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Just a weirdness that happened—timekeeping

Annapolis
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Sharing in the spirit of “huh..” This isn’t a problem that needs solving, as far as I’m concerned. Though if anyone has a notion of why this happened, I’m interested.

My Rio 2012 ceramic Seamaster diver (3rd gen) is my daily—currently my only Omega.

After getting it preowned off eBay maybe 18 months ago or so, I sent it off to Omega for a full service and it came back looking new and keeping excellent time: running about 2 seconds fast each day. I wore it just about every day, all day—at work, the pool, the gym, walking the dog—you get it.

A few weeks back we did a big international family vacation and I opted to leave the watch at home. Just let it run down on its own. It sat in the box for about 2 weeks.

Now that I’m back to wearing it daily again, it runs slow—losing probably 3 seconds a day. (I haven’t actually timed it out—not that obsessive.)

No important variables I can think of.

This is weird, right?

Like I said, not a big deal, and it’s got the service warranty from Omega so if it continues to lose time or do anything erratic I’ll just send it back. I do miss the convenience of a fast watch vs a slow one, but whatever. What could possibly have caused this, though, I wonder?

Obligatory pic—it lives on the Aqua Terra bracelet I picked up for it—love that combo!!!

IMG_4805.webp
 
Evitzee
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If you haven't timed it, how do you know it's losing time? Even if it's losing three seconds per day it's probably within Omega's spec. Wind it up fully and check the time via an accurate source over a couple of days and see what you get.
 
Annapolis
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Evitzee Evitzee
If you haven't timed it, how do you know it's losing time? Even if it's losing three seconds per day it's probably within Omega's spec. Wind it up fully and check the time via an accurate source over a couple of days and see what you get.

I could have been clearer: I set my watch by my iPhone. Used to run a few seconds fast as measured by that reference: I’d have to pull the crown and let time catch up with it once a week or so—after a few days it’d be maybe 15 seconds ahead. Now, after a few days, using the same phone as my reference, it’s several seconds behind.

So when I said I haven’t timed it, I meant I haven’t put it on a timegrapher. But there’s no question that it’s slowed down.
 
DoctorEvil
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The only way to know if it's running within COSC spec if you don't have a timegrapher is to wind it up fully and leave it in each of the five COSC positions for 24 hours at a time. Then get the average daily rate and delta. I recently had a timekeeping question put to the forum, although mine is caliber 8500. Like you, I find it annoying when a watch runs slow which is what mine does when it's on a watch winder.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/caliber-8500-timekeeping-question.185500/
 
texasmade
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502 to right 502 to right
Is that an Aqua Terra bracelet on the SMP?
It is. Whenever I have my 2220.80 Seamaster on a bracelet, it’s normally the AT bracelet.
Edited:
 
Ron_W
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This is weird, right?
Yes, it looks like "laziness is the devils pillow" as we say here 😉
but maybe the oils, by way of gravity, have gathered more in one place at all the pivitol points ? from beeing stationary for some time. So by wearing it again for a few days it can even out again.
I have had similair experience after regulating my cal 861 to +6 on the Timegrapher and beeing fine for a few days, when it returned to -2 in daily wear.

So the wearing routine matters but a change of so few seconds could just be a particle sticking somewhere, after all 4 seconds in 24 hours it is just ; 0.00463 %
 
Annapolis
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Correct, re: the AT bracelet (as mentioned in my OP). I don’t love the original SMP non tapered dive bracelet, so it stays in the box. Found the AT bracelet on eBay. Have never looked back—tapered oyster with a concealed clasp? Love it on the SMP.

And perhaps that’s it—just some change (from dormancy) in
position of the lubricants. Hard to explain otherwise. Anyway, like I said, it’s not a problem—just a point of curiosity.
 
rendo
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I'm assuming you fully wound the watch after putting it away for two weeks but just wanted to confirm.
 
Annapolis
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rendo rendo
I'm assuming you fully wound the watch after putting it away for two weeks but just wanted to confirm.
Yup—probably 75 full turns.
 
502 to right
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Correct, re: the AT bracelet (as mentioned in my OP). I don’t love the original SMP non tapered dive bracelet, so it stays in the box. Found the AT bracelet on eBay. Have never looked back—tapered oyster with a concealed clasp? Love it on the SMP.

And perhaps that’s it—just some change (from dormancy) in
position of the lubricants. Hard to explain otherwise. Anyway, like I said, it’s not a problem—just a point of curiosity.

That's my favorite bracelet for my SMP's. I have probably 10+ including everything made by Forstner and Uncle Straps but the 1st gen AT bracelet is my favorite. And it's paired with the current gen Heritage 300 on the go adjustable clasp.
 
502 to right
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FWIW, I had this happen with a Rolex Datejust 16234 I owned several years ago. I wore it every day for months and it was consistently running +1 seconds a day. Then I took it off for a few weeks and when I started wearing it again it was running something like -3 seconds a day. I don't know why.

But eventually it worked itself back to +1 seconds a day.
 
Jakeys
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I could have been clearer: I set my watch by my iPhone. Used to run a few seconds fast as measured by that reference: I’d have to pull the crown and let time catch up with it once a week or so—after a few days it’d be maybe 15 seconds ahead. Now, after a few days, using the same phone as my reference, it’s several seconds behind.

So when I said I haven’t timed it, I meant I haven’t put it on a timegrapher. But there’s no question that it’s slowed down.

How many times have you checked this? It could actually be your phone that was off and not your watch. Phone times can be wildly inaccurate, like they can drift by seconds within a week. The only reason they seem so accurate is they periodically time sync via NTP, but it isn't constant and it can allow a certain margin of effort before it corrects. It's possible that your first check was when your phone was a couple seconds fast and your second check was when your phone was a second slow or something like that.

I recommend the website time.is for measuring performance. It shows an atomic clock sourced time rather than your own system time, but it will also let you know how far off your phone has drifted. I've seen my phone (Google Pixel 9 Pro so not a clunker) be up to 2 seconds fast or slow sometimes. It's normal.
 
reverbtime
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Had no idea the 1st Gen. AT bracelet fits this 3rd gen. How is the tolerance of the endlinks towards the case? Any play or space?
 
Annapolis
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reverbtime reverbtime
Had no idea the 1st Gen. AT bracelet fits this 3rd gen. How is the tolerance of the endlinks towards the case? Any play or space?
There’s a very slight overhand at the lug, but it’s not noticeable day to day. I posted about it a few months back with a pic. Will see if I can find that thread. It’s an excellent fit! No gap, no play.
 
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