No flight is leaving without me, no assassination will be botched. I kind of share this OCD while also knowing that it really just doesn’t matter. When a stopped mechanical can only be set to within half a minute to begin with, barring absurd efforts, it’s hard to care. When I hear digital hourly chimes straying by a few seconds, it bugs me. I could rant about how the exactness of digital is maddening and the sloppiness of unhacking watches with lackluster power reserves is liberating. For mechanical, I expect that it’ll wind down within a week or so, and the ability to stay within a minute or two for a week is good enough. I expect quartz to be set exclusively at daylight saving time changeovers, and a deviation of more than a minute and a half or so over that approximate half year is deemed unsatisfactory. Getting experience with a few mechanical watches made me more tolerant, as none are that bad, and it’s just a whole different game unless you actually keep them consistently wound for multiple months, which I don’t. I am generally one that loves to gloat over the superiority of quartz. If accuracy is your thing, you can find your bliss at all price points. Whether comparing mechanical to quartz, mechanical to mechanical, or quartz to quartz, your mileage may vary, regardless of the price paid. Even so, I think it’s safe to say there’s no direct correlation between watch price and watch accuracy. This brief and not-particularly-scientific survey of watch accuracy didn’t include HAQ or thermo-compensated quartz watches, or a wide range of high end mechanical pieces (don’t get RF started on tourbillons). The $260 watch is accurate to +0.38 s/d, which is less accurate than my Rolex (see first chart). My G-Shock GST-S300G is my most expensive non-atomic Casio. The $25 Casio “Royale” AE-1200WH averaged -0.12 s/d or 3.6 seconds per month accuracy, or 43.8 seconds per year. My second most accurate Casio is also the cheapest. The Duro costs about $50 on Amazon (no commission on link). That’s +3.3 seconds per month or +39.6 seconds per year. Out of my three Duros, the best of the bunch clocks in at +0.11 s/d. The leader of the pack: the venerable and vaunted Casio MDV-106 Duro. The cheapest Casios in my collection are the most accurate. In my admittedly small and seemingly random sample, watch accuracy seems inversely correlated to price. It easily outperforms my COSC “Swiss Chronometer” Breitling. The Lum-Tec delivers an astonishing sub-second per day accuracy. It’s powered by a pedestrian Miyota 9015 automatic movement. The Lum-Tec 300-M3 ($795) is my least expensive auto. While it’s true that my most expensive watch is the most accurate, the differences between them are far from proportional. The following sample includes three automatic watches (’cause that’s how many I own). That done, let’s take a look at this from the price/accuracy perspective, asking the tough questions. Geneva’s favorite son refutes the notion that “any quartz will keep better time than a Rolex.” The Rolex is also more accurate than my second worst Casio, a recent G-SHOCK model. Paired against my five worst performing Casios, the Rolex is the more accurate watch.
Considering the fact that the Rolex is a purely mechanical watch (driven by a spring), losing a third of a second per day is truly remarkable. The Yachtmaster was accurate to -0.35 s/d, or about -10.5 seconds per month.
Over the course of 15 weeks, my Rollie beat the standard by a mile. A Rolex so labeled is guaranteed accurate to -2/+2 seconds per day. Rolex uses their own accuracy testing protocol: the Superlative Chronometer Standard. It clocks-in at 0.48 s/d, right at the edge of Casio’s best case 15 seconds per month accuracy claim. My worst performing Casio: a vintage G-Shock G-7800 Super Square ( below). As you can see, my Casios exceed the manufacturer’s accuracy claim. The data above was gleaned from my personal collection. Using the best case of 15 seconds per month, Casios average 0.5 seconds per day (s/d). Is it true? What about the reverse? Does more money buy you greater accuracy? Put on your best water resistant watch and join me for a data dive into the strange world of watch accuracy.ĭepending on the model, Casio claims their battery powered watches achieve +/- 15 to 20 seconds accuracy per month. “A Rolex will never be as accurate as a cheap quartz watch.” That’s a commonly held belief by people who sniff at expensive automatic watches.
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