7 ms·
Long ago my dad (an experimental physicist) had a self-winding mechanical watch. At the end of the day, he would check if the watch had gained or lost time dur
by yodon 3y ago
Long ago my dad (an experimental physicist) had a self-winding mechanical watch.
At the end of the day, he would check if the watch had gained or lost time during the day (compared to the broadcast bell chimes radio stations used to broadcast on the hour).
Based on the observation he would set the watch on its right side or left for the night, causing the spring in the self winding mechanism to be slightly more or less tensioned, leading to a slight gain or loss of time by morning to tune the watch to the precise broadcast signal.
- hasoleju 3y agoThanks for that story. While reading the article I always wondered what the value of the inaccuracy they where talking about really is. I guess it varies for different manufacturers. But seeing this shows me that even in the past it was only a matter of a few seconds.
- bacheaul 3y agoYes! On average, my Orient watch runs about 15-20s fast per week when I lay it flat on its back at night. But when I position it crown down at night, it runs about 4s slow per week. I usually check it every Sunday morning, and if it's running a bit slow, then I'll put it on it's back for a couple of night to let it catch up. Haven't had to pull the crown out and adjust it for about 2 months now with this system.
- superhuzza 3y agoHaven't pulled the crown in 2 months? No daylight savings where you live? :)