TAG ACCURACY

[sbkittrell]

I bought my first Swiss watch about five weeks ago, a TAG Formula 1 Caliber 16. I wear it daily and place it in an upright position at night when I go to bed. At first it averaged gaining 7-8 seconds over 24 hours, which I thought was great. That was almost within C.O.S.C. standards. Now it seems to have settled and gains about 3.5 seconds over 24 hours, which I think is REALLY awesome! I hope it keeps improving.

I bought another TAG last week, a quartz Aquaracer but that's another story. I am interested in hearing about the accuracy of some of you other guys' TAGs.

 

[WernerBoeinck]

sbkittrell

I bought my first Swiss watch about five weeks ago, a TAG Formula 1 Caliber 16. I wear it daily and place it in an upright position at night when I go to bed. At first it averaged gaining 7-8 seconds over 24 hours, which I thought was great. That was almost within C.O.S.C. standards. Now it seems to have settled and gains about 3.5 seconds over 24 hours, which I think is REALLY awesome! I hope it keeps improving.

I bought another TAG last week, a quartz Aquaracer but that's another story. I am interested in hearing about the accuracy of some of you other guys' TAGs.

I bought an Aquaracer Quartz ca. 12 years ago. Every three years it needs a new battery. Time is corrected twice a year,
when we change from summer- to winter-time in Europe.
This is completely sufficient. You do not really need a
radio-controlled watch. However, the seconds hand of a
mechanical watch moves much more elegant..

 

[dsio]

The 7750 that the Calibre 16 is based upon is a very common and widely used movement but its also remarkably good, they have a reputation for being both extremely robust and highly accurate over long periods of time so I'm not surprised by those figures.

There are many watchmakers I know that consider 7750 derived calibers their favourite to work on and very highly recommend them.

 

[Oksana]

1. What does placing it in an upright position at night do? I'm new to the Tag Heuer, thus in the learning stage.
2. What do you use as a reference to check accuracy?
Thanks much.

 

[sbkittrell]

I am also new to TAG Heuer and automatic watches in general. The F1 is my first. Before I bought it, I did some research on automatic watch accuracy online. Several watch forums said that the position you put the watch in when you take it off at night can effect accuracy. One forum said it was due to gravity but I am as far from an expert as you can get. I tried several positions and the upright position seems to have a beneficial effect on my watch's accuracy. They also said that the accuracy of many automatic watches improves after "settling" over several months. Mine has so I guess they were right. I guess it really doesn't matter that much. I also have a quartz Aquaracer and a Seiko Prospex Quartz and sometimes I check the F1 against one of them.

To check the exact time I use this link.
http://www.time.gov/

Some of the real experts here may be able to fill you in more than I can.

Edited: Jun 11, 2016

 

[Oksana]

Thanks. To clarify, upright is face pointing skyward/sitting flat on table? I have used the time.gov to set computers, but with ISP lag, even with 150 mbps, I'm never sure of accuracy. I remember dialing time in the past.

 

[sbkittrell]

Upright like this. That website is the only one I use. It may be off a second or so but I just do it for fun.

 

[dtf]

dsio

The 7750 that the Calibre 16 is based upon is a very common and widely used movement but its also remarkably good, they have a reputation for being both extremely robust and highly accurate over long periods of time so I'm not surprised by those figures.

Not my experience at all, my calibre16 was gaining about 40s a day after I wore it cycling in downtown seattle. Really not very reliable, unless you treat it with kid-gloves. Im now super-paranoid about damaging the accuracy of my automatic watches, so Im very careful to take them off before I do anything that may cause vibration. My Calibre 16 aquaracer gains about 4s/day after TAG repaired it, which is accurate enough that I dont notice it, it would take over a month of that inaccuracy to add up to anything to make me realise that my watch is wrong, and by that time the watch will have stopped because I'm wearing one of my others, or been reset because Im travelling.

So in conclusion 'accurate enough'. Now my Aquaracer Quartz, that really ticks the accuracy box. Spec is something like 10s/month, reality is more like 1-2s/month. Much more durable too.

 

[dsio]

You must have been very unlucky, I literally can't think of a mechanical watch more durable than a 7750, and its extremely unlikely cycling itself did anything to it without your arm being broken in the process.

 

[sbkittrell]

4 seconds a day sounds great to me now that you have had it serviced. I also have an Aquaracer Quartz and you are right about how accurate they are. I wear it for activities like running or golf and I love it. I also wear a Seiko Prospex sometimes. But I wear the F1 Caliber 16 95% of the time and I don't take any special precautions with it. I understood when I bought it (my first automatic watch) that the accuracy would never equal a quartz watch. I wanted a watch that was a precise mechanical machine even if it wasn't as precise as a quartz. I also liked the way the automatic and/or mechanical watch second hands kind of sweep instead of ticking. But I agree that gaining 40 seconds a day is unacceptable. The good news for you was that it was also unacceptable to TAG Heuer and they corrected it for you.

 

[dtf]

Yeah I am happy with the accuracy of it now - its accurate enough that I dont notice the inaccuracy, but it has made me very paranoid about how I wear it and what I wear it for. My concern is the durability once it is out of warranty - look at the cost of having them serviced and you will also get pretty paranoid!

Im 99% sure it was the vibration from cycling on the terrible city streets on a rigid rental bike, I wondered at the time if it might be magnetic damage from airport security, but I talked to a lot of other people who fly a lot, none of whom have had any issues.

I do love my automatic watches, and have bought another since I damaged the accuracy of my cal16, but I regard them more as art and less as a tool. Any future watches I buy will be automatic too, I really don't see myself buying any more quartz watches, unless TAG released a twin-time quartz carrera...

 

[dsio]

I can assure you vibration from cycling isn't going to cause damage to a 7750 it may have been magnetised by something like an iPad cover but it certainly wasn't from riding a bike.

 

[sbkittrell]

I have read that airport metal detectors will commonly magnetize an automatic watch and effect accuracy. I also read that it is an easy and quick fix. TAG says in their manual that strong magnets can effect the watch and recommends keeping them away from magnetic sources. Just part of owning an automatic watch in my opinion

 

[Pitfitter446]

I don't take my watch off at night, is this a bad thing?

 

[dsio]

Pitfitter446

I don't take my watch off at night, is this a bad thing?

Depends what you do in your sleep