
Bob

Within 10 secs is good for me. Normally wear a watch for 2-3 days at a time and hardly ever for more than a few weeks.

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Originally Posted by verv

Set it according to time.is and then check a couple days later.

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This mainly, but sometimes set them by the Fitbit thingy if I'm in a hurry.

I measure everything against my atomic g-shock. My only mechanical currently is my blnr which is running around +1.5secs per day. For whatever reason, accuracy is important to me and unfortunately I've given up on mechanicals at the lower price points as I can't live with +/-20secs or worse per day. My other watches are all cheap and cheerful quartz movements.

I used Toolwatch for a while but found that it had a few problems. Often I found that it took a few attempts for the app to log my measurement. The data in the app is very limited; no historic measurements or graphs for example.

This was the only free app I found so I wrote my own tool as well. I've got it spitting out quite a bit of information now such as how many seconds faster is the watch atm, what's the average daily gain, how much time is gained at nights, during days, the average daily gains for this measurement compared to the last (for every historic measurement too). The data is exported in csv but I'm going to add graphs when I've got a bit more time. I used to sync my computer time using ntpdate -vu but now I make api calls.

I've genuinely been considering making a free app... but I don't know if anyone else would want as much data about the accuracy of their watch!

I use toolwatch and the Hodinkee app. The latter has a nice chime feature as the seconds approach 60.


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Originally Posted by lostcause257

I used Toolwatch for a while but found that it had a few problems. Often I found that it took a few attempts for the app to log my measurement. The data in the app is very limited; no historic measurements or graphs for example.

This was the only free app I found so I wrote my own tool as well. I've got it spitting out quite a bit of information now such as how many seconds faster is the watch atm, what's the average daily gain, how much time is gained at nights, during days, the average daily gains for this measurement compared to the last (for every historic measurement too). The data is exported in csv but I'm going to add graphs when I've got a bit more time. I used to sync my computer time using ntpdate -vu but now I make api calls.

I've genuinely been considering making a free app... but I don't know if anyone else would want as much data about the accuracy of their watch!

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I will be interested if urs android compatible.

I use watch check myself on android, exports as well, now have the db on my third phone.