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How long did it take your brand new Rolex/Tudor timekeeping to settle in?

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How long does it take for a new Rolex/Tudor watch to settle in?

9K views 56 replies 34 participants last post by  Hadakiri 
#1 ·
I have a 3 week old Pelagos that I've been monitoring the accuracy of. (Love the watch! Here's a gratuitous pic lol)



Since the first day of wear it's been losing ~ 4 seconds per day. I've been hoping it would speed up but the darned thing hasn't changed it's rate at all in 3 weeks lol

So I'm debating between sending it for regulation now or waiting. I know based on the threads here it can do much better, and it's super consistent in that loss.

I've been using watchtracker Ap and the worst day in the last 21 days (day 1) it was -4.3 and the best was -3.8. This includes some days with 14 hours on the job and a workout, and some days on the couch all day. The last 2 days it was -4.1 and -4.2 so it really doesn't seem to be changing from what I can tell.

I've read that Tudor specs this movement at -2 to +4 seconds and the PH accuracy survey has all the watches within 2 seconds per day on average. I do find the -4 seconds to be somewhat annoying because I bought the watch to wear everyday and I don't want to have to put all that wear on the crown/crown tube over the years when it is capable of doing so much better.

So the bottom line is, I would like to know how long it took your Rolex/Tudor to settle in on it's timekeeping when it was new? (I realize some owners have multiple watches so you can select more than one option for multiple watches.)
 
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#10 ·
mine ran +6spd from the day I bought it new, and every day for 22 years after that until I sold it. I can't claim I monitored it precisely on a daily basis for that entire time, but checked it periodically and it was always that rate whenever I checked.
 
#13 ·
This sounds fairly uncommon for the Tudor in house. My Pelagos is very accurate. I dont bother monitoring every day but with normal use, after a week its usually about 5 out. It may be my wearing habits but it almost self regulates itself ie it may run fast by 8 seconds one day but lose 6 the next. If you send it off it may come back as within spec as they test it to several static positions so your activity patterns may be responsible for the wonky accuracy. It can be regulated to your wrist but that may technically make it out of spec if you then tested it under lab conditions. Hope that makes sense. My advice would be to just wear it for a few weeks and see what its like over longer periods before sending it back. For a far better explanation than mine, look for member "archer" in the Omega forums. Hes an omega technician who explains accuracy perfectly.
 
#18 ·
I’ve had my Pelagos since April. I checked it off and on for the first 2 weeks and it was about +2 secs per day. Since it was within spec I was happy. I wear it in rotation and it gets a lot of wrist time, and I’ve checked it twice since then and still about +2 secs. I’d wait a few weeks, and if it really bothers you or gets worse take it to get regulated, it’s a simple fix. It’s your watch so you should be happy with it.
 
#20 ·
When I last serviced my Sub the watchmaker mentioned a 1 month settling in period, but from what I have seen the watch's performance has remained unchanged from the moment I got it back till now (3 years).

As already mentioned, since yours is new it would have been tested, passed and COSC certified and so it should perform as per COSC spec out of the box.

Perhaps try different resting positions, you may find a position that can gain time off wrist.
 
#22 ·
If you are this fixated on accuracy then dare I say that perhaps mechanical watches are not for you. Just accept that they gain or lose. Anything up to +-15/day and I’m happy, that’s less than 2 mins a week. If you can’t deal with it then buy a quartz. If it’s gaining then hang it on the bed post crown up which should lose you a sec or so in the night. If it’s losing then lay it flat overnight to gain a few.
 
#24 ·
It’s a shame that something you are supposed to enjoy using gives so much anguish. I’d make some changes. jmho.
For info only,
my DSSD can be +-1 sec
GMT can be +6
Speedmaster Pro +8
SD43 +-2
SubC date (sons) +3
wifes OP 34mm +2
My old 16800, 33 years old and last serviced 2007 runs +2
Haven’t checked the 214270 as it’s still unworn by son number 2.

The later watches def’ run more accurate out of the box.
 
#27 ·
Just an update for anyone who's curious. Brought the watch to RSC and they took it in for regulation as the tolerance level is -2/+4 spd.
Good for you, please update on how it does when you get it back. I'm going to send mine in soon for the same. I'm just waiting for the newness to wear off. I don't have a RSC local to me so I'll have to send it away and be without it for a while.
 
#28 ·
How is everyone here checking the accuracy of their watches? Does everyone here own a Timegrapher?
 
#29 ·
You can use an Android app called WatchCheck, you can check your watch's accuracy wherever you are, whenever you want.
 
#30 ·
WARNING: Graphic Content Below!!! Some forum members will find the image below very disturbing so if you are skittish or maybe Extreme WIS please do not scroll down!



This is the current state of affairs. My wrist is barren today because I have decided to send my Pelagos in for regulation. And my watchbox is empty because despite the minor timekeeping annoyance I loved my Pelagos so much I fully committed to making it my only watch and already sold everything else.

After 5 weeks continuous usage 24/7 my Pelagos never settled and was still losing a little over 4 seconds per day which is exactly what it lost the first 24 hours I owned it. Tudor spec is -2 to +4 seconds per day.

I realize a lot of you guys would be ok with this and some of you will think I'm nuts, but for me the timekeeping was impacting my enjoyment of the watch. For me it's the same as buying a car advertised as having 500hp and then finding out your specific car is only 350hp while every other one sold is actually 500hp. I want all the performance I paid for, and couldn't live with less.
 
#31 ·
WARNING: Graphic Content Below!!!



My wrist is barren today because I loved my Pelagos so much I fully committed to making it my only watch and already sold everything else.
::
I realize a lot of you guys would be ok with this and some of you will think I'm nuts, but for me the timekeeping was impacting my enjoyment of the watch. For me it's the same as buying a car advertised as having 500hp and then finding out your specific car is only 350hp while every other one sold is actually 500hp. I want all the performance I paid for, and couldn't live with less.
[emoji33]horrors! What happened to the watch box? The wrist? Arghhhh....

Can't believe it. You have become a one man, one watch person. [emoji6]

You're right about the horsepower. If my car was advertised as 500hp, I would have expected to be getting 550hp out of it!!!
 
#32 ·
Unfortunately, a "slow" watch out of the box will NEVER speed up unless adjusted. You will notice a rather well defined slowing trend with each weekly derived average daily rate "slower" than the previous week. Rolex movement have a much shallower "aging slope" than just about any other movement; ETA/Selita movements have steep slopes. I don't know about Tudor movements.

Good luck with your watch.

heb
 
#33 ·
This isn't a Rolex or a Tudor, but I bought about an $800 Seiko with a 6R15 movement and it DID settle in over about 3 weeks from about +17s/d to +6s/d. I'm guessing Rolex/Tudor probably runs it's watches for quite a while as part of the certification/adjustment/regulation so anything "like" a settling in period is probably done before they sell it. It's possible other brands do that too. But maybe brands that don't do that, that just slap the movement in, can see this sort of thing? Otherwise why would the watch change radically in the first couple of weeks and then stabilize? Maybe people who have never seen this happen are just buying from brands (like Rolex) who have a time consuming pre-sale routine? It's also possible that for me the worst of the performance was due to my evaluating it without a full wind (because some movements degrade performance more severely when not fully wound). That said it did get batter over my initial ownership.

Or maybe watches don't like to sit on a shelf not running and watches that do end up spending a year or two on a shelf before they're sold end up acting oddly for a short time?

Were I to buy a Rolex or Tudor I would hope that this was an effect that would be unlikely to occur. On the other hand Tudor doesn't have the whole "Superlative Chronometer" thing right? So maybe the process of preparing the watch for sale is shorter? Doesn't most of the regulation for Tudors come from regulation of the movements prior to encasing them? I have to admit I don't know much about Rolex's process.

I'd be interested in what causes watches to settle in (or seem to).
 
#39 ·
Couldn't stand being without a watch while Pelagos is at Dallas RSC. I'm not even sure how long it will take, guessing maybe 6 weeks door to door?

So I bought something relatively inexpensive to hold me over. This watch reminded me of the Pelagos in some ways but it's definitely no substitute. It's been 5 days since I shipped the Pelagos and I'm sorely missing my blue beauty already.



The reason this cheap fix kind of reminds me of the Pelagos is both watches are fully brushed case and bracelet, the hands are kind of similar in shape on both, and they both have fully lumed ceramic bezels. This watch definitely doesn't come anywhere close to scratching the pelagos itch though and I'm already pretty sure it will be on the salescorner once my watch comes home.
 
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