Seagull 1963
Hi all
New to watchcrunch just wanted to get your opinions on the seagull 1963 reliability, Ive had bad experiences with other seagull mechanical movements so I thought I'd get all your 2 cents on your experiences
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TK
Enjoy music, life and watches.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Member since
Last active: 1 month ago
18.03 cm
Why would you even consider the 1963 if you've had bad experiences with other seagull mechanical movements? I have a Geckota with the ST19 that's been fine for over two years now, but it isn't used heavily in the rotation and I got it for a song (and only because I wasn't willing to pay much over $100 to see what all the fuss was about), so I'm not really worried if it dies on me. It's been running excellently so far.
no problem with Sea Gull 1963, I don't use it that much but it's 100%
One of my favorite watches. No problems at all from the movement. For its price, it’s a great value!
Welcome to Watch Crunch.
Regarding reliability, I am pretty sure that, besides having bad luck with a bad out of the box sample, people have issues because they are either overwinding or using the chronograph wrong. But these are the same issues you can have with a Speedmaster as well. Anyway here is what I can recommend from personal experience, related to mechanicals in general.
If you search online you will find there is no sure value for power reserve, some say 36 hours, others 42, or anything in between. Trying to discover it is likely to result in overwinding it, as many recommend winding it until it stops but that can break the mainspring instead. I say wind it as much as it is necessary. When you receive it, start exploring its reserve and develop a winding habit. First 4 days wind it exactly 10 times and write down how much it runs until it stops. It can vary by few hours, but you will get an average. Then next 4 days wind it 13 times and write down, and so on, you get the idea. The point is to develop a habit of safe winding and predicting its power reserve at any moment. Not paying attention can result in either overwinding or having the watch run out of power mid day. My watch runs about 25 hours with 12 winds (hand movements, not full crown rotations) but that can vary from one watch to another, depending on the winding recoil.
The chronograph must always be stopped with 2 o'clock button before resetting with 4'oclock pusher, or it may result in out of sync gearing or breaking. It must not be used if the watch is nearly out of power, hence the need to know the remaining reserve.
So basically I think it is not only a matter of luck or statistical reliability that matters, but using it safely too.
Regarding reliability, I am pretty sure that, besides having bad luck with a bad out of the box sample, people have issues because they are either overwinding or using the chronograph wrong. But these are the same issues you can have with a Speedmaster as well. Anyway here is what I can recommend from personal experience, related to mechanicals in general.
If you search online you will find there is no sure value for power reserve, some say 36 hours, others 42, or anything in between. Trying to discover it is likely to result in overwinding it, as many recommend winding it until it stops but that can break the mainspring instead. I say wind it as much as it is necessary. When you receive it, start exploring its reserve and develop a winding habit. First 4 days wind it exactly 10 times and write down how much it runs until it stops. It can vary by few hours, but you will get an average. Then next 4 days wind it 13 times and write down, and so on, you get the idea. The point is to develop a habit of safe winding and predicting its power reserve at any moment. Not paying attention can result in either overwinding or having the watch run out of power mid day. My watch runs about 25 hours with 12 winds (hand movements, not full crown rotations) but that can vary from one watch to another, depending on the winding recoil.
The chronograph must always be stopped with 2 o'clock button before resetting with 4'oclock pusher, or it may result in out of sync gearing or breaking. It must not be used if the watch is nearly out of power, hence the need to know the remaining reserve.
So basically I think it is not only a matter of luck or statistical reliability that matters, but using it safely too.
Fair point your right on that alot of issues come from over winding the watch, I tend to use the Vostok method short gentle rotations when winding my mechanical watches. The issue I had was with Timex mechanical movements and I don't think it was over winding more so something breaking inside that prevented it from winding entirely. I'm not a watch tinkerer and don't open my watchws to have a look so I never really found out the problem and Timex just replaced it as it was still under warranty. But I'll follow your advice when I get one during the next AliExpress sale.
Welcome to Watch Crunch.
Thank you 🙂
One of my favorite watches. No problems at all from the movement. For its price, it’s a great value!
Definitely my thoughts exactly that's why I want to get one.
Thank you 🙂
She's beautiful ❤️
Why would you even consider the 1963 if you've had bad experiences with other seagull mechanical movements? I have a Geckota with the ST19 that's been fine for over two years now, but it isn't used heavily in the rotation and I got it for a song (and only because I wasn't willing to pay much over $100 to see what all the fuss was about), so I'm not really worried if it dies on me. It's been running excellently so far.
Eh I'm a sucker for punishment 😁
You got yourself a keeper mate! Looks good, that lume is amazing especially for a micro brand watch.