Quartz or automatic?
Discussion
cyberface said:
But not as shockingly bad as the time I thought it'd be cool to wear my steel Daytona out skiing... the temperature changes caused it to lose so much time I thought I'd broken it. It started working properly when I arrived home... and then I realised the effects of drastic temperature changes on mechanical movements... you'd need a bimetallic split balance to stand a chance, and then even that'd probably only deal with +/- 10 deg C or so, not the 40-50 degree difference easily encountered going from the top of a 4km high mountain in the winter at -20 deg C to a nice hot pub back in the village...
(full disclosure - I own a Monster. And a neo-Monster. I like 'em
)
Interesting - In the Sinn (I'll try not to make it sound like an advert!) catalogue they've a graph showing the effects of temperature on the beat-rate of a watch. It shows a marked decrease below zero with a serious plunge after about -10. They've ascribed this to the thickening of the oils in the case with the fall in temperature (which makes sense I think), thus slowing the watch due to the increased viscosity. Their 'special' (it may be Castrol GTX for all I know) oil was compared and the drop-off didn't take effect until about -40. (full disclosure - I own a Monster. And a neo-Monster. I like 'em
)Upper range temperature reliability was negligible by comparison although there was a more consistant line with normal oil over about 60 degrees.
The watch being actually on the wrist (and presumably in contact with the skin and covered by a glove/coat sleeve) should maintain a fairly constant +X/+Y degrees bracket in line with normal oil performance.
If you want to wear the watch outside the sleeve (which in certain circumstances you'd want to probably) then it's at the mercy of the climate and will fall close to ambient temps. The Sinn oil is based on this principal. (I think Seiko or Omega do something similar but can't remember now). Of course, with the DIAPAL stuff which is lube free, this particular problem is negated anyway.
The Omega Mars/Arctic watch is designed for -60 temps and uses an aluminium protective housing to accomplish this.
I'd not thought about the effects of the cold on the metal inside the mechanism, which is of course a very good point. Damasko recently introduced a silicon based movement which it says is resistant to temperature change. (Translation: The heart of the chronometer - spiral, anchors, escape wheels and dual disc - are made of polycrystalline silicon. Through the silicon, the Damasko-movement goes to company information as accurately as little else on this planet. And silicon are also shown by external irritants such as magnetic fields and temperature variations do not influence it.)
I'd have thought most pricy quartz watches were thermo-compensated, the UX is anyway - how prevalent is it I wonder.
Edited by andy_s on Tuesday 2nd March 15:14
Debaser said:
depending on the position I leave it overnight (face up / face down / on its side etc.) I can leave it face up overnight and it just so happens that it will barely lose or gain over a week.
Interesting you say that. I only just noticed this can affect watches. For instance, the Tauchmeister I recently picked up loses about 2 seconds an hour when left on its side. On the other hand, when left flat it gains 1 second in about 6 hours! An interesting way of keeping the time spot on without turning the crown... 
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