How far off is too much?

I have quite a few watches and rarely wear a watch for more than a day or two before switching to another so it's not really a big concern.

With that being said, I am aware of the daily rate of most of my watches and, though it's meaningless, I set them based on that rate.

If I have a watch that loses 20 seconds a day I'll set it a minute fast, which would allow me to wear it for 6 days without resetting and still be within a minute of NIST time.

Having been on many fora over the years I long ago came to the realization that I got all the bad watches because 95% of forum members seem to have all their watches running at, or near, COSC specs.

I wish I was like that. It must be nice to not sweat small things 😅

It all depends on the watch. Age, price range and how often and for what it's gonna be used.

That being said. I would say that -5/+10 is fine. If it's around 5 or less on the pluss side? Anybody else getting aroused?

But being lucky with quality quartz so you are losing a second or two a month is pure luxury in my eyes 😅

For some reason my $200 Seiko SRPD stays within 2s/day, while my $600 Seiko Alpinist loses 10-20. I am a complete head case and set all of my non-quartz watches to atomic time at least once every single day.

That’s always rough. My best friend has the seiko 5 GMT and it runs at about +24. Technically within specs but much greater deviation than what you see online

I think I'll allow two minutes but not three. I must say that I am blessed not to have a single hacking mechanical watch so setting takes a few seconds instead of over a minute.

Also, there are outliers where mechanical keeps better time than quartz.

Today's wear is running at +14, which I'm pretty pleased about since it's a £21 Komandirskie. I usually note how each is doing so I'll retake that in the morning after a full 24hrs have elapsed. If it's within a minute I'm ok. If it's more expensive then I'll expect better.

But I'm not losing sleep over a few seconds here or there since when I'm asked the time I round it to the nearest quarter of an hour.

Bingo!

Who tries to get to the transport station exactly on time to catch their ride?

Late people.

I'm the weirdo who sets my time every morning. It will bug me if it's more than a second or two off

I like my watches to be accurate of course, but I also typically rotate through my collection on a daily basis. I can afford to be generous with what I'll accept. If I'm only going to be wearing any one of my watches once a week at most the fact that they may or may not be running to chronometer standards is of little practical relevance to me.

If it can keep a close enough approximation of cell phone time for a week, then it’s good enough.

Too bad most of my Seikos don’t fit this definiton of accuracy.

Minute or so

30 seconds is the most I let my watch run ahead and I can't stand it losing time at all. If I know my watch loses time then I'll set it 10-30 seconds forward!

Given I don't wear any of my automatics for more than a day usually, it never comes up.

I could be running COSC or I could be 40 seconds out and I'd never notice.

I can't believe this quasi quartz agglomerated mess of 1972 refugee parts is keeping better time than any mechanical watch I have, even with the pivots worn to shreds. I've had it back a week and not had to set it at all. if this is the shot one I can't wait to get the good one serviced. The 300 transistor chip that's supposed to keep it accurate must be working overtime.

+10/-3 is OK for me. I have a timegrapher and regulate my own watches as well

and that's what makes me so stupid. I only wear mine for one day at a time, but still insist on +10/-3. It's ridiculous really

Doesn’t anyone ever heard of a time grapher ?and regulating a watch?

Every watch i buy, immediately undergoes vigorous regulating to at least +1 sec/day…

It takes a few days of trial and error.. but it worth it. An accurate mechanical watch is better than any beautiful and not accurate one.. watch is supposed to be accurate..

Btw, thats why swiss movements are superior to everything else (except spring drive..)

Unless you live in Japan lol, but what kind of a philistine are you who arrives at the station at the time train leaves??? I'm always there like at least 10 mins to 15 mins before XDDDDDDD

Takes a lickin’

My worst accuracy watch is Alpinist, running app. 25s slow ( even with counting my vintage watches ). It has been regulated twice at AD ( to 5-10s/day which is well within specs ) and after few weeks it gets back to where it was. Not bothering anymore. Normally I set all my watches 2-3 minutes forward as I am punctual person and hate being late to meetings ( usually have 2-3 meetings on daily basis ). When they hit accurate time if slow or 5 min advance if fast I reset them again.

I rarely weary watches more than a day or two. So accuracy is n really a thing if the watches doesn't lose 2 minutes a day (and i'm not even sure I would notice to be honest). That said, since I put my watch snobiety away and started buying solar quartz watches, I really appreciate to open the watch box and see these babies running within the second

The mechanicals in my collection vary on accuracy. I have regulated a few to improve and generally aim for -5 to +10. Strangely, one of my least expensive watches, a used Chinese Paulareis Die Another Day homage which cost £26 on eBay, runs about +3. That's only beaten by my BB58.

For me, I adjust my automatic watches once every 2 weeks or more. I used to adjust them once every few days but after a while, I can’t catch up. Lol.

They’re bound to be slower or faster after the 1st day of adjustment. So I just leave them be. That way, I can put more time and effort in finding more watches. Hahahahaha.

But jokes aside, having personal time with your watches is good. Clean them, adjust the time, wear them (most importantly).

I sometimes take my gand seiko out just to wear around the house don't even bother setting it just like watching the watch twinkle

damn, you set your quartz watches to atomic time every day? good on you man. I have tendencies like that, at least with my autos. I get it.

2 minutes maximum. But when it's over a minute it actually becomes a problem as I often "need" the time to be accurate to the minute... at which point I take out my phone... at which point I wonder if I should just sell them all and just keep the GS 9F quartz 😬

I have a timegrapher and regulate my own watches. Because I only wear my watches one day a month should mean it doesn't matter how accurate they are within reason, but I do. However, I believe +10spd to be reasonable. I own many watches with Swiss movements, including a Rolex and a Tudor, but to be honest I have found the Chinese made PT5000 to be just as accurate, even though it is a clone of the ETA2824. I have never understood why a country of manufacture should have an impact on quality

If i want accuracy i just go for any of my quartz watches iwatch or phone... no, reason to wear automatics is for the sheer nostalgia and pleasure of wearing a mechanical. Call it old fashioned as its even more troublesome with all the upkeep maintenance service and repairs, but this does not stop us from buy8ng and wearing/rotating them ....