I've recently started timing some of my watches. The results were frustrating at first but I'm getting better at it. I've gotten two of them timed to railroad accuracy, which is a thrill.

I would be interested to learn any tips or tricks on the best and easiest way to time a watch.

Thanks in advance.

For serious watch timing, first I clean it, then re-poise the balance wheel and then start timing it. Please explain more about what you are doing now.

Maybe "timing" is the wrong word. I'm just adjusting the regulator. If a watch is running a little fast or slow, and there's enough adjustment room, I've been able to improve its accuracy.

It's taken a while to develop a sense of how much adjustment causes how much result. I've learned that with patience, if a watch isn't too far off, I can coax it into RR grade accuracy. It just takes a while.

The way I've been doing it is, if the watch is running slow, I'll speed it up rather agressively until it's running a little fast (I find it easier to stop the watch for a few seconds than to reset it). I then slow it down, little by little, until the variance falls below 30 seconds per week.

I've been using NIST time on my computer as a reference. When the watch is running fast, I stop the balance wheel with a small, soft bristled artist's brush.

If there's an easier way or if I'm doing anything that would damage the watch, I'd like to know.

Thanks,

Chris, on good American made 7 jewel and up watches the full range of that adjustment is only 1 - 3 minutes per 24 hours, so the watch is already in pretty good time when you start adjusting it.

I've been able to get a couple of them which were off 2 or 3 minutes a week to run within a half minute per week. That's rewarding.

Hi Chris, Did you ever try timing for position errors?

No, I've not checked for that (I wasn't even aware of it).

The watches just sit face up on a pad of paper on my desk. Steady state, more or less, except when I pick them up to check them.

If they're too far off, I know I can't help them but it's fun to be able to get a good time keeper to keep RR grade time.

Christopher,

I would like to encourage you in your efforts to adjust your watches to the best accuracy they may be capable of.

I've done the same thing myself and I have had outstandingly good results. I have four watches which I've adjusted the regulators on, two are Elgin 571s, one a Hamilton 992B and one an Elgin 574 (my everyday carry watch). All four watches have had a recent COA (cleaned, oiled and adjusted) by a competent watchmaker. I acquired all four originally off of eBay
and consider myself very lucky that none of them have been molested or damaged by incompetent handling or maintenance in the past.

My best timekeeper, an Elgin 571, keeps time to within one to two seconds per week and has no noticeable random error either lying face up or when being carried. This watch stays this accurate for weeks at time. It is a real pleasure to know you can pull your machanical watch out of your watch pocket and you can depend on the time being accurate. This kind of accuracy is about as good as a quartz watch, and amazing for a 60 year old piece of machinery.

My other two standard watches (another Elgin 571 and a Hamilton 992B) are almost as accurate, varying no more than 5 sec per week. The accuracy of my Elgin 574 varies more, 5 to 15 sec per week at the most, probably due to positional error and because it is my daily carry watch and it not being as highly adjusted originally as my standard watches.

A tip or two. . . I 'creep up' on the correct regulator adjustment, starting by turning the regulator screw no more than 1/4 turn for coarse adjustments and then 1/8 turn and less for fine adjustment, always allowing several days between adjustments and lying the watch dial up on a non-slick surface to eliminate the effects of 'reduced mass' which is the same thing as the recoil of a gun. When the balance wheel swings the watch movement (which is connected to the opposite end of the hairspring from the balance wheel) tries to turn in the opposite direction to the balance wheel. The watch will actually slightly swing back and forth to the beat of the balance wheel when lying on a slick surface or when hanging from a hook, changing the swing arc of the balance wheel and causing the watch to gain time.

I keep the watch I'm adjusting wound at all times (wind once a day at the same time of day) and I allow the watch to run for a couple of weeks to 'settle in' before I start adjusting it.

Keep up the effort, and I hope my experiences help you and encourage you and that you will experience the satisfaction I have.

Good luck,
Joe Straub