Three of the five Swiss watches I own are COSC Chronometer certified.
The standard is-4/+6 seconds a day. That standard makes them 99% accurate.
Of the two that are not COSC Chronometer certified one uses a ETA 2824-2 that Tudor decided not to certify.
The other is an Omega SMP moon watch.
Of the watches all but the moon watch run less than two seconds fast per day.
I have not worn the moon watch in a while so I cant say how accurate it is.
As far as a COSC certified watch less than one thousand dollars it depends on the style of watch you are looking for.

Others have mentioned the COSC standard. That may seem like a fair amount of variance but is really pretty incredible given the number of parts in an automatic watch movement.

That being said, accuracy (or significant changes) can be a good indicator of the need for service. Received my Rolex Sea-Dweller from service a month or so ago. Prior to service it was losing 4-5 seconds per day. Now it’s barely +1 second per day. This is the second time in 20 years I’ve had it serviced (once every 10 years).

I have a Deep Blue automatic diver that is much less accurate (but much less costly). It runs about +10-15 seconds per day.

Michael

I work on watches for a living and it depends on the automatic movement the watch uses inside that will determine the overall

accuracy. Sure I can regulate pretty much any watch but depending on the build quality of it's movement will determine if it

will maintain that level of accuracy daily.



You see from the factory each automatic movement whether Swiss Made or Japanese Made has a general accuracy range and if the

watch falls in that range they will send it out as acceptable. If your watch is better than or more accurate than normal you

just got lucky. But some Watch Brands will spend the time and extra money to regulate each watch to the best time possible but

most don't.


A Seiko 5 has the cheapest automatic movement they make and the general range is +/- 30-45 seconds a day which is pretty bad.

I was able to get one down to -4 seconds a day but because how cheaply it's built and designed who knows how long it would

maintain that accuracy.


You don't have to spend a lot of money just research the watch and find out the movement it uses so that you can get a broad

range on how accurate it can be.


For example a Hamilton Khaki will cost you 250-500 dollars grey market online and it uses a Swiss ETA-2824 movement. Their are

4 grades of this movment from level 1-4 I believe they use the level 2 or midgrade which is about 10-15 seconds or better per

day. Very easy to get it down to 5-7 seconds a day and maintain that. You will never get it in the Rolex 1-2 seconds range due

to the quality.


My IWC is COSC certified and loses about 1 second a day on average, but it's a luxury high end watch.


Depending on the price point I think 5-7 variance per day isn't bad, but if your paying top dollar and not on the low end then

it should be more accurate.

Yacht-Master was last set at the time change and is now +12sec. Very pleased with this calibration after its service in 2013.

I also have a Seiko Alpinist with the 6r15 movement that is -3sec/day every day.

I will have it calibrated and expect it to be a very accurate watch.

This

quote:

Originally posted by OTD:
You are confusing «accuracy» with «adjustment». If you have 6 sconds advance per day, every day, you have a highly accurat watch that is adjusted to run 6 seconds too fast per day. If your watch was 10 seconds too fast one day and 5 seconds slow the other, you are a well adjusted, but not so accurate movement.
There is no dollar vs accuracy price tag. It´s a matter of how the movement was designed and how much care was taken to adjust it.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

Same Watch, bought new in 2012 from AD, worn daily...… + 20 seconds per day.

That's seriously out of adjustment, the AD should have made the repair. Good chance the hairspring was magnetized.

The first couple of years I only wore it a few times a week and it would go dead often and I'd have to wind it and reset it so I didn't notice it so much. After about 3 or 4 years I started just wearing it daily. So now, I figure I'll just send it in at the 10 year mark to rolex and have it serviced etc. But most people I know that wear Rolex'es everyday, they're fast just like that or similar.

Mines a 2006 and after my last auto-winder crashed I really don't hardly wear it and sits in a drawer completely wound down. I've heard that they run better if they stay wound so it would mostly need a tune up these days. I did get tired of the metal band and purchased a leather one for it finding it a little more comfortable for my tastes. Most likely I'll just sell it as it just sits in a drawer along with a Cellini I purchased thinking I'd like the lighter weight but I lost interest in wearing a watch pretty much these days. I'll probably send it to David for a tune-up and appraisal. Probably reinstall the original 2-tone metal band also.

I bought a Seiko SKX007 a few months ago, and I've been pretty disappointed so far. It seems to be losing a couple of minutes a week.

Most of mine are within a few seconds a day.

As others have mentioned, there is a difference between adjustment and regulation.

Adjustment has to do with positional variance, which is generally the biggest + / - for any mechanical watch. There are six standardized positions: dial up, dial down, 12-, 3-, 6-, and 9-up. The 12-up is the least commonly adjusted position, as most folks don’t wear their watches that way. Adjustment takes time and effort.

Regulation is bringing the whole thing faster or slower.

If your watch is very close across different positions (e.g. +6 dial up, +5.5 dial down, +6 3-up, etc.) it is precise.

If your watch is close to 0 for its net gain/loss, it is accurate.

A precise watch can be inaccurate, but can be more easily regulated.

An imprecise watch can be accurate, if it’s a Seiko 5 that swings wildly between +20 and -20 in different positions. Adjustment is more costly.

COSC is so much more than -4 / +6. It has to do with lots of things, like temperature, shock, etc. COSC certifies movements, uncased.

I’d rather have a fast watch than a slow one; it’s easier to pull the crown and let it catch up than swing the hands around to the next minute.

Magnetism is the most common symptom of a watch suddenly running fast. Magnets are everywhere, like those magnetic closures for tablets. If you suspect this, I would try that first. There are tools on Amazon for it.

Some people get frustrated by a mechanical watch’s quirks. A 4 Hz movement beats 28,000 times per hour. If, on average, it beats 28,801 times per hour, that’s three seconds fast a day. If you think about it, anything within half a minute a day is pretty incredible.

For those who insist on quartz—and I have lots of those—I hope you try mechanical one day. It’s like straight razors, stick shifts, and leather jackets. There’s a lot of history there.

Fun.

Quick pic of my autos. Everything from d.freemont to Seiko 5, Ollech and Wajs, Bulova and Omega.

They ALL gain or lose time daily, albeit a few seconds or one or two. Some are more accurate than others and one or two while accurate, could benefit from an adjustment.

If you desire or require precise time to the second at all times with absolute accuracy, I would suggest the Casio Lineage shown at the bottom of the pic, or one of the other Casio Wave Ceptor watches. The Lineage is solar powered and radio controlled. Thin, lightweight and well made with sapphire crystal. It came on a metal band but I prefer the Marathon nylon strap.

One link for the Lineage ... https://www.amazon.com/CASIO-L...D-1AJF/dp/B0041234GA



EDIT: For accuracy adjustment, I have the horology tools necessary to pop open a watch case and a Mumford Micro Systems, MicroSet Precision Clock & Watch Timer (model 3). I do like an accurate, well timed and adjusted watch LOL, but not for the faint of heart or untrained/unskilled. I've probably destroyed as many watches as I now have, over the years ...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hobbs,

Have you noticed any difference when storing the watch on its side VS flat on it's back?

It’s precisely this chronic deviation from correct time that I have become completely enamored with my new High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ). Instead of losing a frustrating 10 to 15 seconds a day (albeit half or less that with some of my better automatics), my Bulova Lunar Pilot HAQ loses that much per year, a second a month rather than minutes a month. It’s given me a whole new fondness for objective performance...I love looking at my watch and having the assurance that the time is correct to the second, each and every time. I still appreciate the technical wonder that are automatics, but I find myself at this point of early bonding with my HAQ all too ready to give up some of that purported “soul” of autos to enjoy unparalleled accuracy...accuracy in and of itself can be a very exciting and satisfying thing.

My casio protrek is digital, updates throughout the day, all over the world, and is always accurate, and always updated. It's exact with the GPS clock.

I don't need batteries, winding, or updating.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
Have you noticed any difference when storing the watch on its side VS flat on it's back?

Yes, positional variance is real just like gravity.

I have an ETA 2824-2 movement that I built a watch with. When I leave it overnight crown up on the night stand, the variance corrects the gain I see when wearing the watch all day. It turns out to be about a 3-4 second daily gain when I use this method.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
Have you noticed any difference when storing the watch on its side VS flat on it's back?

Yes, positional variance is real just like gravity.

I have an ETA 2824-2 movement that I built a watch with. When I leave it overnight crown up on the night stand, the variance corrects the gain I see when wearing the watch all day. It turns out to be about a 3-4 second daily gain when I use this method.

RMD

I see the exact same with my Tag Carrera Calibre 16 (ETA 7750). I always make it a point to lay it down at night with the crown up.

I own a Orient ray that runs + 2 seconds a day. I also have another of the same watch just a different color that runs + 30 seconds. They cost around $150. Luck of the draw I guess.

Both my Seamaster and my Seiko Samauri run best when they're constantly used. Both run a bit slow on the winder. I would say accuracy with the Omega is within COSC, and the Seiko isn't far behid.

quote:

Originally posted by at-home-daddy:
*snip*
accuracy in and of itself can be a very exciting and satisfying thing.

I was gifted a Seiko and while it is a pretty thing, its accuracy sucks ass. I'm much happier with a $30 Casio that is flamboyant like a nun's wardrobe if it is also just as consistent.

My most accurate automatic is a Christopher Ward (eta 2824 movement) that gains <5 sec a day. My Hamilton (same movement, but lower grade) is within 10 seconds a day plus or minus. My watches with Seiko movements are probably within 30 seconds a day (honestly I've never timed them). All of those are more accurate than I honestly need. I'm not synchronizing an airstrike with a ground assault, I just need to know when its time to come back from lunch...

I've got 2 phones I have to carry around constantly that are accurate to the second. I wear automatic watches because I find the fact that a system of springs and gears can keep time to within seconds a day fascinating. I have one quartz watch that I wear as a beater on motorcycle trips.

As these are mechanical watches, I assume they wear and accuracy worsens over time. What's the typical life of a 'reasonable' watch (not luxury, exotic, etc - every day wear level) and cost of maintenance?

Well. Rolex suggests a service every 5 years and just charged a buddy of mine $700 for the service. His watch is more that 20 years old and after servicing is within a couple seconds a day. I know that's the first time he's had it serviced and he's had the watch at least 10 years. He wears that watch constantly with the exception of when he's running a jackhammer. That watch came back looking nearly new.

My oldest Seiko (and first automatic) is almost 20 years old, has never been serviced, has been beaten and abused, and still keeps roughly the same time as new. I really need to send it in and get it serviced, but at this point I'm almost curious to see just how long it can survive.

Seiko service for a 7s26 movement is $118 as of me checking just now.