[Sugman]

Hi all,

Happy owner of an 8900 series AT here. I have a few questions for you all:

1. the watch has been suffering from a misaligned hour hand (about 16 minutes past it finally aligns).

2. Resting it dial up gives about +3 spd but I’ve found resting it crown down is +1.5-2 spd. For instance it’s been 7 days running, mostly on my wrist and at a full wind, and I’m only at +10 spd this morning. Very impressive!

3. Is this resting position safe for the watch? That is a lot of weight on the tiny crown. Additionally, linking this back to point 1, I’ve read that crown pressure can further damage the IAHH mechanism.

4. My concern is after I send it in for service/repairs that the IAHH will “break” again if I continue the resting position that guarantees more accuracy.

5. Can anyone give any insights before I send it in for service/repairs (probably next month or Jan 2024)?

I can't speak for the positions, but I can't imagine resting it with the crown in a downward position would be a problem. It's screwed into the case.

However, I don't think your hour hand being off is due to that. My AT did the exact same thing. I have pics of mine where the hour hand was perfectly aligned. Then I noticed that it wasn't aligned anymore, so I know it wasn't always that way. I honestly don't know why, but my GUESS is that it would be more due to having to cycle around so many times to set the date. I'd much rather this movement have a quick-set date as opposed to being able to independently move the hour hand. YMMV.

I sent it in for servicing under warranty. It's back and doing just fine...for now.

 

[Sugman]

In reading other threads about this topic I have noticed that it tends to be people who swap watches frequently who have this issue, since they often have to scroll through multiple dates. See this thread: https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/aqua-terra-hour-hand-getting-stuck.4647801/page-3 -- in there people speculate that this issue is due to wear on the hour wheel from excessive use of the jumping hour hand. So you can help prevent the problem by minimizing use of that function to only when necessary (this is easier when you wear it everyday and only have to adjust for the occasional short month).

Maybe it is possible that stripping the crown threading early on jostled something in the movement leading to the problem. I have a hard time imagining that resting a watch on top of a properly screwed down crown would cause any problem at all.

It is a perfect watch for me so far! Crazy accurate, great looking, and dependable (knock on wood).

This (highlighted in quote) is what I think it is (see post #4). I try to wait until it’s close to the date already on the watch before rotating to my AT, and I’m now very careful about how fast I move the hour hand.