Vintage Speedy Mk II - Strange Time Loss Pattern?

[andy tims]

For a vintage watch, my old 1969 Speedy keeps almost perfect (- 5 seconds in 14 hours) time when wound up & then laid face up on a flat surface, but whilst still very accurate given it's age, looses time at slightly over twice rate that when worn.

Any thoughts?

[TheEnd]

That can be normal, hence you'll see "Adjusted 5 positions and temperature" on a Rolex rotor.
Different positions can alter it, face up / down, on it's side, crown up etc.

A clean and service might get it closer, but it is something that is natural for a mechanical watch to some extent.

For the most accurate regulation, note down the time differences from wearing it normally, as that will have a more balanced drift and overall a more accurate adjustment.

[Debaser]

All my mechanical watches gain time when left face up or down (gain more face down), and lose time when left crown up or down (lose more crown up) compared to being worn all the time. Your watch is behaving in a similar way to mine.

Have you tried leaving it in different positions - how does that affect the timekeeping?

Edit - Just thought you were probably looking for a technical explanation why - someone more knowledgable than me will have to explain!

Edited by Debaser on Tuesday 12th October 20:07

[TheEnd]

The more technical bits would be due to gravity resting parts on different bearings etc.
It's part of the reason why there is tourbillons, where the balance wheel rotates to even out any gravity pulls.

From what I have seen though, they weren't a magical cure and are mostly used these days to show off engineering skills instead.

[andy tims]

Obviously any watch will vary timekeeping with position. What I was trying to gauge was whether people thought losing more time whilst being worn compared to being laid flat was strange

The watch was serviced within the last 2 years.

Edited by andy tims on Wednesday 13th October 10:51

[Adrian W]

When on your wrist the watch will go through several different planes throughout the day, therefore counteracting the opposites, I would suggest that it is temperature related.

[glazbagun]

No, it's normal. When servicing, watchmakers will usually leave the watch with a slight overall gain to account for the various shocks and sudden positional changes a watch will encounter during the day. The positions thing is still valid, too- some watches have big differences between positions, depending on how well made/maintained they are.

• Edit, just saw it was serviced not too long ago- might just need regulation/leaving in a different position at night. But yeah- watches tend to run slower when use than when sitting in cases/winders.

It should also be noted that your watch will likely run slower with the chrono running, just in case this was where you were getting your -5 seconds from.

Edited by glazbagun on Wednesday 13th October 12:05

[Debaser]

andy tims said:

What I was trying to gauge was whether people thought losing more time whilst being worn compared to being laid flat was strange

Nope. Your watch is behaving the same as all mine.