I Regressed And Bought A New Watch
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SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
This is my only Parnis. It's their homage/replica/ripoff of the IWC Portuguese.
I'm a sucker for those blue hands and indices.
How is the accuracy of the Seagull movement? Seagull! That's the greatest name in high fashion!!
cratz2
Addicted Member
Mine gains not quite a minute a day so definitely not quite the best but I think that's reasonable.
It's basically a sub-$100 knockoff watch that happens to have a much better than average (for the price/class) movement.
It is pretty loud. I knew that going in but in a closed door office setting it might be a dealbreaker for some folks.
It's basically a sub-$100 knockoff watch that happens to have a much better than average (for the price/class) movement.
It is pretty loud. I knew that going in but in a closed door office setting it might be a dealbreaker for some folks.
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SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
A minute a day? Fast is better than slow, I suppose. Eventually, they will get the movements right. Stunning the amount of work that went into making these:
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
I've been busting on Sea-Gull but it seems some of them are very good. Some watch forums are reporting accuracy of the ST36 movement to be as good as Certified Chronometer which IIRC is plus minus 3 seconds a day. My Parnis has a Sea-Gull but I don't which one. Anyways, it will be fun to test against atomic clock and a real example.
cratz2
Addicted Member
An unexpected plus of rotating between several automatic/mechanical watches is since I'm setting one about every other day, is that the accuracy is less important. If I wore a single one every day for a month, I might have to tweak it several times during that month.
My Omega gains about four or five seconds a day and it was just serviced two or three years ago. The servicing for that watch was five times what the Parnis cost so figuring price into the equation, the Parnis isn't too bad.
The first Invicta I bought used at a pawn shop for about $25 loses about a second a day. Better than any automatic I own.
I also have a Russian watch that I got for free with another watch that is within a couple seconds a day and it feels like a hunk of junk. Feels like I'm going to destroy the crown every time I pull it out.
My Omega gains about four or five seconds a day and it was just serviced two or three years ago. The servicing for that watch was five times what the Parnis cost so figuring price into the equation, the Parnis isn't too bad.
The first Invicta I bought used at a pawn shop for about $25 loses about a second a day. Better than any automatic I own.
I also have a Russian watch that I got for free with another watch that is within a couple seconds a day and it feels like a hunk of junk. Feels like I'm going to destroy the crown every time I pull it out.
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SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
Komandirskie 650841 looks like something 007's counterpart would wear. Owners report excellent accuracy. Cheap to begin with so not worth faking.
I've been reading up on 1:1 replicas. Some of them are very good with sapphire crystals and a version of Valjoux movement known as Asian 7750. It would be very hard to spot the difference at say a pawn shop.
I've been reading up on 1:1 replicas. Some of them are very good with sapphire crystals and a version of Valjoux movement known as Asian 7750. It would be very hard to spot the difference at say a pawn shop.
icenine
Super Member
Parnis is not a total joke, at least on Watchuseek.
Here's my latest. Was at JC Penny's yesterday and this Sekio Solar Chronograph popped out.They were having some crazy good sales. Talking to the very nice associate besides the 2 discounts she found another that brought it in under what most online discounters had it for. It's not their best movement but it sure is a looker in black and chrome. Supposed to be good for 15 seconds a month. It joins the Bulova Precisionist which is on it's second band. It's good for 15 seconds a year and the second hand looks like sweep but it's a bunch of very small movements, very cool. Then a Sekio Kentic also on it's second band which is worn while working and is so dang reliable. Last there's the LG smart watch that is another good looking cuss.
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I test all my watches against the Heathkit GC-1000 "Most Accurate Clock" every morning. My usual method is to choose the watch which is closest in seconds count to atomic time, though I have other criteria, including weather and whatnot. While I'm not anal-retentive enough to keep a chart of exactly how off they are from day to day, I generally notice certain ones being less accurate than others.
As far as my mechanical watches go, my 'new' Orient SK World Timer (or whatever they called it) seems to be the most accurate, off a second or two a day (not consistently + or -, but usually +). My Vostok Komandirskie is probably next, surprisingly, slow a few seconds or so a day. Possibly the slowest, surprisingly, is the Seiko 5 (7S26), losing 20 or so seconds a day while worn, then losing 10-20 seconds a day when not being worn. The Invicta diver is its polar opposite, gaining 20 or so seconds a day on average, while the Stauer is not far behind.
Among battery analog watches, my Bulova Accutron is about as accurate as you might expect, though it has been losing a few seconds a day for some time now. My Fossil quartz watch currently has a dead battery, but tended to lose only a second or two a day when it was working. I also have yet to replace the battery in my Seiko Kinetic, but it tended to gain a few seconds a day when working.
On the digital side of things, my new Casio AE-1200WH is the most accurate, gaining or losing a fraction of a second per day. Next up is the Casio DBC-1500, which gains a few seconds a day. Among the non-Casios, the TI3H LCD loses a second or two a day, its LED counterpart probably loses 4 or 5 seconds a day. The no-name NS movement LED watch gains a few seconds a day, though it was worse before I adjusted the screw under the battery cover. The radio-controlled watches tend to be extremely accurate seconds-wise, as you might expect, though the LaCrosse WT-967 is more prone to reception errors than the Casio DBC-W150, for whatever reason.
-Adam
As far as my mechanical watches go, my 'new' Orient SK World Timer (or whatever they called it) seems to be the most accurate, off a second or two a day (not consistently + or -, but usually +). My Vostok Komandirskie is probably next, surprisingly, slow a few seconds or so a day. Possibly the slowest, surprisingly, is the Seiko 5 (7S26), losing 20 or so seconds a day while worn, then losing 10-20 seconds a day when not being worn. The Invicta diver is its polar opposite, gaining 20 or so seconds a day on average, while the Stauer is not far behind.
Among battery analog watches, my Bulova Accutron is about as accurate as you might expect, though it has been losing a few seconds a day for some time now. My Fossil quartz watch currently has a dead battery, but tended to lose only a second or two a day when it was working. I also have yet to replace the battery in my Seiko Kinetic, but it tended to gain a few seconds a day when working.
On the digital side of things, my new Casio AE-1200WH is the most accurate, gaining or losing a fraction of a second per day. Next up is the Casio DBC-1500, which gains a few seconds a day. Among the non-Casios, the TI3H LCD loses a second or two a day, its LED counterpart probably loses 4 or 5 seconds a day. The no-name NS movement LED watch gains a few seconds a day, though it was worse before I adjusted the screw under the battery cover. The radio-controlled watches tend to be extremely accurate seconds-wise, as you might expect, though the LaCrosse WT-967 is more prone to reception errors than the Casio DBC-W150, for whatever reason.
-Adam
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cratz2
Addicted Member
Just about, yeah. As I'm winding them, I see how their seconds count compares to that of the GC-1000. I generally choose the one(s) which is closest in count to the GC-1000, and try to synchronize it as best I can. Not all of them have a hacking mechanism, which makes things a bit annoying sometimes, but I manage. Of course, I do have favorites which tend to see more use than others; I tend towards the Accutron on workdays, and the Orient's accuracy gives it an edge over my other mechanical watches.EVERY morning?
-Adam
Time nerd
cratz2
Addicted Member
I feel like a slacker.
When I get a new watch, I will wear it for a couple days and then check it against my radio controlled clock ONCE at a 24 hour interval. Then the ones I wear more often, I'll check it maybe two more times EVER!
My work has radio controlled bell alarms that go off at certain times so I might glance at whatever watch I'm wearing during a certain bell early in my shift and make a mental note of how close it is to my watch then check it again at one of the later bells.
I've got to step up my game!
When I get a new watch, I will wear it for a couple days and then check it against my radio controlled clock ONCE at a 24 hour interval. Then the ones I wear more often, I'll check it maybe two more times EVER!
My work has radio controlled bell alarms that go off at certain times so I might glance at whatever watch I'm wearing during a certain bell early in my shift and make a mental note of how close it is to my watch then check it again at one of the later bells.
I've got to step up my game!
What can I say, I'm a time nerd.I feel like a slacker.
When I get a new watch, I will wear it for a couple days and then check it against my radio controlled clock ONCE at a 24 hour interval. Then the ones I wear more often, I'll check it maybe two more times EVER!
My work has radio controlled bell alarms that go off at certain times so I might glance at whatever watch I'm wearing during a certain bell early in my shift and make a mental note of how close it is to my watch then check it again at one of the later bells.
I've got to step up my game!
Really, though, I prefer my watches to be as close to correct as possible, since I'm not one of those folks who uses a cellphone as their primary timepiece. I don't synchronize all of my watches every morning, but I at least keep an eye on how far out from 'atomic time' they are when winding them. I have the GC-1000 facing my bed, and I occasionally use WWV or CHU on shortwave to double-check its displayed time when it seems like it hasn't gotten its bearings in awhile.Anyway, I think that timing monitoring and occasional synchronization is doubly important with mechanical watches, especially older ones, since they tend to drift quite a bit more than their quartz brethren. Also, the amount of drift can change due to environmental factors, or possible positional issues. Left unchecked, this can lead to a watch ending up minutes off from the actual time, which can be an issue when you're expected to be in a certain place at a certain time.
-Adam
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
I lurk on Watchuseek. Great site and an interesting community over there. I think the rule over there is you can talk about Parnis and the 1:1's but you cannot promote them. Fair enough. Getting into watch collecting is a far different prospect that getting into audio. In audio, there is some ebay and CL risk but it is manageable. In fact it is very possible to flip your way into a great audio collection. There will be no flippering into a great watch collection. Building a watch collection requires a lot of knowledge and caution. I've researched the 1:1's and some of them are very hard to spot. Some of them have Asian versions of OEM swiss movement. Some of them feature sapphire crystals which is almost always an OEM feature. And it gets worse or more interesting depending on perspective. It used to be that opening the back would be definitive. There are modders who add OEM recognition features to the movement so that the copy is nearly indistinguishable from the original.
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
What can I say, I'm a time nerd.
Anyway, I think that timing monitoring and occasional synchronization is doubly important with mechanical watches, especially older ones, since they tend to drift quite a bit more than their quartz brethren. Also, the amount of drift can change due to environmental factors, or possible positional issues. Left unchecked, this can lead to a watch ending up minutes off from the actual time, which can be an issue when you're expected to be in a certain place at a certain time.
-Adam
I just ordered one of these. All good time nerds and watch geeks will know what these are for.
RickeyM
Addicted Member
I worked in a pawn shop once. A guy brought in a "Rolex" and the manager had me take a look at it. Reason being I had several yrs. more experience than him. I looked and told him the first thing they tell us in training is that if it isn't perfect, it isn't a Rolex. I told him it wasn't perfect, he took it in anyway. Of course it turned out to be fake. As they say on Facebook, SMH.
My current favorite is my Citizen Blue Angel. A neat feature it has is automatic time setting.
My current favorite is my Citizen Blue Angel. A neat feature it has is automatic time setting.
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SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
I have no idea how pawn shops can authenticate on the spot. For the newb, replicas are near impossible to spot and those rated "super replica" in a popular "homage" forum would take an expert to know. Anyways, I am still trying to authenticate my latest buy. I have not found anything in my watch that says fake. Some days I think mine is good but other days I have my doubts. I will eventually have a look at the movement but even those are being decorated to look genuine. Interestingly, the "homage" forums know more about year to year production changes than legit sites.
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