zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Hello,
: A brief introduction- I'm an engineer and
: addicted Scuba Diver so a fine diving watch
: has been a long held dream. I got engaged
: last Sunday and my Fiance gave me a
: Seamaster in exchange for her ring!

: I have to give her credit here because she
: simply asked me what watch I'd really like
: and although I knew what I'd like I did not
: expect her to get something that expensive
: so just said- "Oh like what 007
: wears" I assume she did some research
: because I now have the 2531.80.00 I was very
: impressed.

: Having not even touched one until she gave it
: too me I have to say it is everything and
: more than I expected.

: Enough gushing for now I have one simply
: question.

: Purely out of curosity really but why should
: one avoid adjusting the date several hours
: either side of midnight as reccomended?

: Mine arrived with midnight occuring at
: lunchtime so wound it forward and reset the
: date, only afterwards did I realise I'd done
: this close to "midnight" it seems
: to have survived my hamfistedness this time
: but I wanted to know why?

: Thanks,
: BEN

Congrats on the new Bond 2531.80 - it's a great watch.

The answer to your question is that you won't severely damage the watch itself by adjusting the date too close to midnight, but doing this too frequently may alter the time at which the date change occurs. The late founder of this website gives an explanation of this in the Owners Zone Troubleshooter section:

It is possible that a shock to the watch right around the date change can throw the mechanism off. The more common causes are from the owner manually changing the date within three or four hours either side of midnight, or setting the time backwards across midnight. The frequency that this problem occurs makes it disconcerting that few watch makers provide warnings about this in their instruction manuals. What happens is that if you alter the date setting while the date change gear is near to pushing the date forward, you may push the mechanism slightly out of alignment. This seldom causes any real damage, though it can. Most often, it will shift the time that the date change occurs--usually further from midnight.

The good news is that this is easily corrected when the watch is being serviced. Simply mention the date change is off when you send the watch in for its routine cleaning or other service.