So I got the happy news that my Aquaracer 500m Chrono will be back with me next week, after spending the last month being repaired. It was gaining about a minute/day, which the dealer agreed was a bit rubbish, hopefully it will all be sorted now. Im fairly sure its my fault that it was gaining so much time, I either damaged it with vibrations while cycling on the terrible roads in seattle, or magnetised it while going through airport security. However, both of these are pretty normal activities for me, and the question is should I stop looking at other automatic watches because they aren't compatible with my life? I love watches and plan to buy a few more, but I'm now paranoid that I will keep destroying the accuracy with vibration or metal detectors. Cutting back on the vibration is achievable, as I can ditch my watch when cycling, but limiting myself to just a quartz watch while traveling seems like a waste.
The killer is vibrations. Most airport detectors are OK for watches (or so they tell me!), but cycling with a mechanical watch and all those vibrations being channeled through the handle bars would cause issues over time. Quartz time!