Speedmaster Second Hand Minute Hand Alignment

d3adrock · Mar 14, 2021

Hi, quick question for those who know.

Does the minute hand automatically align itself with the minute hand when setting the time? Same question for the minute and hour hand.

For example. If I set the minute hand on the mark while the second hand is only at the 30 second mark, will it automatically align itself? Or if I set the minute hand at 30 minutes but set the hour hand on the mark, whill it align itself? Or should I take extra care to align all the hands when setting the time?

Sorry if this seems like an obvious and or stupid question, but I'd really like to know because it would save me tons of time when setting the time. Thanks!

Canuck · Mar 14, 2021

You have two minute hands, two hour hands, and two seconds hands on your Speedmaster. A total of six hands! There are three hands that comprise the read out when the chronograph is operating. The seconds hand, the minute totalizer hand, and the hour totalizer hand. These should line very closely as the minute totalizer advances with each revolution of the seconds hand. Likewise, the hour hand should record each elapsing hour.

So, let’s say the chronograph is presently not operating. I am going to assume that you are referring to the other three hands. The ones that record the time of day, even when the chronograph is not operating. Should the minute hand align with the seconds hand automatically, when you set the time. Absolutely NOT! If you want the minute hand on the minute when the small seconds hand indicates 60 seconds, this will NOT happen, automatically. You will have to carefully set it that way! Will the hour hand always point at the hour when the minute hand points at 60 minutes. For sure. I hope I have answered the question you had in mind. But the way you went about asking it, I can’t be certain.

Dan S · Mar 14, 2021

d3adrock
For example. If I set the minute hand on the mark while the second hand is only at the 30 second mark, will it automatically align itself?

No. If you want the minute and sweep second hand to be aligned, you need to do it yourself. I'm assuming that you are talking about the ordinary time-keeping hands, not the chronograph hands. The minute and hour hand alignment (and date change) are a separate issue, and are done by the watchmaker at the time that he installs the hands.

Actually, in retrospect, it seems that you could have tested this out for yourself in less time than it took to type the question.

Foo2rama · Mar 14, 2021

No watch does this. You also need to back the hand back to remove the lash in the gear train as well.

Dan S · Mar 14, 2021

Foo2rama
No watch does this.

Just curious, is this true? Or are there some watches with a jumping minute feature? I've never seen one, but there might be one out there somewhere. 😕

Evitzee · Mar 14, 2021

Foo2rama
No watch does this. You also need to back the hand back to remove the lash in the gear train as well.

The Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer does this. When you pull out the crown the seconds hand resets to 12 o'clock position and the minute hand advances in minute increments when you turn the crown, so you just set the time and press the crown on the time signal to get things going and the minute and second hand are coordinated. GO calls this 'stop second/reset mechanism with minute detent'.

Foo2rama · Mar 14, 2021

Dan S
Just curious, is this true? Or are there some watches with a jumping minute feature? I've never seen one, but there might be one out there somewhere. 😕

Evitzee
The Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer does this. When you pull out the crown the seconds hand resets to 12 o'clock position and the minute hand advances in minute increments when you turn the crown, so you just set the time and press the crown on the time signal to get things going and the minute and second hand are coordinated. GO calls this 'stop second/reset mechanism with minute detent'.

outside of a few rare complications on higher end watches....

I was slightly wrong.

d3adrock · Mar 14, 2021

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the answer. That does in fact answer the question. I did try testing it several times, but I was never really sure on the second/hour hand alignment because it sort of looked like it aligned automatically.

Speedmaster Second Hand Minute Hand Alignment

d3adrock

Canuck

Dan S

Foo2rama

Dan S

Evitzee

Foo2rama

d3adrock

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