Grand Seiko 9F - setting time seems a little stiff.

[gerrudd]

I recently acquired a Grand Seiko and I'm very happy with it. However when I set the date and time I noticed that rotating the crown was stiffer than I expected. I compared thsi to an old Seiko Kintic which offered no resistance and an a CWC with an ETA that felt closer but still moved more freely. The stiffness seems to build up as I turn the hands more. That is to say changing by one hour seems OK but rotating for 30 hours gets gradually more resistant. The crown does turn smoothly and I don't need to use any real force, but is stiffer than I expected. All functions are fine and timekeeping is excellent.

Is this to be expected from a 9F or could it be an issue with the crown or crown gasket?

[Neil.C]

I recently acquired a Grand Seiko and I'm very happy with it. However when I set the date and time I noticed that rotating the crown was stiffer than I expected. I compared thsi to an old Seiko Kintic which offered no resistance and an a CWC with an ETA that felt closer but still moved more freely. The stiffness seems to build up as I turn the hands more. That is to say changing by one hour seems OK but rotating for 30 hours gets gradually more resistant. The crown does turn smoothly and I don't need to use any real force, but is stiffer than I expected. All functions are fine and timekeeping is excellent.

Is this to be expected from a 9F or could it be an issue with the crown or crown gasket?

Could be I guess but I usually think cannon pinion in these situations.

[walkerwek1958]

Sounds like the crown seal is rubbing on the pendant tube, silicone grease should fix it. If the pendant tube has internal O rings (typical Seiko design) the crown and stem need removing to do this, if the crown has a conventional O ring sealing onto the outside of the pendant tube it may be possible top apply silicone grease carefully when the crown is pulled out to handset.

It would be unusual for the cannon pinion to get tighter but it can`t be ruled out, the movement would have to come out of the case to test for this.

The resistance felt when handsetting is a combination of the friction created by the crown seal and the friction within the cannon pinion. Cannon pinions usually get looser over the years, especially if the hands are reset frequently on a watch with no quickset date. This can be rectified by tightening very carefully, just done this on one of my own vintage Omegas.

[ryanb741]

I've never noticed friction on my GS quartz models. Usually the opposite compared to mechanical

[huytonman]

I recently acquired a Grand Seiko and I'm very happy with it. However when I set the date and time I noticed that rotating the crown was stiffer than I expected. I compared thsi to an old Seiko Kintic which offered no resistance and an a CWC with an ETA that felt closer but still moved more freely. The stiffness seems to build up as I turn the hands more. That is to say changing by one hour seems OK but rotating for 30 hours gets gradually more resistant. The crown does turn smoothly and I don't need to use any real force, but is stiffer than I expected. All functions are fine and timekeeping is excellent.

Is this to be expected from a 9F or could it be an issue with the crown or crown gasket?

Ive had many 9F movement watches and never experienced what you describe so sounds to me like you should have it checked out to avoid any potential for damage over time.

Keith