[Bill NYC]

Hello,

Newbie question here. I recently purchased a used JLC Master Control Calendar, originally made in 2014. I got it from a reputable dealer (through Chrono24). I'm finding that the watch runs fast, about a minute per week. Is this normal? Should I have it serviced? I thought maybe a watch at JLC's quality level would be more accurate than this but is that too much to expect? BTW my other mechanical watch is a Hamilton Jazzmaster of similar vintage; it runs about 2 minutes per week slow.

 

[54B]

Hello,

Newbie question here. I recently purchased a used JLC Master Control Calendar, originally made in 2014. I got it from a reputable dealer (through Chrono24). I'm finding that the watch runs fast, about a minute per week. Is this normal? Should I have it serviced? I thought maybe a watch at JLC's quality level would be more accurate than this but is that too much to expect? BTW my other mechanical watch is a Hamilton Jazzmaster of similar vintage; it runs about 2 minutes per week slow.

View attachment 16211476

Hi! I used to have the same model - it's a lovely watch. I can't remember exactly how it ran but I didn't use to adjust the time that frequently, which means it would have run better than yours. 1 minute/week is also outside of the chronometer specifications (-4/+6 sec/day). Therefore you may want to get the watch serviced. Alternatively, you may want to check if it's been magnetised. I had a JLC Master Hometime, which I managed to magnetise a fair few times. That made it run fast. Demagnetising was fairly straight forward with a gadget bought off the internet.

 

[Bill NYC]

Thanks, how would I check if it's been magnetized?

 

[espresso&watches]

Thanks, how would I check if it's been magnetized?

If the only issue with the watch is that it's running 1min fast/week, I wouldn't bother with a service. You'd probably be out close to $1000 in service costs to gain 30-45seconds/week in accuracy. To me that's not a good deal 😂 Wait till something properly goes wrong and then send it in.

There are a couple phone apps that can check magnetisation, but the cheap and old-school method is with a simple compass. If it is magnetised, can buy a demagnetiser on eBay that'll get the job done for like $20.

 

[54B]

Yes, good advice from @espresso&watches about whether a service is worth it to you for that marginal improvement in accuracy.

With regards to magnetisation, you can also pop into a boutique if there's one near you. JLC in London have checked and demagnetised watches for me in the past without charge.

 

[Bill NYC]

Thanks, I think I will do that. There's a JLC store in Manhattan across town from my office, and it would be a nice excuse to go in there and look at all the other beautiful watches .

 

[atmfrank]

Beautiful piece!

I have two Master Controls from around 1999-2000. The Master Calendar was just serviced for $800 and runs as good as the Master Geo unserviced. Worn on the wrist and with moderate daily activity, both run about +1/+4/day. If I take them off at night, they tend to run +4/day. I would re-evaluate after 7 day continuous wear, except for showers of course.

Magnetism cannot be accurately measured. Better to get a cheap $20 demagnetizer (as suggested above). A time grapher will give better indicator if service is due or not. Typically a $200 investment.

 

[atmfrank]

Thanks, I think I will do that. There's a JLC store in Manhattan across town from my office, and it would be a nice excuse to go in there and look at all the other beautiful watches .

...careful now, she might not take the store competition too well.

 

[Bill NYC]

Thanks for all the feedback. An update: I used a gauss meter app on my phone and found that the watch had a bit of magnetism, not much. I bought one of those $15 demagnetizers and ran it twice. The app then did not show any magnetism. But the watch is still running about 8 sec fast per day. I'm considering getting it serviced.
So next questions:
1. Is getting it serviced likely to improve the accuracy?
2. I could take it to the JLC dealership across town, or I could take it to a watch repair guy in Jewelers Row on 47th St. here in Manhattan who has done good and reasonably-priced work on other watches I have -- a recent-model Hamilton automatic, a Benrus manual from the 1950s, nothing as posh or complicated as the JLC Master Calendar. Any opinions on whether it's worth being most likely charged quite a bit more at the JLC dealer?

Thanks again!

- Bill.

 

[espresso&watches]

Thanks for all the feedback. An update: I used a gauss meter app on my phone and found that the watch had a bit of magnetism, not much. I bought one of those $15 demagnetizers and ran it twice. The app then did not show any magnetism. But the watch is still running about 8 sec fast per day. I'm considering getting it serviced.
So next questions:
1. Is getting it serviced likely to improve the accuracy?

It's likely to come back running a bit better than 8s/day, but probably not by much - my 6 month old Master Geographic runs around +6s/day. Do a few seconds a day really bother you that much?

2. I could take it to the JLC dealership across town, or I could take it to a watch repair guy in Jewelers Row on 47th St. here in Manhattan who has done good and reasonably-priced work on other watches I have -- a recent-model Hamilton automatic, a Benrus manual from the 1950s, nothing as posh or complicated as the JLC Master Calendar. Any opinions on whether it's worth being most likely charged quite a bit more at the JLC dealer?

Thanks again!

- Bill.

I wouldn't trust anyone but JLC to service the watch - it's highly likely to come back in worse shape than it went in.

Personally, I think you're mad to fork out the cash to send in a watch that's running consistently at +8, but it obviously bothers you - just send it in to JLC and get it over with 😂