Got a cool watch? Let's see it.

Does it not advance during the quickset, or while actually setting the time and cycling it through? If it's only during the quickset (first click of the crown usually) you might try running the time forward through a few date cycles and see what happens. I had a watch do the same thing once, and when I cycled it a few days the date started clicking over again, and it worked fine after.

Mine is doing something even weirder....it does wind, it sets with the quickset, but from time to time (no pun intended) it will just go BBBBZZZZZ wand I feel it wind down and think it is going to stop but as long as I keep wearing it, it keeps relitively good time. Oh, it is a Sub and old one.

It will advance during the quickset, but not when you cycle through 24 hours. I own a few other automatics, so I'm aware about not changing the date, ORIS says not between 10 and 2.... Dealer was very cool, and on a new watch, they should be. It'll get returned to Oris and fixed and somebody will get a good deal on a factory refurb.

Sounds like it's as simple as an old mainspring slipping the clutch. It could be more complicated than that, but if it's old, I wouldn't be surprised if it's that simple.

What brand NATO? I've been very pleased with my Maratacs. I think I have 5 of them in you roll Zulu's into the count.

Will do - thanks...

Never had an issue w/ mine. The one in that pic is at least a year old and is very comfortable.

... just curious, a question to all those who do not wear a watch. Is it because of your occupation (i.e., can't have anything hanging on your wrist for safety reasons), or is it because your cell phone/PDA has the time and wearing a watch is redundant, or is it a personal preference?

I'll chime in the other way, I have never been without a watch. I got hooked on fine watches when My Dad gave me a Zodiac Auto back in about 1965, I have one just like it now. I feel funny even taking my watch off for a shower and usually don't all my watches are dive watches or at least WR to 200m if not more.

Me, I just don't like wearing any type of jewelry. I don't need to know the time at the drop of a hat and one can always find a clock anywhere. Back in my 20s, I would take it off for the weekend with the logic that it was the weekend and I didn't care what time it was. As I got older, I got more and more to used that logic.

... thanks, again, I was just curious. I've worn one so long I kind of feel naked without it. I do get by OK (weekends, yardwork, garage), but I always end up looking at my naked wrist.

I only take off my watch to shower most of the time - just cause soap in the links gets grungy fast. It's the only clock I can read w/no glasses at night in the dark.

And I'm not really in need of knowing that badly, I just enjoy a nice timepiece and am able to indulge myself on a very small scale. Other than a wedding ring, I don't wear other jewelry.

In Scotland, I was really impressed by our tour guide [who was maybe 25 years old] at Stirling Castle who was wearing an Omega Speedmaster with the stopwatch [I'm not sure if it was a GMT or not]. I thought, man, those tickets really ARE expensive eh?

I kind of figure it this way: I'm never going to own a Bugatti, or other exotic supercar, [or an F-15 Eagle for that matter] but I can afford own a fine piece of machinery that I can wear every day.

And I can appreciate that most people simply don't care about their watch or mine.

A curious fact. In the Islamic parts of the Middle East, men tend to dress in a similar fashion depending on their country or tribal alliegance.

A watch is one item of individuality that separates them from one another. As a result, watches are big business here. Along with sunglasses. It's a status symbol.

With the women it tends to be handbags. They wear the Abaya (black cloak) but carry a Louis Vutton bag.

I never looked too closely at Oris watches as I was too busy looking at other brands. Wife picked up a Williams F1 Oris for my B-Day two years ago. Really great watch. Rubber strap looks like an F1 rain tire (grooves). Movement runs great, looks good, has become my daily watch most of the time.

... that is very interesting.

Thanks for sharing that.

My "internal" clock is accurate to within 15 minutes - usually, much, much less than that. My watch gets me the rest of the way when it comes to time. I admit to being overly anal about it but when I tell my wife, I'll be home at a certain time, she can count on it - and what amazes her is that it doesn't stress me a bit...I get there, on-time as naturally as some people tie their shoes.

As a budding WIS, I'm slowly becoming interested in not only what makes a watch tick but how well they tick. Accuracy, amplitude, beat error – all useful information to obtain that may even lead you to open up the watch and screw it up beyond belief.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I've started the TimeZone watch school classes on-line and I've successfully disassembled the ETA movement that came with their kit. Good stuff. Now it's time to put it back together again.

“How well they tick” is an interesting subject. How do you measure that? Many of us use atomic watches that update themselves periodically. I typically use a Casio PAW1300-3V that updates itself nightly. It's a very useful watch and the one that I use for my kayak trips.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that the best way to use the Casio usefully is to make measurements over a day or so. My old eyes doesn't instil a lot of confidence when trying to make measurements in anything less than that and even if I wait an hour or two, it's difficult keep going back and checking a watch to determine if it's accurate.

I think we all know intrinsically how well our watches keep time. The Casio is obviously the best but that really doesn't count. I have a p-series Explorer that I *think* keeps time to within 2 seconds a day. My SMP, about a year old, is within 6-seconds or so and my Ball Hydrocarbon GMT is within the same.

That's all fine but when it comes to that ETA movement that I'll put together, I really don't want to rely on the Casio when it comes to determining the job I did when I put it back together. I decided it was time to purchase a timegrapher.

My wife and friends call me cheap – except when it comes to purchasing something I want for my hobbies and then they call me obsessed. I set a price, determine the features wanted and scour the internet for the most suitable product.

In this case, I wanted a basic timegrapher that displays the rate in seconds per day, the beat error in milliseconds and displays the amplitude. I also one that would detect the beat rate automatically and one that I could adjust the lift angle manually.

Remember, I'm a beginner and if I state something incorrectly, go easy on me - corrections are appreciated though. In this case, being able to adjust the lift angle seems necessary to make accurate measurements on a co-axial movement. Most watches appear to operate on a 52-degree lift angle and I believe the co-axial is 30-degrees.

My budget for this was capped at $300 and believe me, it was tough to stay under that figure. I'm not knocking the usual sources for these - just looking for something in my price range. In fact, I'll decline to mention the usual sources and let you do your own research and of course, if I missed a model that meets my criteria and price point, feel free to post it here. We can all benefit for sharing information like this.

After poking around on the net, I came across an interesting unit on ebay sold by Acetimer. The price was listed as $299 and from their ad, it claimed the following:

Brand New Watch Timing Machine Multifunction Timegrapher 1000
This timing machine will automatically calculate in real time for the following:
-beat rate
-Amplitude
-beat error
-beat number
110v-240v AC Adapter is included
Comes with one year warranty
It's great for watchmakers and watch collectors.
This timing machine is very easy to use. After the watch is put on this unit, the beat number
automatically and immediately starts measuring.
If you are a serious watch collector, you need this machine. You spent 3-5 thousands dollars for a chronometer watch, how would you know that your watch is running on -3/+6 second on all six positions. Wouldn't you want to know if your watch is running accurately or not when your warranty is about to expire.


I have no affiliation with this vendor – don't know them, never purchased anything from them and certainly have no financial interest in their business.

It looks like a decent piece of equipment and the price was right. I contacted them via ebay and they replied that I could purchase it directly from their website for $275 and with shipping at $13.11, I stayed below my budget. I placed an order and the unit arrived last week.

I finally got around to opening the unit this afternoon. I had never seen a timegrapher in person and was surprised at the size – it was much larger than I expected. The unit is from China and the quality appears to be good. The instructions are in Chinese and English and while the English was obviously translated by someone who's English isn't their first language, it's not an issue even for an old guy like me – the unit is so simple to operate, a nine year-old can figure it out – literally.

Plug in the senor, plug in the power unit and turn it on. Simple/simple/simple – the operation was flawless and the unit worked fine. I pulled out my modest watch collection and took a few pictures. I won't bore you with too many.

First, here's everything in the package:



The unit and the watch clamp/sensor:



Then, I put the Explorer on the unit and was amazed at the performance of a 10-year old watch -





The Omega did well also and I confirmed my "Casio tests". Before I tested it, I used the menu to change the lift angle. This was taken as you access the menu:



And then one shot:




Again, take this “review” for what it's worth based on my disclaimers above. The unit appears to perform perfectly and the price was right for me. If you're on the market for one of these, do your own research and add this one to the others you might consider. For a $300 unit, I'm pretty happy with the purchase.

MKII Seafighter on a handmade Swiss ammo strap.

^^^^ nice watch. Subtle, Rugged, yet classy enough for dinner.

Epic post K7, thank you!