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Did Spring Drive accuracy 'ruin' standard mechanical watches for you?

13158 Views 101 Replies 47 Participants Last post by  Angler, 
canonken
I'm sitting here 36 hours after setting it (my new Snowflake) and cannot see any drift, which is expected. Further, knowing the watch is insensitive to position, temperature, the tide being in or out, etc. means there is no 'luck' to just happening to keep it in the right position overnight or at the right level of wind (other than dead!). In a week, a month from now, I should start to understand what I have. I know it is rated at +/-15 seconds/month and interested to see how mine fits into that.

I ask this question partly seriously, partly in jest, but still curious as to your take. Does using a Spring Drive, which you might need to set monthly, ruin regular mechanical watches in terms of their accuracy and potential fussiness (for example, having different deviations depending on the state of wind, what position they are left in, etc.)?
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koolpep
I foster peaceful coexistence in my watch collection.

Spring Drive will only arrive today (am very excited) but otherwise I have an old Quartz Seiko from 1972 that hits every index with a precision that is hard to explain. But runs about 5 seconds slow a day (the age)....
I have a GS with 9F and a Longines Conquest VHP and they both perform amazing.

I have three watches that basically run pretty much dead on when worn or in the winder, one Tudor, one Rolex and a Montblanc. Around +0.5 to +1 a day. I also have watches with higher variations that need a service...

If at all the Spring Drive or high precision quartz leads me personally to appreciate the work and craftsmanship that goes into these little mechanical pieces more...

Generally what freaks me out the most is watches going slow, zero tolerance on that LOL...
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koolpep
I love watches and don't really understand the whole fanboy-ism these days. Liking Rolex doesn't mean one needs to dislike other brands. I have Rolex, Tudor, Omega and new Grand Seiko in my collection and the Grand Seiko is quite something. Got a 9F SBGX261 (used) and a SD SBGA283 this week and boy - they are amazing. I would not have thought that I like wearing them that much. Besides the new toy syndrome - they are really amazing.
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koolpep
rambo99 said:
the spring drive movement is essentially just a quartz watch with the battery replaced by a electricity generator. the accuracy of a spring drive is controlled by
a quartz crystal and an integrated circuit. while a mechanical movement accuracy is controlled by movement of many small parts designed, installed and regulated by skilled master technicans. i dont think accuracy of spring drive ruin mechanical watches.
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That's probably a bit oversimplified, the hands are not driven by the quartz but by the hairspring, it also drives the escapement replacement, the magnets that brake the glide wheel. I would say it's way more mechanical than it is quartz/electric. But of course the accuracy is indeed quartz...

My Rolex runs consistently at +1spd - the spring drive was +1 s after two weeks. It is an amazing piece of technology.

For me it ruined nothing, still have deep admiration for pure mechanical watches....
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koolpep
Hmmm, I have two mechanicals that run pretty much the same as the Spring Drive, less than 1 sec a day. Does this make me appreciate SD more or these other watches more?

For me it’s a different technology, no influence on my other watches, still enjoy wearing my new Sumo that is minimum 15 secs per day fast....
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koolpep
Yeah. Mine is maybe 3 seconds per month off maybe even less - as I said less than 1 second per day. But when a purely mechanical is 5-10 seconds off per month then this is for me even more amazing.

Anyhow I love my Spring Drive - it’s absolutely amazing - just wanted to chime in and say - nope it has not ruined anything for me (as for the OP question) :)
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