7 Day movement timekeeping poll

[JonnyRed]

I just thought I'd run a quick poll for owners of the 7 Day movement. So thats BP's, BI's, 7 Day Portuguese, etc.

While I love the fact that its an in-house movement, and it undoubtedly has one of the most efficient winding mechanisms EVER, I also think that the 7 day movement has one of the worst time-keeping reputations I've ever come across. Most people who own them seem to be a little "backward in coming forward" when it comes to being open and upfront about the timekeeping, so this is your chance!

I've owned my 5004 BP for almost 2 years now, and in that time it's been back to IWC UK three times and to IWC Switzerland once, all for its timekeeping. At worst it was gaining over 25 secs a day : at best (i.e. now) 10 secs a day, which is still outside of the 0/+7 seconds that IWC claim all their watches are regulated to. Now I'm not one to bash the brand as I love IWC watches : I've owned a few over the years and all their ETA based movements have been nothing short of superb. This BP is my first in-house IWC.

For a while I assumed mine was just a bit of a "lemon", but then a mate of mine bought a Big Inge, and lo and behold, it gained time like you wouldn't believe. (In fact he was joking that if he took the crystal out he could use it as a fan! ). This got me wondering, and through various AD events I've come across three other 7 Day movement owners (another BP and two 7 Day Portuguese owners) and all of them to a man told me that their watches gained an unacceptable amount of time.

This is in contrast to the general response on forums where people always seem to claim that their watches are spot-on accurate. But the cynic in me thinks there may be an element of embarassment coming into play where people dont want to admit that their £8000 watch is anything less than perfect.

So here is a poll where people can answer anonymously if they wish. If people are honest it could well be interesting........ Or it may show that by pure random chance,I just happened to meet 4 other people with the same issue as me!

[Cinq]

I have a Port Auto and a BP and they both run a bit too fast. At first, it did bother me but I came to peace with it. I rather have them run fast than slow .

As for winding efficiency: it seems that the Port Auto is more efficient than the BP as far as I can see but that's all subjective since it's hard to measure.

I might just create a test situation where I let both of them them run down to a stop and put them on the winder.. I will think about that, sounds interesting but I usually want to wear them before they stop







Kind regards,

Cinq

[Cinq]

I forgot to mention: I voted 'between 7 and 15' and it's closer to a low ten seconds per day. This is for both the 5001 and 5004. More info yet: they both run at 3 Hz and the 5001 is the 44 jewels version. I don't know if the 5004 is the 44 or 42 jewels version.

Kind regards,

Cinq

[JonnyRed]

I forgot to mention: I voted 'between 7 and 15' and it's closer to a low ten seconds per day. This is for both the 5001 and 5004. More info yet: they both run at 3 Hz and the 5001 is the 44 jewels version. I don't know if the 5004 is the 44 or 42 jewels version.

Kind regards,

Cinq

Hi, thanks for voting!

I think the 5004 is a 44 jewel movement too. I'm sure that part of the issue with these movements running fast is the fact that they beat at 3Hz. The slower the oscillation, the harder they are to regulate. I'm hoping IWC bring out a 4Hz version of the 7 Day movement at some point. I'd be trading up like a shot if they did!

[Hary]

My BP is still under warranty and running +15sec/day, quite annoying. I intend to bring it back to IWC to tune it for better accuracy. My friend's 5001 is running very fast too. I am not sure whether it's common problem with 7 days movement.

[JonnyRed]

My BP is still under warranty and running +15sec/day, quite annoying. I intend to bring it back to IWC to tune it for better accuracy. My friend's 5001 is running very fast too. I am not sure whether it's common problem with 7 days movement.

Well, from what I've come across personally (i.e. mine, 4 others I've spoken to), and now you Hary and your mate, plus Cinq on here - that makes 8 people out of 8 with overly fast running movements. Too small a group to suggest an inherent problem with the movement design, BUT the simple fact that IWC UK and even IWC Switzerland could not improve mine better than 10 seconds per day speaks volumes to me........

I guess with ETA-based movements, the bugs have been ironed out over the last 30 - 40 years, whereas the newer movements are still problematic. (Omega 3313 anyone? )

Anyway, I'll be very interested to know if your local IWC service centre can improve on your 15 secs a day Hary.

[Whitecamel]

Thanks for this thread guys, I thought I'm the only one with a BP "lemon" as well. Mine runs about 10-12 seconds fast a day. A little disappointed at first, but I'm not too worried now that it seems to be a common problem.

[Hary]

Despite its accuracy issue, I love mine

Just paired it with custom made brown strap. The original strap retired after 1 year+, torn at the spring bar part

[me1357]

I've had my big pilot for about 15 months or so now and in that time have not really checked for accuracy but on the other hand have never had to reset the time due to been wildly inaccurate.

The only problem i have is due to my job my watch is mostly worn at the weekeds so on sundays when i take it off the reserve is at the max and by the friday night/saturday morn is usually at the line between the 2 and 3.

On about three occasions now i've went to get it and it's been between 12 to 24 hour slow.So the only issue i have is that on a few occasions my power reserve is nowhere near 7 days.

I forgot to mention i voted for between 0-7 seconds a day.

[caprichin]

My experience:

My seven days was running almost a minute fast. Is now at IWC being fixed.

I also had a Portuguese chrono, that is ETA 7750, and i returned to the one that sold me (second hand) because it runned 35 s fast at least.

I had an Aquatimer Custeau no chrono limited edition of 2006, and it was really accurate. i think is also an ETA.

I have an Ingenieur manufacture just time AMG, and is one of my most exact watches (of a very big collection).

Not so good results, overall. And I love the brand...