After watching for 5 years I finally found one video that explains accuracy and COSC issue most simpler. Lastly the Sinn accuracy surprised me astonishingly and totally changed my concept of accuracy. A big thanks Marc for this great video and your academic knowledge is far more impressive than any other watch guys in you tube. Long live and teach us more. Once again thanks and love from Bangladesh.
Your videos are so much more informative and to the point without any drama, dogs, animation and meaningless adjectives to describe the watch. You deserve far more subs.
Mark, that was a fantastic video. This series of yours should be required watching for anyone trying to get into the world of watches. Thank you for doing it! Hector
I have an SEIKO SKX007 and it's makes -7 seconds per Day with heavy use, i go dancing and Mountainbiking 4 times a week and i am REALLY really amazed with this watch. Greetings from Costa Rica.
I have adjusted Seiko Presage 6L35 to within a couple of seconds per day. Very under rated brand still. I'd like to see a $500 Rolex that can keep up with a Seiko personally :)
Marc truly is a smart man. I've learned a lot. The amazing thing is ; as a watch enthusiast, I didn't know I needed to know these things until Marc told me about them. 😂😉🤣
I'm starting to think of your titles as click-wait, instead of click-bait: unlike everyone else on youtube, you consistently under-sell and over-deliver. I kept seeing this and thinking, "I don't need to spend 23 minutes watching a video about how accurate chronometers are," but, as usual, your detailed description of the history and testing was fascinating beyond what the title promised.
Great stuff .Up until a few weeks ago I'd stopped wearing watches completely and had zero interest Then I decided to look into a new dive watch and entered a rabbit hole that dont ever want to leave and your videos are a massive part of that as take things to another level in detail .Still have nt made my main purchase but have bought 3 other watches in the meantime and the knowledge I 'm gaining is great and a lot of fun too .When you have guys like you ,just one more watch ,urban gentry and timeteller the love and enthusiasm comes thru to the viewer and now I'm in love with watches too .Priceless.
Thanks for a very informative video. My Vostoks run at about a minute fast or slow a week ,but I still love them and adjust them accordingly as we all do who have Mechanical watches?
Great video. Although it's a shame that chronometer settings don't hold over time. It is understandable since we are dealing with mechanical watches. But then it raises the question that do we need to spend extra for these chronometers to begin with as they will eventually lose the accuracy. And as mentioned even a regular watch can be serviced to chronometer standard.
What do you mean? You are spending extra for the supreme engineering, time spent and attention to detail. If you want value for money, just get a $10 digital Casio with chronograph, timer, perpetual calendar, calculator and a light that's almost bright enough to be used as a flashlight in the dark lol.
Again with a great informative video, really appreciate for giving the knowledge in the simplest form for a lay man understanding. Thanks mark n Keep it up.
Just discovered your videos and loving them. I was looking around for information as I'm honoured that my wife just bought me an Omega Seamaster Chronograph for my 50th birthday. Although, I still love my Citizen Skyhawk and my Citizen Divers watch :-) P.S. as of 2020, Omega don't supply the certificate, but on their web site you can obtain the test information, which I must get round to doing.
Thumbs up man awesome videos you put out I find myself getting lost in watching so many of them. The watch and learn series is awesome I’ve learned a ton from watching them. I wear a Seamaster 300m I wanted the Speedmaster but I wear mine day in and out running heavy equipment and the Speedmaster just had more than I need. Keep up the good work!
I've never been lucky enough to have a Rolex, or any other that ran +\- 2 new or otherwise. Great video Marc, so thanks for making it. I appreciate it, and realize it's an old standard, but I switch so often it really doesn't matter, but I don't get worried about it until something is pretty far out of range.
I picked up a Certina Quartz Chronometer while on business in Europe. This is a fantastic time piece. I prefer quartz when I am working. Can you recommend a German quartz Chronometer? If any.
Great video very informative. I had a bad experience with a Rolex watch and I wanted to see what is wrong with those watches. I got a new Rolex date just 2019, it gains time every day. 13.5 seconds every 72 hours. In 3 months of wearing it without adjusting the time it gain 7 minutes. Worth it? I don't thinks so. I don't wear it anymore. I just cant trust an overvalue brand that cant keep time right.
I have a vintage chrometer. It's a Vostok Volna 2809 Precision from the 1950s. It's a homage to the 1948 Zenith 135. How the Soviets got the design is shrouded in mystery. No paperwork but it still keeps within 5 seconds per day. I have a Seagull m171s which has the Triovis Precision adjustment system in the movement. This is the more robust system than the Etachron used by the Swiss. My Seagull keeps within 2 to 3 seconds per day. You could do a video on the Triovis and Etachron systems and their relative merits.
Hey Marc, first of all thank you for your expertise! I learned a lot from your vids. Nice that you mention at the end that it has'nt got to be a chronometer certified watch in terms of accuracy! I own a Sinn Aquis date with the Sellita SW 200-1. At the moment it runs +/- 1 sec per day! It's all about regulation ;-) Greetings from Germany
Does the accuracy standard tend to successfully make the jump from the movement testing out in controlled lab conditions, to a finished, encased watch with face and hands, on a live, active end user?
I have a chrono certificate from COSC but they didn't write any numbers on it. It came with the Tissot that says "Chronometer" on it, so I assume they certified it, but idk why the certificate would be blank.
Thanks for this video, Marc. Do automatic movements drift so many seconds in one direction like a quartz watch, or drift plus or minus depending on position?
Just one question. How many units of a certain movement need to be tested to get the certification? Is it just an initial few or an ongoing process? Let's say for example company A makes movement XYZ which they use in four different watch models. Do they only have to test a set number of units in the initial stages, or a set percentage of units from each model, set number of units a year etc etc?
My steinhart in the 5th position gains 6 sec day crown up is 3 sec a day wound once a day out of rotation. Worn it deviates between 3 to 6 per day occasionally plus 7. Regularly wearing it seems to hold better a accuracy. Now pretty regularly resting it between wearing the seconds seem to be reproduced very well. So even though not cosc standards I would say its reasonably accurate but highly precise since reproduced times are constant if I have that correct. Cosc as I see it is a repeatable standard for certification. I'm familiar with this methodology because we use standards like this in analytical chemistry on geologic samples showing how much of an element like mercury will come out of an environmental sample treated for stabilization prior to landfill. Per EPA standards TCLP We agitate a 20 gram sample for 16 hours in a water solution spiked with inorganic acids to 5.7 pH then the resultant tested solvent has to be below 5ppb Hg mercury or other levels for other substances before it can be land filled. This TCLP test toxic caracteristic leaching procedure is supposed to emulate rainfall for 16 hours through the landfill. 5.7 is the natural pH of rain water. Yes Virginia ALL rainfall is acidic due to carbonic acid in the atmosphere.
Marc, a question you might able to answer. Are all chronometer movements top movements. Top movements being decorated and better parts like shock protection (incabloc) and better hair spring (nivarox). And what do you think about omegas meta certified process.
Hi MArc...can you use that equipment to check a spring drive accuracy? I was thinking the machine uses a microphone checking the escapement so it wouldnt work with the spring drive?
I was never a Rolex fan, but found myself feeling a growing attraction to them throughout this video... then the Sinn came along and that attraction just all came justifiably crashing down. Very climactic.
I'd like to give some love to the humble ETA 2824-2. Maybe I've just had good luck, but every one I've owned (in Steinharts mostly) has been really accurate. Just measured my Ocean Black, which came in at +0.6s/d.
My Christopher Ward Trident COSC chronometer (ETA 2836) started losing 8 seconds per day after I took it swimming for the first time. Very odd as it's less than six months old. It's back at CW at the moment under their 5 year movement warranty....
This is a Swiss Standard, right Marc ? Is there any equivalent standard for japanese fine wristwatch industry ? I know all mechanical GS exceed COSC requirements, but can they, as a japanese brand, require a COSC certification ?
The Swiss one is the most recognized. If you go to Wikipedia, they talk about others. But, technically, only those certified by COSC can carry the Chronometer mark.
After the Swiss got all pissy with Seiko for using the Chronometer label on their watches and sent Seiko a strongly worded cease and desist letter, I believe that a Japanese association was formed for independant testing to chronometer standards. I think it went kaput at some point though. You're right. Grand Seiko 9F series movements must achieve -3/+5 seconds/day in order to pass inspection. In 6 positions. As unnatural (as Marc said) it may be, Seiko believe that it should still be part of the testing procedure. My Grand Seiko runs about 2 seconds fast/day. Actually, my SARB035 runs to better than COSC standards.
Plus or minus x seconds per a given time period are not always additive; they can be subtractive. So a COSC mechanical movement could hold time to within a few seconds per month or per quarter or.....etc.
So, if someone in 2017 is selling say a vintage watch with an ETA movement that was once COSC certified, does that mean the seller could ask for a bigger price? In other words, am I correct in thinking that what distinguishes a COSC movement is the adjustment/regulation process it goes through and not the movement per se?
Long Island Watch. Understand. So the stamping on the dial of a Rolex "superlative chronometer" is a time sensitive state. In other words Rolex assumes you will get it back to COSC once it falls out of accuracy. I can't believe that every Rolex owner with a "superlative chronometer" stamped on the dial would be sending their watch back to the Swiss for re-Coscing...😵😵😵😵
No problem :) You know each time you post a new video, I'm wandering which damn' watch(es) Mark will show us this time. Yeah, I'm insane :) Thank you for the time spent learning us some watch basis and more (in a comprehensible way) !
Hey Mark! Thanks for the video, I have a certified chronometer (an Omega Sea Master Ploprof 1200) from 2012 and right now it is always doing -2 seconds a day no matter what position I put it in, it never does any positive time, it always does minus 2 seconds. I tried to set it on the table in all different positions over night and it's always the same outcome. Does that mean it needs to be serviced? It has a caliber 8500.
It's just interesting to me that it's always -2 regardless of position. But you are right it is well within spec, I might ask my local watch maker to regulate it for me when I pass by there. Thanks for the video as always, extremely informative!
Yes, it is! I am just concerned that it is always -2 regardless of the position, it never goes positive (to cancel out the error for example), and I think with a bit of regulation I can get it to even do better!
Marc, My Omega and Tudor Pelagos will track at 1 to 3 seconds minus daily if left tosit face up and not worn. If I wear either for all day or all night they will not be that great on hack. I assume it is normal to see COSC timepieces wander like this when worn all night? I sleep with a watch on sometimes. Sometimes a Gshock sometimes my new pretties. This is OK I assume?
I bought a Ball engineer 2 skindiver, 2824-2 chronometer grade, decorated. Tritium glass tubes, sapphire protected bezel. Real good looking watch. I'm loving it. Got a deal on it too. $1,700. Also has an amazing bracelet.
Excuse me, but you said these watches are chronometers. Then you called the tachometer/stop-watch function a 'chrono'. Why? How can you call two different things by the same name?
