# 7s26 ?



## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

I know less than [email protected]@er all about the actual mechanics of a watch movement, so here are the questions :teethsmile: ..

Can the 7s26 be regulated to start with ?

How accurate could it possibly be when done ?

Is it worth what it would cost ?

I realise most don't seem too fussed about accuracy of an auto, and I didn't think I was really, but wearing my beloved SKX (which was my first auto, and still one of my favourite watches) for a few days recently made me realise, that setting it a full minute too fast in order to account for the amount of time it loses over a few days of wearing ... actually does bother me a bit :sadwalk:

It kinda feels like a Micky Mouse piece compared to just about all my other watches simply because of its poor time keeping  .. and its obviously not .. its a lovely watch, and arguably a bit of a modern dive classic in many reviews/opinions! .. so hence the questions above.

TBH, I don't think its losing much more time than it did when I first got it, and I know these have a mahooooosive accuracy range indicated by Seiko, so its probably within that still I guess, but I have to say, as the years of loving watches have gone by, and my small gaggle of watches has grown, I have become a little obsessed with making sure the watch I'm wearing isn't much more than a few seconds out (or in the case of digi/quartz, smack on!)


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## gimli (Mar 24, 2016)

Yes it can be regulated. You can probably get it to within +/- 5 seconds per day but you'd have to get it properly serviced.

It's a mass produced movement and not a Swiss one either so... they're not that special, yes, but good accuracy can be achieved.


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## ong (Jul 31, 2008)

I believe its possible to regulate a Seiko 7S26 movement to achieve better accuracy. The ones I've owned have tended to lose around 15 secs a day. This was OK with me before I discovered Chronometer grade movements and 28 800 vph. After that the 7S26 with its non hacking and comparatively slow vph looked a bit agricultural although I can still see the attraction.


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

Cheers guys, it wont stop me wearing it obviously, but I have another auto with a mass produced Jap workhorse movement, and that achieves a much better accuracy (which is acceptable to me if I could bring myself to wear it more!) ... rhymes with "inshmikta" :blush: .. :tongue:

I would actually really like an accurate SKX :thumbsup: (not two words usually in the same sentence :laugh: )


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

My 7009 and my 7S26 both gain about 26s a day ... should I have them regulated? Sure. Do I need them to be? Nope. :shrug: Could they be when I need it? Of course. Maybe even try myself (though the diver would need pressure testing afterwards).


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## longplay (Sep 27, 2017)

If you're inclined to get it regulated, you may wish to consider swapping it out for an NH35 to get hacking and hand-winding while at it.


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## PC-Magician (Apr 29, 2013)

The 7s26 is a robust and reliable movement capable of going at least a decade before a service is required, as regards regulation yes it can be done but I would suggest best done on a timegrapher a plus or minus of 5 seconds can be acheived as long as the movement is in good order.


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## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

yes.

very.

free - if you do it yourself (although a bit fiddly if you don't have a time-o-graph-measure-the-ticking-gizmomajig but still doable with a little patience)

:thumbsup:


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

longplay said:


> If you're inclined to get it regulated, you may wish to consider swapping it out for an NH35 to get hacking and hand-winding while at it.


 Is there an NH35 available as a direct replacement for the SKX ? .. I have a cheapo Invicta as mentioned above with the NH35A, but that's date only, and crown at 3, rather than day/date, and crown between 3 and 4 like the SKX .. guessing they do different configurations of the NH35 :huh:



Rotundus said:


> yes.
> 
> very.
> 
> ...


 Ooooo, ahhhhh, see .. the last two words of your post kinda counts me out my friend :laugh:


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Someone sells an app for iOS that you can lay a watch on a EarPod microphone and the app will pick up the ticks and display a timegrapher-like display. Yeah. Right. Uh-huh. :hmmm9uh:


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

Sounds kinda cool if it works :huh:


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## Rotundus (May 7, 2012)

Andy300 said:


> Ooooo, ahhhhh, see .. the last two words of your post kinda counts me out my friend :laugh:


 wimp


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## longplay (Sep 27, 2017)

Andy300 said:


> Is there an NH35 available as a direct replacement for the SKX ? .. I have a cheapo Invicta as mentioned above with the NH35A, but that's date only, and crown at 3, rather than day/date, and crown between 3 and 4 like the SKX .. guessing they do different configurations of the NH35 :huh:


 It's not quite drop-in, as you need a different stem, but you can just turn the movement to align the crown to 4 and re-fit the dial.

https://seikoparts.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/supercharge-your-skx007-with-a-nh35/


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

longplay said:


> It's not quite drop-in, as you need a different stem, but you can just turn the movement to align the crown to 4 and re-fit the dial.
> 
> https://seikoparts.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/supercharge-your-skx007-with-a-nh35/


 Cheers for the link and info :thumbsup:

Not having any experience in taking watches apart, or the right tools, patience, or dexterity .. I don't think I'd tackle this on a watch I want to keep :wink:

It has however made me want to at least get a price to have it done! though would it be possible to see your NH35, and raise you to a 6R15 ?? :whistling: is that even doable in an SKX case ??


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## ziggy1024 (Dec 18, 2017)

If you're contemplating a movement swap anyway, why not have a go at regulating the 7S26 yourself first? What's the worst that could happen?!

Given that it sounds like it reliably loses time (as opposed to sometimes gaining), I can see no reason you shouldn't be able to improve it significantly with a little patience...


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

When ya put it like that, with such an eejit proof pic .. that might just be an option :wink: though I'd need to know the rough cost of the movement transplant first, in case it all went horribly wrong :baby:

Is it literally just pushing that little "thing" with a tool ? if so, are we talking like a millimetre or so ?? :hmmm9uh:


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## ziggy1024 (Dec 18, 2017)

Andy300 said:


> When ya put it like that, with such an eejit proof pic .. that might just be an option :wink: though I'd need to know the rough cost of the movement transplant first, in case it all went horribly wrong :baby:
> 
> Is it literally just pushing that little "thing" with a tool ? if so, are we talking like a millimetre or so ?? :hmmm9uh:


 Simple as that! @simon2 will tell you all about how much it'll cost to fix it, but unless the tool you chose looks like this:










...you're really not going to go far wrong!

I'd take a photo of where it's initially set and keep track of how much time it's actually losing (there's an Android app called WatchCheck that'll make that really simple) so you can see how much difference you're making, but yeah ~1mm would probably be a good start...


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## simon2 (Dec 5, 2010)

For your time error. i would move the regulator about 1/10th of a millimetre away from the stud. Then run the watch for a few days and reassess its accuracy. several small adjustments are better than one large one, as you may go past the point you are aiming for. Hope this helps.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Andy300 said:


> I know less than [email protected]@er all about the actual mechanics of a watch movement, so here are the questions :teethsmile: ..
> 
> Can the 7s26 be regulated to start with ?
> 
> ...


 Yes they can be regulated quite well I have had a few which have run at +/- 10 seconds but seldom better than that, the other thing I find affects timekeeping is how well wound they are, unlike most automatics you can't easily give it a top up by winding the crown, so I always give it a good oscillate in the morning :biggrin:


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

JoT said:


> so I always give it a good oscillate in the morning :biggrin: ﻿


 Too much info dude .. too much info .. :laugh:


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## ronlee (May 24, 2018)

I got unlucky with a 7s26. Sent it back and they replaced the movement under warranty but it acted up again after a couple of weeks.


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## Andy300 (Feb 1, 2018)

ronlee said:


> I got unlucky with a 7s26. Sent it back and they replaced the movement under warranty but it acted up again after a couple of weeks.


 Bummer! .. that's gotta be quite unusual for one of these "tractors" :huh: .. let alone 2 :hmmm9uh:


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