zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Now owned for 4 weeks. Early on gained about
: 1-2 seconds per day which was great but now
: loses 2 seconds per day? This is still well
: within COSC but I have a thing about watches
: losing time (sad I know). Could this shift
: be due to temperature changes? Early on I
: was swimming in the sea quite a bit (in UK)
: and recently I have noticed that the watch
: has been a tighter fit which I have put down
: to my wrist swelling slightly in warmer
: weather. Anyone had any similar experiences?
: I much prefer the Omega to the Rolex GMT
: Master II that I sold recently but it would
: be nice to know that the Seamaster will gain
: a little time rather than lose.

: Loz

As Larry said, your watch's overnight position can make a big difference in its timekeeping. Each and every mechanical watch is different, so it's important to experiment with different overnight positions whenever you buy a new watch. If, for example, the watch loses 2 seconds per day while on your wrist, you may find an overnight position that causes it to gain time. This time gain overnight could offset some or all of the time lost during the day, giving you better overall timekeeping.

Also, while I agree that it's a good idea to order your COSC certificate, the results it displays won't necessarily match what you find in your own experiments. COSC testing is conducted on the movement only, not a fully assembled watch. Once the movement has been fitted to a case, its timekeeping can, and often does, change. For example, my Seamaster's COSC certificate shows that my watch's movement lost time in virtually every position. However, in nearly 5 years of ownership, my watch has always gained time. In fact, I actually paid to have it regulated from +4/+5 seconds per day down to less than +1 seconds per day.

Anyway, good luck with your timekeeping experiments.

Cheers,
John