It's literally the space between the teeth on the gears, it's the play they've got. Technically nothing wrong, but I do understand why people could find it jarring. In terms of accuracy of reading, if you read the elapsed time starting with the seconds, then you move onto the minutes, and then you read the hours register you get a precise reading. Reading some (all I've ever owned) 7750 chronos at-a-glance, deriving ellapsed time from just the hours counter you're likely going to get a false reading. It's best to think of the hour subdial mostly as an interval counter, based on where the minutes hand is, instead of as a precise global counter.
Brilliant, compassionate, empathetic video. My 1861 Speedy came to me from my bride on our 40th. I had noted but not understood this. I could never part with this watch. This is, in my view, a feature, not a flaw. The watch features an independent hour counter movement. I am now at peace. In horology, as in marriage, as in life, knowledge and understanding create respect and contentment. Thank you.
Don't think I've ever seen this on my Damasko DC86. First hour test was spot on throughout. Thanks Bruce, now I get to frantically check my watch for the next 11 hours.
Very interesting, took a 9h test with my PRX Chrono, and it turns out to be 1:1 perfect. The indicators are not moving slowly, they are snapping to the next marker. Not sure if it's the movement difference, but that seems pretty cool for the PRX to have. Very cool!
You said it Bruce! Mechanical watches are works of art on our wrists. Sometimes we look at them and don't even notice the time! Always makes me laugh when somebody takes their 10year old Rolex to an AD and complains it's running out of factory spec. Parts and lubricants degrade over time. As you said if you want supreme accuracy long term, buy a quartz GS.
I bought two Seiko solar mech-quartz chronos. No regrets. Perfect chrono operation and a sweeping large chrono seconds hand. Your viewer might enjoy a Bulova Lunar Pilot. I don’t believe that watch will be anything but perfect, owing to the high frequency quartz type of movement.
Very well articulated Bruce, I completely agree that the reset alignment is the most important aspect. The hour counter drift is likely down to gear lash or the 'free play' or design tolerance between gears that has to be there to some extent to stop the gear train binding as temperatures change. I must admit I've not notices 'significant' drift of the chrono hour hand on my Valjoux or Omega cal 9900 or even my old Speedy as it's been 'near enough' I guess and that's what matters I guess.... quietly scurries off to the watch box to start the chronograph......
Lol “quietly scurries off to the watch box” I had noticed it with my bigeye and hey, it’s true I started mine right after I watched this. Luckily, I had sort of assumed it was something along the lines of what he explained and never worried about it.
By my experience with a classical El Primero movement cal. 400, the issue with misaligned hour-register hand happens if I did not reset the chronograph firmly enough. I was annoyed by the issue when I first saw it, but for my case I realized it can be simply avoided by pressing the chrono reset button more firmly. The root cause od the issue is that the wheel of the hour register jumps slightly forward when the chronograph is started because it was not previously decoupled properly.
Awesome video Bruce, this is a subtle thing that many people are unaware of about chronos and great job at making people aware of some of the realities of mechanical pieces. Personally, this is one of the reasons I avoid chronos in my collection along with the fact that they generally tend to be more expensive and complicated to service and need special care not to be operated when wet.
@@robertnorth1681 yes, your assuming a Dodge dart keeping sequential time. Neither the dodge nor a high end car operate in a fundamentally different manner. The only real alignment to worry about is the reset. Naturally a higher end watch will be better in areas that matter
I wish somebody made a real nice metal jeweled mechquartz movement. I dislike plasticy quartz movements. I also dislike the excessive thickness that a mechanical chrono movement requires- especially modular ones. I like chronographs but really don’t like thick watches so i have none in my collection .
Just tried a new Speedmaster. It had a similar issue, the chrono hand does not align perfectly on 12 o’clock in the “rest” position. It is slightly tilted to the left. Moreover, every Speedmaster in the shop had the same issue - either tilted more to the right or to the left. Maybe it is within Omega tolerance, but it would bother me af. So I decided not to buy. And it is such a pity, because I loved that watch.
My speedy has same thing with its hands alignment. Took it to omega they said they fixed it, my wife was the one picking it up. When she brought it home I noticed they didn’t even fix it and rear case back was scratched AF. Really pissed me off. I really should’ve said something but I didn’t
I'm going to check that this weekend. But man that IWC is gorgeous. That brand is really giving me the itch ! Not sure if I was checked out of the channel for a little while but I didn't see you got that. Congrats on the new piece !
Guys, I think the reason this happens can be explained better. Its not misalignment of anything. Its not due to tolerances. The movement is designed to work this way. Its working correctly. The minutes hand moves once every minute because it is moved by a lever driven off the seconds. The hour hand is completely different. Like Bruce said it has a brake which is on when the chronograph is not in use. As soon as the chronograph is started the brake is released and the hour wheel starts moving. It moves as a SMOOTH sweep so it will not only display the hours but .15, .25, .5, .75 increments as well. This is a true analogue display and is how it should be. If the minutes display worked the same I guess everyone would be happy. Because they work differently it’s not what most people expect
Thanks for this bro. I also consider my vintage Chronograph is broken (especially since it’s from 1940) but so yeah, somehow after few run all the hands align perfectly ha ha
Great video Bruce, thanks for sharing. I love IWC and just ordered an IWC chrono 41, I should have it “early winter” (that’s what IWC told me) I’ll make sure to run the chrono and see but honestly that doesn’t bother me at all. Love the blue dial of your chrono BTW.
Even the best and most expensive watches can have big variances. If I wanted a watch that gave me perfectly accurate time I'd wear my Samsung watch or get a apple watch or casio even. I personally would rather wear a mechanical watch.
Beauty first, that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you look at the marvel of engineering on your wrist. If you want accurate time get your G shock out.
Get a Lange chronograph if u really want precise alignment of all counter measurements. The minutes and hour counter hand even jump at precisely 60s or 60mins… I don’t know any other brand chrono that offer such precision. They are awesome! Price too!!!
I can’t stomach another picture of the Longines ‘Big Eye’ on that horrid bracelet. It is a complete eyesore. That watch should stay on leather, it looks much better and classier that way.
An interesting video. Chronographs are, unfortunately, my favorite type of watch and I have a pretty good accumulation. Getting one where all the choro hands are perfectly coordinated, strike directly over each chapter, and all reset to straight up 12 is rare, REGARDLESS of cost. They've only been around for 150 years, or whatever, and they still have problems getting them right. My best advice to anyone considering a mechanical chronograph is to NOT. They are not worth the aggravation. If you really need a chronograph for work, or for whatever, get a quartz.
Phew! I have a cheap Seiko mecha quartz chrono and the minute dial is pointing towards right ever so slightly. I was worried about it and contemplating returning the watch but if you get the same issue from an IWC I'm going to relax and enjoy.
No IWC is catering to a customer's feelings about their watch as they should. But I hope to shed light that this is normal for chronographs. Be it IWC, Tissot, Breitling, etc.
I just bought a brand new Speedmaster Sapphire with the 3861 movement and while all the hands line up, what concerns me is that if I press the pusher to start the chrono hand occasionally it will jump 1/4 second. If I stop it and restart it, it may or may not jump again. I have been told this is a trait of the movement -- something about it not having a certain type of clutch, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
Yes, that is what happens with a lateral clutch as opposed to a vertical clutch which is generally considered a more sophisticated and desirable method for engaging the chronograph. I wouldn't worry much though. A lateral clutch works well. It went to the moon just fine :)
Patiently waiting on my IWC F1 MRZ AMG PETRONAS version and it will not deter me, not one iota…. It is a mechanical toll, that will be flawed in some way shape, form, or fashion. I get both sides of the argument, if there is one too be had.
Interesting you mention bi-compax as I haven’t noticed any discrepancy at all with the hands on the hours and minutes sub-dial of my SM300 Chronograph. BTW, I run the chronometer all the time as a GMT and regularly inspect that sub-dial.
This is my first time seeing your face and I would always watch/come back to your Rolex Pepsi and Seiko SRP777 videos. Your voice sounds so young and it's cool that I can put a face on your voice now
Thank you for this video.. honestly i was considering getting my first chronograph watch but something like this would definitely bother me to death...I'll stick to my usual annual/perpetual calendar watches.
So at 1:16 it says 2 hours and 1 minute in the upper left, but unless I am crazy the watch is indicating 1 hour and 31 minutes (and 35.5ish seconds). Am I missing something, or is that just an error? The name of that chapter in the video is "Maybe I made a mistake" which keeps making me laugh and second guess myself 😆. Oh and yes, this is just part of the charm of mechanical chronos! If all you want is accurate stopwatch timing, you could save a ton of money and use the app on your phone.
I don't have experience personally but I'm under the impression that ZENITH is the king of chronographs. Has anyone experienced this issue with Zenith?
it is a top grade ETA 7750 with make-up after all. They add a column wheel like Longines and changed the winding system to a bidirectional one. the rest of the changes are simply cosmetic decorations. this is how the 7750 Chrono counters work nothing wrong about the watch
Now when I see your logo I have nightmares because of what happened...lol Cost me $280 in 1 night. Money I don't have. I needed that money to stay in a hotel because it's where I live now I have to sleep on the street for a few days...🙂
You also get 12-hour hand creep, whereby the hand moves slightly forward of the zero mark whilst the chronograph isn't running because the hand still being driven but the braking is insufficient. A competent watchmaker can fix this. Often if the 12-hour hand doesn't hit the marks, it is because it wasn't at zero to begin with. If you notice that the 12-hour hand has moved whilst the chronograph wasn't running, press the reset pusher and if it returns to zero, it's creep. You can also push the reset pusher before you start the chronograph and see if the alignment of the 12-hour hand improves.
This would drive me crazy. Thankfully my Speedmaster’57 doesn’t have this issue, probably because it’s dual register acts like a 2nd watch within a watch.
I have the same issue with my speedmaster and when it running chrono laying flat it is ok, but when worn it comes a little bit off. I sent it to Omega they checked it apparently but didn’t change anything. I tried to explain to them that the watch needs to be put in different positions but they looked at me like at an idiot, so gave up and now it doesn’t bother me. To be honest I very rarely use chrono on speedmaster now.
Very informative, I noticed this with my 1861 Speedy Pro as well, its only a couple of minutes off but the hour counter misalignment gets way off especially when you stop the chrono and restart without resetting. The more times you do it the worst it gets. Is it normal?
I’ve seen reset to zero misalignment on Breitlings and Tudors which would bug me. The only ones I’ve seen snap precisely back to zero are El Primero but who knows whether they would maintain a perfect zero reset over a period of years. The 12 hour counter would hack me off I guess once I detected it and spoil the overall ownership experience. I guess the chrono thing is all just an aesthetic at the end of the day and some guys may just leave it running permanently. I can’t really imagine needing to time anything anyway with a mechanical watch, we all have elapsed time on your phones yet never need to use that at all. But interesting stuff. If your in any way OCD steer clear of chronos I guess.
Yeah, but I also buy mechanical watches because it's an art where you are measuring something precisen with nothing but gear, springs & potential energy. If I was spending enough on a chrono such as an IWC, I would expect my watch to be made precisely enough that it would all line up. Especially if it's it's "own" calibre.
Honestly, the only Two things I can see running the chrome for in my daily life is: 1) timing coffee brewing if I’m doing an aeropress or French press 2) my kids racing in the backyard Neither of those last more than a few minutes. 😂
so basically chronographs are pointless lol. Luxury watch brands pride themselves on 'accuracy' etc. So the fact that the chrono doesn't represent that sentiment just tells me then.......why a chrono - to tell someone you have a complicated watch? Good for that person I guess.
For me personally, buying an expensive watch must carry the logic of exceptional timekeeping. I've had a Sinn 356 chronograph and had the very same concern - the sub-register was a tiny bit off. I've considered the cost of potential chronograph service after warranty expires, sold it, and got a Grand Seiko 9F quartz, which is around 3 seconds/year with amazing finishing. I don't think i'll ever consider a mechanical watch again, to be honest.
So basically what your saying is Bruce, if you want a stop watch don't waste your money on an expensive chronograph. They just look cool, can't expect them to work accurately for like 6 to 10k , lol. Get a casio , ain't that the truth !!!
Usually people who did good for themselves so basically coming from poor to rich world expcect that more money you pay for something it automatically means that it is better. Or best. Wrong. Mercedes and RR will have same mechanical issues as a $30k car. Same with watches. $50k gold Rolex will scratch within a week and mechanical movements will have issues.
There are a lot of people out there who expect $50,000 Build quality in a $5000 watch. It’s a mechanical movement, there will always be room for tolerance, especially if it’s something “mass produced” like a speedy or entry level IWC. These are tiny tiny machines that run on your wrist with +- 2 second accuracy in some cases. That should be enough to amaze 99.9% of enthusiasts.
