Working around the NH34A / 4R34's accuracy window

Interested to see peoples take on this as I'm looking at buying an NH34 powered watch.

It's going to be a prevalent issue for sure since a lot of microbrands have switched from Sellita 330 to NH34A entirely due to it's much more affordable cost.

It's also an issue that's prevalent with Seiko 5 GMTs since they use 4R34 which is essentially the same movement.

Take it to a watchmaker and get it regulated, can be easily regulated to +/-5 seconds within few minutes and for a small fee.

Out of curiosity, why not to regulate the watch? Is it not possible for NH34 movement?

My srpg39 runs +10sd after regulation, which seems to be reasonable.

I'll go ahead and do that, thank you for the heads up.

I’ve only timed my new Seiko SSK003 for a few days (4R34/NH34), and was getting around +6 sec/day. I agree with above, that a quick trip to a watch maker shop that can adjust regulation might be all you need.

I just regulate mine, though I appreciate not everyone is happy to do that. It's actually a fairly reliable movement after you do that, certainly doesn't drift as much as the 6r35 for example.

I have a bunch of Pagani Design homages that have the NH35. Most of them hold time much better than stated maximums. One has been around plus 4-5 sec/day. But given that these were $100 watches, I tend to accept the price/performance. Plus, I don’t usually keep them running. I might not wear them in a month or two. Watches at this price point aren’t part of my primary collection. They are inexpensive and a $100 watch that keeps reasonable time over a day or two owes me nothing. I’ll grab one that matches my outfit, wind, set the time and go. If it is off by 30 seconds over two days, it’s probably already back in the box anyway so I don’t care.

Good idea. I have a bunch of Pagani Design watches that have NH35s, and while they are all well within the stated range, why not have them adjusted? I don’t tend to wear them over many consecutive days. So, a few seconds a day isn’t a big deal for me. But I might bring them in and have them adjusted to see how close they can get.

My Seiko GMT is currently running well within COSC accuracy. Most Seiko movements I've had run much better than the stated specs. Any that are more than about 10 seconds off, I regulate myself, which isn't too difficult.

My new Seiko GMT is running about 15-20 seconds per day slow. I’ve never had a watch regulated , about how much does it cost? Can anyone recommend a good watchmaker?

Edit…I don’t mind when it’s fast, but slow bothers me

My Orient Mako II runs +25 secs/day fast. It is a bit annoying, but don't tend to rotate the watch any more than a day or two every week or two, so tend not to let it annoy me too much! Hell, bought the thing pre-owned, so really isn't a biggie! LOL! 😉

Yes, have it regulated. I get my NH3x to run within +/- 5 seconds a day. Keep in mind that this works for the position in which you wear them the most, e.g. "dial-up" for desk work.

It usually costs like $20-30 outside depending on where you live.

If you bought it from an AD and they have a service person within their shop then they can do it for free usually under warranty for free.

If I am looking for solid accuracy and want to wear a mechanical watch, which I usually am on both counts, I’ll set my watch before I leave the house, daily if need be. I don’t mind the two minutes of setting the time on my watch at all.

I might adopt your routine and not worry about losing 20 seconds a day 👍🏼.

Thanks! I wonder if Seiko would care that I removed the cyclops🤔. I think I’ll just set the time often and not worry about it. I enjoy fiddling with my watches anyway.

I service, adjust and regulate all my NH series movements new out of the box. They are excellent movements but they leave the MFR with a sticky oil bath. After servicing and adjusting I can get in the zero's with a high amplitude.

Without regulation the accuracy (or lack thereof) of these movements can be a tad annoying to deal with. Once regulated however they prove to be accurate and bulletproof movements.

I always set my watches against their rate, as described in the post.

If it runs slow I set it about a minute (or two) ahead, if it runs fast I set it about half a minute late so it catches up in a day or two. Very happy that way 🤗

Honestly, my watches are rarely accurate to the minute. I've just learned to accept it 🤷🏼‍♂️

I would like to be where you are, but I'm new to this. Watched a couple of YouTube vids on regulating the NH35 and it seems simple enough, but, as I've discovered with any instructional video (and my wife's Pinterest instructions), it is very likely to fail. I'm not about to take anything apart to service, like you do, but how easy is the NH35 to adjust yourself without all of that? (The only watchmakers are a 2-hour drive away and not easy to get there with my schedule.) At the least, it appears I'll need a timegrapher and steady hands . . .

What is this movement in? I build watches, that's why I do all that to the movement new out of the box. It is a $35 movement, once it's serviced, adjusted and regulated it becomes a $235 movement. The brand you received the watch from should've done all that, will they do warranty work? Is it more than 23+/- sec/day?

It is a San Martin and just -20/day, which I understand is within spec, but just used to my Selittas and ETA. So nothing serious, but wanted to try and I figured this one was one I could more afford to play with.

Unlucky I guess, my NH34A from a microbrand is doing +5 seconds a week. Very satisfied with it

...or at least make it easier to consistently regulate, like a sellita or eta.

I actually found that the way I position the watches w the 4R35/36 mvmts I have affects their accuracy.

Covered it in this vid: https://youtu.be/J1MCam5s4_o

They’re super easy to regulate if you know what you’re doing. Mine was losing about 15 secs a day when I first got it, but after some trial and error its now at about 5-7 secs per day

All of these are either NH35 or NH34's. It is an easy fix but can sometimes take several tries. The three above +- 2 seconds I haven't regulated yet. Watch some Youtube videos.

I regulated my 4r34 65 hours ago. It has been holding consistently at -1.5 s/d. I’m curious as to how long that will hold. It has been steady regardless of whether I keep it on the watch winder or place it face down at night.