Time accuracy

GMT has done the job for a long time and it works.

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Leave well alone please!

This is a solution looking for a problem.

I just figured out how to program my VCR to automatically record Dukes of Hazard every Thursday night at 8pm. I can't layer two tech victories in one week. My brain will explode 🤯

Okay, I'll take it back

😆 nope! It's in the Universe now & has inspired me to by a Casio Oceanus

That my friend is a good watch

I'm not sure where you are going with this...

UTC is determined by TAI, and many nations have their own atomic clocks to broadcast a time signal either by radio or the internet.

When I want to be silly with my time keeping I go to the National Research Council Canada web clock, with gives time and the network delay.

I don't have a valid excuse for not pressing enter and just ordering it! I've never seen one in person - maybe that's it. I just want it . Talk about dialed in accurate

I voted D. Are you suggesting that manufacturers make battery operated analog watches that sync to atomic clocks? Because (some) watch manufacturers already do that. I’ve had a Citizen for years that does that. It’s Eco-Drive, too.

Planck length is 10 to the power of -33 yeah ? So at the point of the smallest “ collapsed wave potential at Zero degrees Kelvin , there is still vibration and movement measurable. If something like a Quantum clock is developed then you will have accurate time . Somehow this won’t help me catch the train or bus “ on time” . Plus or minus 1 minute , better be a bit early for a job interview etc , your watch set you can do well enough by your phone or the radio 📻.

First that is an amazing looking watch, second I'm saying that all watch manufacturers should use it and it should be the new norm. I mean at the end of the day we all want our watches to tell accurate times and not say +/- per week or month.

I hear you but wouldn't it be better if the watch became independent? I mean you are using devices that are not meant to tell time (radio, phone etc) to set the watch which is the device that supposed to tell you time. Somehow this seems backwards but I know it's the norm right now.

at this point utc is just an offset from tai but it seems like we're getting fed up with leap seconds causing more harm than they're worth, so the distinction may become academic until lunch time drifts too much into the morning or afternoon for our tastes.

In the software world, whenever someone suggests not using utc, I always refer them to https://zachholman.com/talk/utc-is-enough-for-everyone-right

Hopefully watch folks get a kick out of this too.

Amazing article

This 👆

I am saying that all watch manufacturers should use it and it should be the new norm. I mean at the end of the day we all want our watches to tell accurate times and not say +/- per week or month.

People here mostly love mechanical watches. Accuracy need not apply.

Not sure what action you are requesting.

TL;DR You can already get accuracy you are asking for via synchronization. Current state of atomic / quantum technology is too large and too expensive for your wrist. People have differing value on watch accuracy (along with other watch attributes) allowing the "watch industry" to make money providing different products with different levels of accuracy to the marketplace.

• If you mean a watch should synchronize to atomic clocks, there are watches that already exist that accomplish this via a terrestrial signal or GPS or another "local" device like a cell phone (Bluetooth) (e.g. EcoDrive (shown earlier comment), Seiko ASTRON, Casio Oceanus & G-Shock, etc.)

• If you mean incorporate technology of an atomic clock directly on your wrist, I don't think current technology would scale down small enough to be incorporated into a watch.

In general, people have different requirements and valuations of time accuracy.

• The Seiko Astron provides GPS level accuracy and cost 1 or 2K USD.

• HAQ like "The Citizen" are accurate enough for most peoples needs (seconds per year) and are priced similarly

• "Regular" Quartz watches are less accurate can be very inexpensive (less than 100 USD).

• Mechanical watches aren't very accurate but they meet many peoples needs for accuracy. Pricing reflects attributes other than accuracy.

NIST Atomic Clock - https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/images/2017/01/23/ytterbium_lattice_atomic_clock.jpg

edit: Typos

Thanks for the reply and lots of great details. I know there are technology used currently on some watches like wave receptor, GPS etc. What I'm saying is these features should be in every watch as the new norm for accurate time telling. I mean we rely on non time devices i.e. phone, radio, computer etc to set time for a device that is supposed to give you the time... Isn't this backwards?

It's a distinction without the slightest significant difference. UTC is based on TAI, except with leap seconds added over time to correct for solar time.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is based on TAI, but it is adjusted by leap seconds to account for the difference between the definition of the second and the rotation of Earth. This correction keeps UTC in conjunction with the apparent position of the Sun and the stars, and it is the standard used for all general timekeeping applications. We publish the current difference between UTC and TAI in our Time Scale Data and Bulletin Archive.

https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/nist-time-frequently-asked-questions-faq

Any "atomic clock" that you're likely to look at is set to UTC. The difference between UTC and TAI isn't about accuracy, both have equally "accurate" seconds, it's about whether it's necessary correct for solar time, which varies over time (by a second over a number of years). Clocks around the world that human beings use are synced to UTC, so unless you want to be 18+ seconds off from the clocks everyone else is looking at, use UTC.

None of this is of any consequence to the watch industry, or any watch wearer, when mechanical watches are off multiple seconds a day, and quartz multiple seconds a month, and most people will function just fine if their watch is off by a minute or two (and it doesn't even matter if it's UTC or TAI). Your "atomic" watch does not show actual atomic time (whether UTC or TAI). My "atomic" watch is a few tenths of a second off from "atomic" time on my computer, which is off from atomic time shown by GPS (I've looked, just for kicks). There's latency and inaccuracy in all that syncing. And unless you're designing a GPS system and care about nanoseconds, but are just a normal human being trying to catch the bus, none of this matters a jot.

If you want actual atomic time, you could try to build a watch around this.

https://physicsworld.com/a/atomic-clock-is-smallest-on-the-market/

And if you're a geek who actually sets standards for this sort of thing, you're already aware of the debate about abolishing the leap second, because it's irregular, hard to implement, and causes computers conniptions.

Nice read and articles. Thanks

I've always set my watches using the Atomic Clock but would switch in a heartbeat to something more accurate, I do have OCD about time though.

Yep 👍🏼 but still need to set a mechanism at some point , better accuracy would be still good to run the day to day world and then set your watch , yes a Spring drive would be nice 😊 for not needing to set the watch very often I agree

I use the Hodinkee app..