My Ballade is a Chronometer and it runs about -1.5 SPD. It doesn't get much wrist time and I don't use winders, neither do I wind them when sitting in the box so I don't know if this will change over time. The net wrist time it got since new is not more than a few weeks, really. I wish it was +1.5 SPD though, I hate it when watches run slow.

 

I'd never heard of the Ballade but looked it up; beautiful watch. Yeah, I'd rather mine be fast than slow as well, although under 2 seconds definitely minimizes it.

 

My Tissot PR 100. With static and dynamic test as well as power reserve:

 

In my own experience the Powermatic 80 is extremely accurate. My wife’s Tissot I only have to adjust (if I want to) after months, yes, months of use! Maybe after 4 months the change is noticeable like 2 minutes ahead. My wife doesn’t even notice it. My own Powermatic 80 is a Certina divers and it averages between plus .5 to 2 seconds per day depending on use. I used to wind my diver but it has been to the shop twice due to the crown not screwing back anymore so I stopped winding it and just either use it or place it on a winder. My wife’s Tissot has a push/pull crown so I just wind it if she has not used it for a day or two. If you get a Powermatic and it’s running faster/slower by 10 seconds or more there’s probably something wrong with it whereas with other Swiss movements that would be normal. I once exchanged a Powermatic 80 that was running plus 17 seconds/day and the new one they sent is the one I have now that runs at most plus 2 seconds/ day. Just my own experience.

 

That's good to hear. Most everything I've seen online about it is positive. I'm very happy with mine. The accuracy has been really good, especially given the price point.
I know that certification is needed to be classified as a chronometer, but it seems many Powermatics are within the required tolerance.

 

Another plus for the Powermatic 80, service does not cost an arm and a leg. I was charged $230 for a complete service. I believe a full service is basically a swap of a newly serviced movement for your own. This service was done by the Swatch group.

 

The table I have shown above is very typical for the ETA C07 alias Powermatic80.
My wife and I have several watches with this movment. They are very accurate out of the box.
No other movment of any manufacturer of watches below $2500 comes even close.
This Hamilton watch has a C07.611 inside instead of the .111 of the Tissot PR 100:

 

It’s been good enough that I don’t notice it really off

 

My Seastar 1000 runs 5-6 spd fast and my PRX runs about 2.5 spd slow. Can't complain about watches that run within COSC tolerances.

 

My new seastar 2000 has gained 3 seconds since I set it on Friday afternoon (it's Monday night here in New Zealand) so pretty happy with that

 

Update for my Tissot Gentleman Powermatic. I reset it May 23rd, and now, one month later it is 19 seconds fast. Works out to +0.61 spd.

Who knows if it will keep this up, but I couldn't ask for more considering what I paid for it.

 

The powermatic 80 in my Le Locle is a consistent -7. Pretty annoying but I just set it +15 seconds ahead after winding now.

 

Any breaking in period? My Certina DS Diver 38mm started out around +9-10 spd. After 2 months of 23 hour per day wear it seems to have settled in at about +6 spd.

Amazing watch by the way for $650!

 

My Seastar gains about 2 seconds a day.

 

Out of the box?

 

There are two types of Powermatic. Joe average and a higher spec silicon hairspring calibre. The higher level one is always higher accuracy.


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There are two types of Powermatic. Joe average and a higher spec silicon hairspring calibre. The higher level one is always higher accuracy.

Probably should of mentioned that my SeaStar is a one of these "Silicium" versions. No Joe Average for me...

 

Update for my Tissot Gentleman Powermatic. After having it for 10 months it is now about +2.5 spd. For a while, it was running under +1.0 spd. I'm still very happy with that.

 

I have a Mido Commander 1959 and a Certina DS-1 for a while now. I am more than happy with the accuracy performance.
Mido Commander: +2 seconds per day consistently when fully or almost fully wound.
Certina DS-1: + 3 seconds per day consistently when fully or or almost fully wound.

(In both cases: on the wrist 12-14 hours per day, rest of the time on the desk dial up.)

 

I recently got a Mido (multifort powerwind) with their version of the PM80 (Caliber 80). It is +1 spd thus far.

Very impressed. It's hard for me to understand how this is one of the most 'hated' movements out there. I couldn't care less about difficulty to self-regulate or the slower beat-rate. Accuracy, enhanced magnetic resistance, enhanced shock resistance, enhanced power reserve, & affordable are all far more important to me.

 

My 1 week new PRX 35mm Powermatic 80 gains more spd with face up rather than crown down.
Face up overnight +1spd
Crown down overnight +0spd
Day wear -2spd
Overall face up overnight + day wear -1spd

Wonder if it will gain or loose more spd over time 🤔.

 

Congratulations, sounds like you're getting fantastic accuracy, well within COSC watches costing many times more. I hope it lasts for you!

 

How is everyone checking their accuracy to the second on an analog watch? Is it with a smartphone App or a device?

My Powermatic 80 has been very accurate... set it a month ago and left it. Wore it during the day, set face up at night. It's not off much at all, might be right on the money. Haven't done this with anything but my Datejust, which I don't have anymore. Excellent timekeeping, very impressed for the price paid for my Seastar 2000 Pro.

 

Contrary to previous results from my 'manual timing' method, I ran my 1 week new Powermatic 80 thru the timegrapher. Resting the crown down GAIN 1spd more than the dial up position, according to the timegrapher. Crown down -2spd, dial up -3spd. Whilst these are pretty good results I much prefer it runs faster than slower. Hope it gains speed after the 'run in period'.

 

Contrary to previous results from my 'manual timing' method, I ran my 1 week new Powermatic 80 thru the timegrapher. Resting the crown down GAIN 1spd more than the dial up position, according to the timegrapher. Crown down -2spd, dial up -3spd. Whilst these are pretty good results I much prefer it runs faster than slower. Hope it gains speed after the 'run in period'.

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That's interesting (the variation between your manual timing & timegrapher). Just IMO, accuracy based on your actual daily wearing habits is more relevant than what the timegrapher shows, in terms of your overall experience with the watch.

 

I recently bought a Tissot Sideral and it's running about -20sec/day in all but one position (crown down). I'm going to send it in for regulation under warranty. Ugh.

 

I have six Powermatic watches. All of them run within five seconds per 24 hours. If one runs a second or two slow during the day, I keep it face up at night. If it runs fast during the day, it is kept crown down at night.

Three of them are accurate enough that by using the appropriate night position keeps them within two or three seconds per WEEK.

It is a bit silly to expect a tiny machine driven by springs, wheels and gears to keep time like a quartz Bulova Precisionist, but it is fun to see how close to perfect they can be.

 

I'm thinking about purchasing the Powermatic 80 PRX, but a little concerned about the movement's reliability vs. the quartz model. Thoughts????

 

My experience with six Powermatic watches is that they are accurate and reliable. I am a bit of a klutz and two of my Powermatics have ended up on the floor when I was putting them on or taking them off while half asleep. They did not miss a beat.

Traditional ETA movements have a regulator lever connected to the balance wheel. When a watch takes a hard shock, the regulator lever can move and the watch is suddenly running 30 seconds fast.

The Powermatic has regulating screws on the balance wheel that are not affected by shock...the same regulation method used by Rolex and Omega.

I would chose based on which PRX appealed to me the most. The quartz PRX collection includes several bold color choices that are very appealing and are not currently available with the Powermatic movement.

Also, folks with a slimmer wrist now benefit from a choice of sizes. For my wrist, the original PRX is a tad larger than ideal so the smaller size option is the best PRX for me.

 

My Gentleman is routinely 15s+ out of spec per day in either direction to the point I just stopped throwing it on the timegrapher. I set it to a reference when I wear it and trust that it can be accurate enough that day and that's about it. Outside of Spring Drive (or full Quartz) no movement has been completely reliable for me.

 

Thank you for the helpful and insightful comments!! I really appreciate your perspective!

 

My Gentleman Powermatic 80 Silicium is about a month old and I haven't had to adjust it yet. -1 to -2 SPD corrected overnight face down. Incredible watch.