Reply To: Timing a watch or clock.

[clam71]

Currently, I’m bench-testing a Waltham Riverside movement for accuracy.
Geeze, that balance swings happily ! I could actually see it getting happier as it ran-in.
My opinion ? 2cents > I’m quite astute as far as electronic stuff goes.
I’ve built many-a-project. But this idea is questionable for these reasons.
The balance of the watch is not a complete circle, IE, there’s a gap.
The reason for this is to correct for temperature changes. The balance is made of
a bi-metallic material and actually expands and contracts to correct itself.
Also, watch oil’s viscosity is highly variable with temps. Other factors likely.
So, to use an instrument who’se accuracy is super fine, you could drive yourself
crazy trying to super-tune your watch. You’de get up in the morning and find
it running a bit slow when last night you made sure it was dead-on.
But your house’s thermostat is set for 65 at night and 72 during the day.
I think the best you can do is to monitor the watch for a week when you’re happy
with your work. Don’t think there’s a fast way around this method.
It would, however, help to see if the watch’s timing changes as it is tilted here and there.
I’ll pass on this one. Quartz movements are far superior in this regard.