Timegrapher- Yeah or Nay

I use one to regulate watches when needed, and see how new watches are running. I have the Weishi 1000, which seems to be a good choice for a relatively inexpensive, hobbyist model.

Never have,never will.

Side effects include loss of enjoyment of the hobby upon finding the most minor deviations from spot on accuracy.

Blacklisting by AD's for constantly complaining that your watch is running within Mfg. specs. but not close enough for you and your timegrapher.

OCD thay goes way beyond accuracy and eventually has you looking at every watch through a high powered loupe to find the smallest percieved "imperfection".

I respectfully disagree. My timegrapher has brought much more enjoyment from watches that ran 15-20 spd off out of the box. Tightening them up to within COSC accuracy on wrist brings me much satisfaction. But yeah, don't get carried away with it.

I also appreciate that adjusting my NH movements is easy but I'd Rather have a professional do it. Not high on my list of priorities tbh.

I have the Weishi 1900 (at the time there wasn't much price difference to the 1000). I use it to regulate watches and the amplitude tells me when they're in need of attention.

I like to use mine, gives me satisfaction knowing I can bring in the accuracy myself. The Weishi 1000 seems to be the go to for most people. Don't forget to test the accuracy across the different positions!

https://a.co/d/7tOFODV

What madminuteman said

If you aren't planning on cracking your own cases, I'm not sure of the point unless one is obsessive about monitoring things. I'd play around with free cell phone apps first and exhaust that capability before getting stuck with extra special purpose hardware.

I’m a tinkerer by nature, I love my No.1900.

Was frustrated till I got the hang of it, but it’s fun to use, or just to get a visual of the little guy ticking away

Is it relatively easy to use?

A very wide berth, not even interested in the least bit. Still I envy those that have to skills to regulated their own watches.

For the most part, all of my watches are well regulated, even my Seiko’s, except for the Seiko 5, they are all better than their stated accuracy.

But for some, being hands on with their watches is part of their enthusiasm and enjoyment and so timegraphs are a good tool. Enjoy.

If mine is fast I slow it and wear it a few days. If slow I speed it up and wear it a few days. When it is close enough I leave it alone and just wear it.

I have an NH35 in a Tandorio that is +5 sec/week while I wear it, which is the only time that it matters to me. I care about accuracy while wearing it, not in stationary positions. Maybe I'm weird.

Yep, it auto detects the beat rate and all that, just gotta enter the lift angle which is easy enough to find on caliber corner, NH35 is 53°, and the machine will graph it out. you basically give your watch a full wind, clamp it in the mount, give it like 30 sec to stabilize, and use the SP+/- and the two lines it generates to make one straight line with very very very (nearly imperceptible) adjustments to the rate tab on your movement.

Beat error under 1.0ms will not affect accuracy, so generally do not mess with beat error, that is where you will end up chaseing your tail, as apparently the Weishis arnt necessarily perfectly 100% accurate anyway, according to master watchmakers who can compare to higher end equipment.

If your beat error IS in need of adjustment, you start with that first, then move on to speed adjustment. The beat error that is the one that the hair spring terminates in, the speed control guides the spring. The little brass tab at the end of the adjuster is actually a liiiiitttttle tiny fork that the hairspring rides within, and that is another point of beat error adjustment but GEEZ you do not want to get involved in that. If you have beat error concerns, it’s probable you are in need of service, anyway.

Another thing to consider is that your wind in the mainspring, temperature, how active you are will all affect time keeping, so don’t drive yourself mad seeking perfection. Heck, tilt the watch 90° and it likely will change rate right before your eyes lol.

https://youtu.be/ExfFlYFAffg?si=YBS_943c4T--MD43

This channel is incredibly well done and filled with amazing info

Yes 100%. Just get the cheap one to start, if you decide you want more you can get an expensive one later. It is useful to get some extra data to see how well you watch is running. You can also learn to regulate your own watches with the timegrapher.

I think any watch that gets used is going to reveal itself to the user it just takes longer. You probably need one if you buy a lot of newer watches.

I love to tinker with stuff, and to be honest, if I couldn't regulate my worst mechanical watches to the point where they don't annoy me, I'd sell all of them on ebay and stick with my quartz watches.

(annoyance is more than 5 seconds a day)

Being able to regulate brings me joy, because it's delicate fiddly work.

Although I've been getting by with a rather poor phone app. Really need to buy a timegrapher when the budget allows.

Thank you for your comments. The YT video didn’t open sadly so do you have the name of the channel pleae?

It is also great not just to tinker with your watch but simply to check how is the amplitude and accuracy of a watch when you buy it. I if it invaluable when you buy "luxury" pieces second hand. That offer you the chance to dodge a bullet and send back a watch when the option is their before it's too late. A worthy investment regarding the price of a weishi 1000.

“Watch repair tutorials”

https://youtu.be/ExfFlYFAffg?si=YBS_943c4T--MD43

I own one and used to measure each watch on a monthly basis to see if any started to have problems. As the collection grew, I soon gave up on that. 😂

Thank you

I love it. I pair it with an app that allows me to monitor my real life deviations in long term and then adjusting accordingly