How important is the accuracy of your watch to you?

I’m not terribly concerned about it (unless it’s off enough to indicate a problem with the movement). All but one of my watches are automatic, and I don’t wind them when I’m not wearing them, so I routinely have to set the time anyway. That said, gaining or losing a few seconds a day isn’t really a big deal - especially when you consider that watches these days are essentially mechanical jewelry that also tell the time. 

I rarely wear one of my watches more than just a day or two. As long as they get me to meetings on time, I am fine. 

We go by the old military rule though, "if you are on time, you are late."

That is a great question, and you point out the truly fascinating incongruence all of us watch enthusiasts live with and seemingly never question.

There have been times when I've worn my watches for hours on end, glancing down to admire the dial and the smooth sweep of the seconds hand every few minutes, only to discover that the watch's power reserve must have run out at some point, and the time is off by 6 hours and 23 minutes.  Genuinely, I don't buy and I don't wear my watches to keep time.  I buy them and I wear them because I think they look awesome and they're fun to own.

But, by the same token, if one of my watches has some greater than normal deviation, and over the course of a week it's off by a minute or more, that would drive me crazy!

When I buy a new watch,new or pre-owned, I usually check the accuracy just so I'm aware of how it's running. If it is within the specs for tha movement I can deal with it. I also change watches fairly frequently. If my Seiko 6r15 is running 15 seconds slow I don't run screaming to the nearest watchmaker for regulation. Instead I set it a minute fast. Having done that, I can wear it for 8 days and still be within a minute of NIST time.

Pretty damn remarkable for a machine. That's well over 99% efficiency.

I like my watches to be accurate within reason it's a bug bear of mine if a new watch is not as accurate as it should be especially when I can service and regulate a 40 year old watch movement to be within 5 to 10 sec per day.

I change watches frequently during the week and have a lot with dubious service histories.  I can accept +/- 2 minutes from a 70 year old watch.  For some reason though, +/- 3 minutes is too inaccurate for my innate OCD.  A few years ago I left the office at 9:00 p.m. because an old Hamilton decided that it needed a service.  That day dragged.

I have admitted to myself, it matters a lot. At least it affects how much I want to wear a watch. My Monta Noble is my most worn watch. It runs 0s/d effectively, with both slightly positive and slightly negative resting positions for nightly tweaks as needed to keep it spot on. 

Most of the time I'm 20 mins early to all the events, so +/- 1/2 minutes in accuracy doesn't really make any difference.

I look at my watches to admire their beauty not to check the time.

I enjoy tracking the timing accuracy of the watches and I'm using an iOS app called WatchTracker to do that.  I would try to figure out ways to improve the accuracy if possible.  For example, there is one watch that goes faster if dial-up, while going slower when wearing or crown up. I will put the dial side up during bedtime to compensate the time lag while wearing during the day time.   I don't do timing measurements all the time, but check each watch's performance once or twice a year.  

To me it is part of the process...the morning ritual.  Choosing what watch I'm wearing that day...winding it (if necessary)...setting the time.  

That said, I served in a military position that required accuracy in timing.  To this day, I feel it at the DNA level.  So my morning ritual also has a call to the US Naval Observatory Master Clock.  "At the tone, Universal time, 5 hours, 32 minutes, exactly.....beep"

I don't get overly concerned if two days later I'm +4 seconds.  Not, +/- 25 seconds, that would concern me.  

Cheers!

I am one of those boomers who does not wear their mobile phone all of the time, more like: hardly ever. Therefore a watch is still a tool for me, and the minute indication the most important part of it. Thus flieger type B particularly appeal to me.

That quartz watches will, after 2 years or so, stop working without prior warning bothers me more than the lesser accuracy of mechanicals, because this has happened to me in the past, and at the least opportune moments.

I own some quartzes when accuracy becomes really important (also in a drawer at work as a quick replacement should I need it), but that is rare. My automatics I keep running on a watch winder. If a watch is within 10s/d accuracy that is fine with me, and I will regularly use it, occasionally checking whether it's far enough off to bother adjusting it. My more accurate mechanicals I tend to wear more often than the others.

With me it's not so much accuracy, meaning that if a mechanical watch is within +/- 10 seconds a day, it really doesn't matter, because I don't keep them on watch winders, and I will have to set them again as part of my rotation.

It's different with quartz watches, as they serve a different purpose. I am in particular fond of solar/kinetic/eco-drive movements that you don't need to care for. Something you put on when you are in a rush, or that will be reliable while traveling. 

I've been toying with the thought of a Casio Oceanus for that reason, and might pick it up if/when I start traveling again.

Accuracy has a pretty high importance for me. I usually keep all my watches within +/- 30 seconds of accuracy. If I haven’t worn a watch for longer than ~2 weeks, I set the time anyways. If a watch runs within COSC limits, that’s totally sufficient for me.

I use my watch to read the time, not my phone, so an accurate watch helps! :)

Good question - I have different needs based on the useage. I have 2 "everyday" watches. These are the watches I rely on during the week. They have to be at least COSC (-4s to +6s per day). I then have what I call my "weekend" watches, which I am more tolerant. They can be as loose as -15s to +15s per day. For dress and beater watches, I actually prefer (gasp) quartz because I can quickly put them on without setting them. 

I have zero concern about time accuracy as long as it keeps well enough time that there isn't something wrong with it. Being off seconds per day means nothing. I say that with the caveat of I'm not purchasing watches that cost thousands of dollars so 🤷‍♂️

I'd even go so far and say that up to 60 SPD are okay for me (for the older, vintage ones in the box :). As for the more modern lot, I'd say 20 SPD is something I could personally work with. I dont have any high-end pieces though, so if I'd have one of the luxury brands, dude, I'd expect the hell out of it when it comes to SPD :D 

Yeah, I agree that I'd be prepared to accept larger deviations on vintage watches. 

I would also base my expectations for modern watches on the price tier. I'm not going to have the same expectations from a Zelos as I do from a Rolex. 

I never realized how important accuracy was until I had a watch that was not accurate.  I found myself constantly wondering what the correct time was - kind of useless wearing the watch.  Accuracy and power reserve to me are very important.

A comment by @27toolwatch (along with your comment) have made me reconsider the way I look at the power reserve of a watch.

I've always viewed accuracy as being important, not so much that I have a need to know the time down to the second, but more from the standpoint that I look at a watch that isn't able to keep time to within certain tolerances as as sign of a watch built to lower standards. 

Based on the way that I wear watches, the PR hasn't held the same level of importance to me as accuracy.  If I start looking at PR as a sign of watchmaking prowess, however, it can take on greater significance. I suppose that with all else being equal, a watch with a larger power reserve could be considered superior to one with a lower PR.

I am pretty anal about accuracy. Once we are getting into the double-digits spd territory, I start to get antsy. I hesitate to regulate anything with a 100WR or more, just because I don’t want to mess that up. But it does eat at me, tbh.

Related, I must set the minute hand accurately so it’s hitting the mark at :00. Drives me nuts when it doesn’t.

(I have problems.)

I have a similar issue with hitting the mark right at :00.  Seeing the second hand at the 12 o'clock position when the minute hand is pointing directly at a minute marker always puts a smile on my face :-). 

It can be tricky to do so on some watches, as there is too much play in the hands. On my Norqain Adventure Sport Chrono, I need to set the minute hand a quarter of a minute ahead of the minute marker when setting the time in order to get it to line up properly when it starts running, whereas some others don't seem to need any special fiddling.

I also agree that even for non chronometer rated watches, the deviation should be in the single digits.

It could shocked some people in the watch community but for me the accuracy is not important. I don't set the time in my automatic watches when I wear them because I never use my watche to know the time. (excuse my english, I'm french)

An interesting question. My feel is that it depends on how long you wear a watch for. If it is for a couple of days at a time, accuracy is neither here or there. If it is for weeks or months at a time then the accuracy determines how often you need to reset your watch (a pain). I am happy for my watch to be say two minutes out, so if I'm only going to reset it every two weeks that means a maximum inaccuracy of 8 seconds a day. In fact I feel it should be closer to +/- 5 seconds per day, so an ETA 2824 is the “worst” automatic movement I will consider in watch.

No importance whatsoever.  I generally use my phone for the time, as I know it is 100% accurate.  I mostly wear quartz watches as they're pretty accurate anyway.  When I'm wearing my mechanicals I usually don't bother to set them - they are jewellery, not anything fucntional.

Haha! Have you ever just completed staring at your watch, admiring it like you said, look up to find someone asking you what time it is, and you can't answer without looking back down?! Uh, embarrassing! Don't mind me, I was just playing goo-goo eyes with my watch. 

I'm exactly the same @tempus 

My life does not depend on my watch being accurate to the second, but I would love my Sinn 556 to be 3 secs per day rather than 11 sec fast

And when I check my BlackBay 58 after 2 full days sitting in the sock drawer running 2 secs late per day, I'm not happy. +1 is the target

Have you tried resting it in different positions?

Same here.  Generally I want to be within a second or two.  Several times a day I fiddle with my watches (the chronometers at least), changing positions as needed to keep them as close to zero as possible.  If I buy a watch that is running more that a few seconds/day off, I’ll inevitably open it up and regulate it.  Especially ETAs and Sellitas: so easy.  Seikos are a PITA, but doable.  Cleaning and protecting the seal is easy to do, and so is the pressure test.  It’s all part of the hobby.

Good point. Not yet. Will try

The older it is, the less I care about its accuracy BUT if it says chronometer on the dial then I expect it to run to it’s chronometer parameters. If it’s an older chronometer then I would consider having it regulated