Ocean 1 accuracy

[mwarner]

Hey guys. I've been wearing a 39mm Ocean-1 since December and it has settled into a fast movement. I wound it once (out of the box) and wear it everyday.

I've reset it a few times and, now that it has been about six weeks of wear-time, it seems to be about 3 minutes fast after about 8 days since the last reset. I'm curious to know what others are experiencing accuracy-wise with this watch and the ETA 2824-2 movement.

[John MS]

Hey guys. I've been wearing a 39mm Ocean-1 since December and it has settled into a fast movement. I wound it once (out of the box) and wear it everyday.

I've reset it a few times and, now that it has been about six weeks of wear-time, it seems to be about 3 minutes fast after about 8 days since the last reset. I'm curious to know what others are experiencing accuracy-wise with this watch and the ETA 2824-2 movement.

John whipped out his trusty slide rule and determined that three minutes gain over 8 days is on average a gain of 11 seconds per day. Certainly not chonometer standard of 5 seconds per day but not too bad for a mechanical movement. You, a watchmaker or Debaufre could remove the back and tweak the adjustment to bring it down a bit. But be sure that it really is gaining that much. Are you wearing it at least 8 hours per day?

[cdvma]

At night I found (read) that orientation of a movement will change the speed. If you store it crown-down, does it still run fast?

[mwarner]

At night I found (read) that orientation of a movement will change the speed. If you store it crown-down, does it still run fast?

I usually only take it off to shower, and have even been wearing it while I sleep, so I will try the position trick at night next. Thanks for the suggestion.

[loplop]

11/sec a day isn't ridiculous for a non-chronometer 2824.

As mentioned above, do some daily rate tracking and vary your "rest" positions:
1. set the watch to time.gov or another atomic online clock
2. wear it as normal for that day
3. overnight, take it off, and choose a "position"--note this in your log
4. the next morning, check and record the time vs. the same atomic online clock. Note this and the variation from the day before.
5. repeat. If the next morning it's very close to the same variation, move to the next "position" at night. If the variation isn't the same, do this for a few more days to get a feel for it.

Once you've gone through your positions at night, you might find one that counteracts what it does on your wrist during the day. For instance, my TAG Carrera Tachy runs a bit slow on my wrist. At night, if I leave it dial up, it will gain a littl of that back making it more "accurate." In fact, with that watch by varying position when I don't wear it and at night, I can keep it within +/- 2sec of the atomic clock, every day.

Not all watches will attain that, though. I have a Bathys 100F (Sellita or 2824, I don't know) which the best I can do even by varying position creatively is +8 sec/day on my wrist, +13/sec a day off. In some positions it's +18.

I love this stuff, though, tracking rate is really fun for me.

HTH

[mwarner]

John whipped out his trusty slide rule and determined that three minutes gain over 8 days is on average a gain of 11 seconds per day. Certainly not chonometer standard of 5 seconds per day but not too bad for a mechanical movement. You, a watchmaker or Debaufre could remove the back and tweak the adjustment to bring it down a bit. But be sure that it really is gaining that much. Are you wearing it at least 8 hours per day?

I'm not sure I follow your math: 11 sec X 8 days = 88 sec = about 1.47 min. Seems like I'm running closer to 22.5 sec/day or am I not thinking about this correctly? Given that specs for this movement can be as high as 30 sec/day (I think), I'm not that worried per se, but I'm interested to know what sort of range this brand has. I wear the watch around the clock except for showering (mostly to avoid soap scum and possible heat wear on any seals).

My motivation for having an automatic was the appreciation of the artistry of the movement, and the fact that I don't have to crack the case back to change a battery. I used to wear a Tag quartz and had very mixed results with battery life, typically seeing a dead battery within 2 years of continuous wear. The light on my last G-shock (solar-atomic) crapped out on me too. So, I decided to go old school and get a watch that looks good enough to wear for any occasion.

[loplop]

:oops:

Well, of course, you're right! I didn't even check the slide rule math.

22.5/day is probably still within spec, as you mentioned.

But really you need to track each day; mechanical watches aren't like quartz watches, that gain or lose the same amount every day. They vary greatly based upon the amount you move, rest, what positions you're in, whether you're at home/work, temperature, etc etc. The best mechanicals will vary little; less well-adjusted mechanicals can vary a lot.

And that's the secret of it all--finding what yours will do, and how to best counteract it.

If the 2824 in the Debaufre is not one of the top grades, it could be normal to be running as you described. If after the tests it is still running +20, I personally would have it regulated by a watchmaker you trust. Even a regular 2824 can run much better than that, if the time is spent regulating it.

[stuffler,mike]

Well, a good vegetable soup consits of good ingredients, so does a watch.

What to expect from an ETA 2824-2 ?

Parts

Standard and Elabore:
Mainspring - Nivaflex NO
Shock protection - Etachocs
Pallet stones - Polyrubies, Epilame-coated
Balance - Nickel gilt
Balance staff - Epilame coated
Collet - Nivatronic
Hairspring - Nivarox 2
Hairspring heat treatment - Etastable

Top and Chronometre:
Mainspring - NivaflexNM
Shock protection - Incabloc
Pallet stones - Red rubies, Epilame-coated
Balance - Glucydur gilt
Balance staff - Epilame coated
Collet - Nivatronic
Hairspring - Anachron
Hairspring heat treatment - Etastable

The performance differences are the big differences between the various grades: ("The limit values are subject to interpretation: 95% of the pieces delivered in a lot must be within the specified limits.")

Standard:
2 positions (CH, 6H)
daily rate: +/-12 sec/day
Maximum positional variation: 30 sec
Isochronism (between 0 and 24 hours): +/- 20 sec

Elabore:
3 positions (CH, 6H, 9H)
daily rate: +/-7 sec/day
Maximum positional variation: 20 sec
Isochronism (between 0 and 24 hours): +/- 15 sec

Top:
5 positions (CH, FH, 6H, 9H, 3H)
daily rate: +/-4 sec/day
Maximum positional variation: 15 sec
Isochronism (between 0 and 24 hours): +/- 10 sec

Chronometre:
Look for the COSC specifications at www.cosc.ch if interested. As far as most owners will notice, COSC isn't that much different from Top grade.

The ETA 2824-2 probably is a "Standard" which means your watch is running as expected.....

[stuffler,mike]

At night I found (read) that orientation of a movement will change the speed. If you store it crown-down, does it still run fast?

Differs from watch to watch...

Difference in sec/24h (Nomos Club) :

Dial up: +9
Dial down: +8
crown up: -2
crown down: +1
crown left: +5
crown right: -3
biggest difference: 12


Average: + 3,3 which isn´t a bad result at all.

Using different positions of the watch at day and night will have impact on gain/loss of the watch but it is in no way a compensation of regulating a watch.

[nimbushopper]

My first ocean 1 I purchased 6/07 and it has consistantly kept +11 secs a day on the wrist and resting at night( no difference the resting position). It runs about +15 if left on the winder. It is very consistant so I'm sure it could be regulated. I don't mind it being a little fast as it's very easy to reset. Last month I bought another ocean 1 as a gift to my son. Before I gave it to him I checked the accuracy for several days(by winding it) and guess what? It gained 11secs a day.

These watches are good value for the money and my experience has been that all mechanical watches will slow down over time. At least I've never had one that sped up.

[Watchstuff2]

Good points all, and my experience with mechanicals has been similar across the board - you just never know! But if it is that fast and has broken in for a while I would contact Debaufre and see if they will regulate it for you; while the Ocean line is not $$$, it is a great watch and imo should be running better than +22 a day. So many things can happen to a watch after it leaves production, (have you seen how UPS etc handle packages?) it would not surprise me if it needed a little tweaking, and I would not be surprised if Debaufre was willing to do it, but that is just my hunch, I don't know for sure, I have never tried!

[John MS]

I'm not sure I follow your math: 11 sec X 8 days = 88 sec = about 1.47 min. Seems like I'm running closer to 22.5 sec/day or am I not thinking about this correctly? Given that specs for this movement can be as high as 30 sec/day (I think), I'm not that worried per se, but I'm interested to know what sort of range this brand has. I wear the watch around the clock except for showering (mostly to avoid soap scum and possible heat wear on any seals).

My motivation for having an automatic was the appreciation of the artistry of the movement, and the fact that I don't have to crack the case back to change a battery. I used to wear a Tag quartz and had very mixed results with battery life, typically seeing a dead battery within 2 years of continuous wear. The light on my last G-shock (solar-atomic) crapped out on me too. So, I decided to go old school and get a watch that looks good enough to wear for any occasion.

John hasn't used his slide rule on a long time. And his data entry skills into Excel leave something to be desired at times too. Yes, the error is closer to 22 seconds. The average error rate could be brought closer by simply tweaking the adjustment on the movement. Realize that the 2824 is a good movement but it will exhibit different error rates depending on position and winding status.

[loplop]

Realize that the 2824 is a good movement but it will exhibit different error rates depending on position and winding status.

And movement grade, and accuracy of adjustment and regulation, and the moon phase and... :-!

[Watchstuff2]

Hey guys. I've been wearing a 39mm Ocean-1 since December and it has settled into a fast movement. I wound it once (out of the box) and wear it everyday.

I've reset it a few times and, now that it has been about six weeks of wear-time, it seems to be about 3 minutes fast after about 8 days since the last reset. I'm curious to know what others are experiencing accuracy-wise with this watch and the ETA 2824-2 movement.

Hey mwarner, I emailed my "inside guy" at Debaufre about this issue, as it has been bugging me that this is running +22 after a couple of months and I was curious what they would say...well...sure enough I just heard back and he said they would be happy to regulate it for you, as they agree that is faster than it should be. He said all they would ask is that you pay for shipping, the details of which they would work out with you if you are interested. Let me know if you want the details and you can take it from there is you want. Either way, good luck!

[mwarner]

Hey guys, thanks so much for all of the helpful advice. This really seems to be a great community of watch enthusiasts, and I'm glad I stumbled upon this site. I'm going to run a few positional tests and then maybe consider sending it in for adjustment. Thanks again!

[MarkOmega]

I have an Ocean 1 42mm GMT

It was by far one of the most accurate watches I have ever owned

Note: If you take your watch off at night time - lay it flat not on the edge - I have noticed several watches including hand wound watches give better time when layed flat

Mark - Very happy Debaufre owner

[loplop]

This will highly depend upon the watch, Mark. Each one is different.

[bandityo]

I regulated my Ocean 1 myself and got it down to +1...very happy!

david