# Bizzare IWC chrono fault



## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Hello everyone  I hope you find this story amusing...

I bought the IW378901 a couple of weeks ago from a used watch retailer here in the south. It is 5-6 years old.

Worked great for a few days. 4 seconds a day slow, which is within what I believe is the 6 sec/day spec. I was really pleased.

Then I went skiing... Didn't fall off and didn't bang the watch and didn't do anything odd to it.

Later that day, I noticed it had gained about 20 mins! It was immediately obvious that it is running 4 secs per minute fast.

After some hours it sorted itself out. I don't know if it did it by itself or if it was me re-setting the time.

Then it was running 4 secs a day fast  Still in spec... not bad for a ETA 7750 movement (albeit IWC-modified) which on a Fortis watch I have had for a few years manages to lose half a minute a day and one watchmaker (Hove, Sussex) won't touch it, saying it is in spec and he is a Master Watchmaker who "there aren't many of us left, you know" charges £1500/hr... so... and Fortis sent me a patronising email telling me it is a great piece of machinery and nothing in the universe is perfect, etc, and this was a major reason why I went looking for a more accurate mechanical watch and for other reasons specifically this one.

The next day, another 2hrs of skiing and again the same. This time I established that using the stopwatch on it doesn't fix the issue, and neither does winding. But it still fixed itself by the next day, just sitting there (I stopped wearing it).

But I managed to get this video which proves it






Now it runs 20 secs a day fast - no good for this watch. Obviously it is useless because you have to keep checking it against a phone 

I bought it on the condition that it gets a full service, with all new seals (I swim almost daily). This was done by a watchmaker in the SW UK, who does trade work. It has a 12 month warranty on it.

The problem, of course, with any warranty situation is that the fault is intermittent. The shop could just send it back to that trade watch guy to fix the 20 sec error and give it back to me and I am screwed. It is entirely possible that the fault has been there with the previous owner - it is intermittent enough to sell the watch and get away with it.

Also I want to keep the watch. They don't come up often and those that do, at the right price, won't have been serviced. The price I paid was reasonable, but not reasonable if I have to pay say 3k to get it fixed properly. Also (I am an engineer) I know damn well that a "service" for say £200, trade, is just a quick look inside, some tweaks, but not the complete disassembly and examination of every part which IWC claim to do. Most watchmakers also don't change the seals because they can't get them unless they are official dealers (been around that loop before a couple of times, with the Fortis).

I contacted IWC who will not comment on how much it might cost to fix. You just get useless boilerplate replies. They told me on the phone (IWC London) that nobody there who knows about watches can be contacted... They do publish a service price list which, IF I got the right category (not sure), is about £500 for a full service, and presumably this is plus any parts. When this watch was new it was about 8k so this could be a black hole.

But my view is that unless it is fully done by IWC, the watch will be for ever suspect.

What would you do, and can any watchmakers comment on the likely fault? I read on an IWC forum (which is broken, funnily enough) that this can be caused by a "severe shock" which wraps the spring around some pin, and that a watchmaker has to fix it. Well, this one fixes itself, but it leaves you with a large error.

Any input would be much appreciated.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The 4 secs per minute (per minute) error is not a matter of adjustment. It is something else. It is something loose inside the watch, something damaged, or whatever...

These watches are marketed as pretty solid.

I have another 7750 based watch which has been hit, banged, dented all over, and it is still going.


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

hi, as someone who services these day in day out its most likely I'm my opinion to be either magnetism or a sticky balance spring, the latter seems more likely as this would explain the intermittence of the issue, a, and the fact it has not received a shock before hand. Typically service from IWC would be estimated for and any additional movement parts (wheels, plates, etc) are covered in the initial estimate, if any issues are found with any part or the watch AFTER the estimate has been accepted its IWC who pay


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Interesting. Would you say that a sticky spring could be triggered by a rapid movement, as in swinging one's arm around?

It is a dramatic error - about 7% fast.


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## harryblakes7 (Oct 1, 2010)

Yes i would go with sticky hairspring as well, sometimes tiny droplets of oil do fly about inside there......

A full service should be a full strip back to the movement plates, a full clean of all compoenents, a close inspection of all parts, and a full assemble and lubrication according to what is required, usually three different types of oils.... which is what i do....

There are a few cowboys out there who wash it in a bucket of petrol and hope for the best but thankfully they are few and far between :swoon:


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

Peter-H said:


> Interesting. Would you say that a sticky spring could be triggered by a rapid movement, as in swinging one's arm around?
> 
> It is a dramatic error - about 7% fast.


 it would cause the coils to stick to one and other, effectively changing the length of the spring to wherever along it is sticking


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Many thanks for the replies.

The curious thing is that this watch has just had a service. I have the bit of paper










The letterhead shows just a mobile number and a "farm" address so it looks like a small outfit.

At a guess, the shop made 20% (1k) and perhaps paid out £200 on this service.

My plan is to take it back (a big hassle to travel back to the shop) and get it serviced again but if this sort of thing (excess oil, or maybe debris?) was missed, what will happen next? A watch which randomly goes into a 7% fast mode is useless. I am pretty sure the shop won't pay for an IWC service (I do want the seals done) because that might wipe out their margin.

OTOH I feel there can't be much wrong since it works otherwise. Unlike the Traser above whose stopwatch takes about 2 seconds to start moving, despite having just had a service by Traser UK after I told them of the problem


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I found these two on the internet. Do they sound plausible?

This can come from 3 things.
- Very high magnetism.
- The hairspring that got caught behind the regulating pins after a serious shock on the watch.
- A too high amplitude (which seems unlikely given the fact that the watch is more than 3 years old).

If a watch gets magnetized, it's usually the parts receiving the least force that are going to create problems. You could magnetize the mainspring alone as much as you want it would probably do nothing to the rate of the watch since that specific part delivers a huge amount of force. Escape wheel on the contrary are really sensitive to magnetism.

Anyway, just pay a visit to your local IWC watchmaker and he'll tell you what's wrong right away.

***

When the hairspring gets caught the sound of the ticks can sound wrong that it has a sound like a full tick and then a double speed tick. If you are right about the 4-5 secs per minute your watch will be out 108 minutes approx. in 24 hours. Having spent too much time years ago in the service department of a watch company I was shown various issues that occur in watches. This one is a simple procedure to identify and correct but I doubt the service departments will let it pass without a service with resultant time away.
If it's within the guarantee period (2 years) just put it in for a service.


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## gimli (Mar 24, 2016)

What is the watch's water resistance ? I'm not sure if this one is as tight as you might expect.

Also, some watches can't handle extreme (cold or hot) temperatures/mediums. Just saying...

If the watch was magnetized it would be losing many more minutes or even hours PER DAY.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

According to http://watchbase.com/iwc/pilot/iw3789-01 it is 60m. This should be OK for washing and swimming. I have never had any watch leak, not even a £10 "50m" Casio.

The watch would not have got cold - it was on my wrist under a coat. Maybe down to +10C... You would really feel a piece of cold steel there.

The above posts from the IWC forum (which is currently broken) are from c. 2016 and that watch also "fixed itself" after some hours.

I don't believe the magnetisation explanation because why would it fix itself, run fine (well, slightly faster than before) and then do it again a day or two later.

Can anyone work out the IWC service cost? Their price list is here https://www.iwc.com/content/dam/service/service-prices/Service_Prices_CHF.pdf but I am not sure of the categories. IWC have not commented either - a useless company organised to look very posh.

Is there an Edit Post button on this forum? I can't find one


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## it'salivejim (Jan 19, 2013)

You have rights. Return it, ask for it to be fixed or refunded. If they don't fix the problem at the first attempt, demand a refund. The watch isn't fit for purpose.

That said, I wouldn't think skiing is much good for it, especially if you do a lot of falling off


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

Peter-H said:


> Many thanks for the replies.
> 
> The curious thing is that this watch has just had a service. I have the bit of paper
> 
> ...


 Unless the full service was from iwc the warranty is with whoever did the service. Not iwc. Also if anyone hasn't been inside the watch between and iwc service and now the warranty will be voided as someone could have been buggaring around in there.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Thanks everyone. I will take it back to the shop and see what they offer.

As regards skiing, how can a watch advertised for "action" like this one be unsuitable for skiing? Are these 8k (new price) watches really so flimsy that one needs to take them off if doing anything more than walking around?

I have a phone call today with IWC who were completely unhelpful. Just a woman saying the same standard phrases. No meaningful conversation is possible.


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

Peter-H said:


> Thanks everyone. I will take it back to the shop and see what they offer.
> 
> As regards skiing, how can a watch advertised for "action" like this one be unsuitable for skiing? Are these 8k (new price) watches really so flimsy that one needs to take them off if doing anything more than walking around?
> 
> I have a phone call today with IWC who were completely unhelpful. Just a woman saying the same standard phrases. No meaningful conversation is possible.


 That would have been amina then. She's isn't helpful. The issue is bad cleaning last service rather than the watch not being suitable for skiiing


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Thomas - can any independent watchmaker do a proper service on this watch, including the seals? It's a straight Q.

IWC seem to charge about 2x for theirs, but obviously one would expect them to do a proper job, no shortcuts like not changing something because you can't obtain it. I just get miffed at their unwillingness to have any meaningful conversation. I did manage to extract from her that a "watchmaker" saw the video but it sounded like their legal team barred any representative indication of costs for what this is likely to be. She was also totally clueless about what this watch was, when I asked about the appropriate service price list category. She found it eventually, just under £500 plus parts. I told her that if it costs 2k to fix it it is pointless. She sort of said some repairs do cost 2k, at which point I explained (yet again, and obviously she never looked at anything previous) that this is a working watch, not one which got run over by a lorry  Can a spring or some part like that cost 2k? That would make these watches a ridiculous poser hobby which I am sure these particular ones aren't. The 7750 movement is renowned for being really robust.


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## ong (Jul 31, 2008)

If it helps, I had an IWC pilots 3717 that had been botched by a previous service before I bought it. In my case it was the day date mechanism that had been bodge mended. IWC charged me around £500 but this involved a full service and crystal replacement as well as a case refurb. It came back looking and working like new. If I was you I'd either get IWC to sort the issues or take the watch back for a refund.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Many thanks Ong. The shop agreed to send it, at their cost, to Watchfinder which is apparently an authorised IWC repair shop. So I will see what happens. It is interesting and positive that your £500 repair included some parts.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The shop actually sent it to the previous watch repair place, and they swear blindly it was perfect when they sent it out. I am sure it was! I don't know if they saw the video; many people seem to have a total disconnect between different bits of information and their meaning... but with an intermittent issue, it is a real problem. The shop is now finally going to send it to Watchfinder. He's not happy to pay for two "services". I could go for a refund (which I am sure he won't want to do because deep down he knows there is something wrong with the watch so if he sells it to someone else that might come back to haunt him) but if this process is duly completed, and the shop doesn't go bust during the 8+ weeks it will take to do it, I will end up with a properly serviced watch, which is not normally what one gets when buying secondhand.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Peter-H said:


> ... and one watchmaker (Hove, Sussex) won't touch it, saying it is in spec and he is a Master Watchmaker who "there aren't many of us left, you know" charges £1500/hr... so...


 :rofl:

...











Peter-H said:


> Many thanks Ong. The shop agreed to send it, at their cost, to Watchfinder which is apparently an authorised IWC repair shop. So I will see what happens. It is interesting and positive that your £500 repair included some parts.





Peter-H said:


> The shop actually sent it to the previous watch repair place, and they swear blindly it was perfect when they sent it out. I am sure it was! I don't know if they saw the video; many people seem to have a total disconnect between different bits of information and their meaning... but with an intermittent issue, it is a real problem. The shop is now finally going to send it to Watchfinder. He's not happy to pay for two "services". I could go for a refund (which I am sure he won't want to do because deep down he knows there is something wrong with the watch so if he sells it to someone else that might come back to haunt him) but if this process is duly completed, and the shop doesn't go bust during the 8+ weeks it will take to do it, I will end up with a properly serviced watch, which is not normally what one gets when buying secondhand.


 Ho-ho, did I read this right? The shop told you they'd send it to Watchfinder (Watchfinder & Co?) for repair, ... and then instead they sent it to the shop that may've botched it, got it back, then sent to Watchfinder? :sign_wtf:

I'd be very critical of anything else this seller/storefront did from now on. To the point of asking for full refund if it's not sorted out. Let them rip off other customers.

Lovely watch, BTW. I'm envious.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I have spoken to the original watchmaker and got some interesting input. He says he has serviced some 5 figure number of these ETA movements. He said (I hope that the watchmakers here will recognise this) that sometimes the spring is too strong and causes some oscillating component to rotate too far. Normally the rotation is supposed to be 320 degrees or less but if it reaches about 340 it can "double-tap" on something and then you get a watch running massively fast. This condition can be created by a rapid acceleration of the watch. A certain "pilot fashion watch" brand (not IWC) suffer a lot from over-strong springs they fit to their modified ETA movements. The original spring on this watch was doing 325 degrees. He will change the spring and I am happy to give it another go, on another ski trip. He seems to know about the different types of oil and such. If it doesn't work, it will go to IWC...


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## MyrridinEmrys (Sep 27, 2017)

Peter-H said:


> He said (I hope that the watchmakers here will recognise this) that sometimes the spring is too strong and causes some oscillating component to rotate too far.


 I believe this condition is known as 'rapping' - not to be confused with that awful row considered music by some. :biggrin:


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## simon2 (Dec 5, 2010)

A to high amplitude causes a condition known as, " knocking". The impulse pin bangs against the back of the pallet, horns.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Could that be triggered by a fast hand movement and would it account for 3-4 seconds per minute error?


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## simon2 (Dec 5, 2010)

Could cause a fast hand movement and a rapid time error, I would check that the barrel wall is clean and the slip-spring is correctly lubricated. And that the correct strength mainspring has been fitted. Hope this helps.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I got it back and now it is running better than 1 second out per day! Time to test it on another ski trip


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

4 days of skiing later and it is running about 1.5 seconds fast per day.

I haven't come off or hit anything but there is the normal range of "active arm motion", and the shock applied to the watch when planting the poles in the snow which right now is rock hard.

It looks like it has been fixed, but of course I don't know if the watchmaker did just the said spring.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

A few months later, the fault has returned...






Apologies for the malformed video.

It is doing 3 seconds per minute, as before. This time, working back from the +30 mins error, this gives roughly 10 hours of fast running, so it started yesterday evening when I was just walking around the house, so no skiing or anything like that. Also I noticed it when I woke up so it has been doing it while I was sleeping for the most recent 7 of the 10 hours. And it was still doing it while I operated the stopwatch to make the above video just now.

What is my best option?

Originally the watch shop offered to send it to Watchfinder which is an IWC service agent and they would do it for something like 500 quid (probably less to him as he is trade). He would not send it to IWC since they won't ever quote a price for anything; I had some correspondence with them about this, and they saw the previous video, and were very cagey about saying anything.

Many thanks for any tips. This watch, which cost a few k, is basically a piece of junk because a sun dial in UK weather is more reliable


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## stdape (Mar 9, 2018)

I am only an amateur compared to most, but paying that price for a watch which is like that i would send it back. I have seen cheap watches perform better. (Mainly because i can not afford an expensive Watch  )


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I might try that; I think it came with a 1 year warranty. However it is "only" a mechanical watch so whatever is causing this must be visually evident if one looks in the right place. The watchmaker who last worked on it (and apparently fixed it, until now) thinks it may be magnetised.

However (I can't edit my post above) there is no right to a refund in the UK, AFAIK, after a certain time. All you get is a repair.

Just looked it up: it is up to 30 days only.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

You said you bought it in February, pre-owned, and it came ... with what kind of warranty? You discovered a fault within 30 days, so it was repaired by the shop?

Depending upon your local laws, you might still be entitled to a return for refund due to you finding fault within the 30 day return window, if the shop insisted on repair instead of a refund. Jonny or one of the other retail boffins could tell you more assuredly. For myself, if it had required two repairs within 90 days of purchase, I'd be pretty chafed and expecting a return for refund, or a repair on the retailer's dime. Granted, the watch may have some fault that the prior owner didn't disclose and the seller couldn't discover prior to your purchase.

I'm sure IWC won't say anything until/unless they've had a look at the movement themselves. They're not professional psychics.

Wait, I thought you said the Watchfinder repair (after the smaller, independent repairer had tried to mend it twice) carried a 12 month warranty. I'd take them up on that.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I am sure the fault was always there. It is rare enough to enable you to sell the watch and get away with it, and a "watch broker" shop like the one I bought it from would never know.

Let's see what this repair guy comes back with. It's free (of course). Sending it to Watchfinder would be the next move, andd I will be asking the shop to pay at least a part of it.

Could a magnetised watch do this? I am not aware of any recent magnet exposure. My last airline trip was 4 weeks ago.

Regarding IWC, I would have expected them to be a bit less arrogant. I have been in business since the 1970s and if a customer reported this sort of fault (which I WOULD have seen before, across a customer base of many thousands) I would say something like "a standard service is £x, we have seen this sort of thing before and it tends to run around £y in additional parts, but we cannot be sure until we see it". Come to think of it, a standard IWC service must include some parts, otherwise the money (£700 - I don't remember) is just for a bit of time, new seals and some oil


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

I don't recall you sharing IWC's response to you verbatim, so we have to take your word for it on the "arrogance."


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I wrote a number of emails to them and got very "corporate" bland responses. Basically the tone was "send us the watch and a blank cheque". I also phoned them up and they could not even work out which category on their service price list the watch was.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

First you said "arrogant," now you say "'corporate' bland responses." Whatever.


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## RSR934 (Sep 26, 2017)

I would be seriously tempted to try Consumer Direct and the Citizens Advice Bureau (I have had good results with both in the past). I'm sure it will be covered under trading standards, fit for purpose or something like that. Hope you get it sorted soon.


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

I'm a little confused about the beef with IWC. The watch was bought second hand of unknown history and has not been serviced by them in the last 2 years (their service guarantee period) but has been 'repaired' by a third party place. Surely without sending the watch for diagnostics would mean they could only speculate, and when you call you're through to a phone team that handle billing etc rather than the watchmakers that repair them.

if watchfinder serviced it a few months ago when this was an issue, complain to them and get it reserviced as two months or thereabouts is not a suitable time for the watch to work, failing that if they didnt service it send to IWC for a complete service, not only will you know its done properly you will also have a two year guarantee


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## Padders (Oct 21, 2008)

Give it up Tom, he clearly thinks it's IWC's problem not the cowboys he bought it from.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The watchmaker has fitted a brand new barrel and mainspring, and has had it on test for a number of days.

To me, a mechanical and electronics engineer, it's a mystery how such an intermittent and dramatic failure can exist, yet appears so extremely sporadic.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

What watchmaker? :huh: Has it gone back to the clod who repaired it previously?


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Yes indeed. He is doing it for nothing, all the time the fault is appearing, even though my contract is with the shop (which is not responding). He is apparently Rolex and Omega trained and Omega authorised, or something like that.

My fallback position seems to be to throw a chunk of money at it via IWC - probably best part of 1k. OTOH this guy might find the fault...?


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Peter-H said:


> Yes indeed. He is doing it for nothing, all the time the fault is appearing, even though my contract is with the shop (which is not responding). He is apparently Rolex and Omega trained and Omega authorised, or something like that.


 That's the most reassuring thing you've posted in this thread. :hmmm9uh: :thumbsup:


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic 

He is "Rolex accredited Watchmaker", whatever that means. At least he is not claiming to be "one of the few" master watchmakers like the £1500/hr one down the road from here 

In the end I got the watch at about the right price, about 1k under what they sell for on Ebay, so if it has to go to IWC I will bite the bullet and do that. But it will be my last mechanical watch. The next one will be a solar powered quartz, which actually solves the issue I was trying to solve by going to self winding watches originally. That said, the Fortis one, similar movement (whoops I know one is supposed to say "calibre"  ) worked perfectly for the 4 years I had it; it just wasn't accurate.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Nope, that wasn't sarcasm.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Apparently the barrel wall was worn. I don't know what this means but the guy says it can explain the behaviour. A new barrel and spring have been fitted.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The watch seems to have been fixed this time.

Very accurate too; a small fraction of a second per day.


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## Salt (May 20, 2018)

Actually i have had very pleaseant experiences with iwc. Incase your issue ever returns I will suggest send your watch to them. Just like any other big brand they are not going to quote the price upfront but rather they will inspect and asses the cost and then tell you.


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Sadly, almost a year later it has done it again.

Same 3-4 seconds per minute.

I found I can "fix it" by dropping it onto a table on its back from about 2cm. Doing the same on its side(s) would not fix it.

I have been in contact with IWC. They try to keep their communications "awfully posh" and non committal  You can almost hear the Eton accent  I doubt the shop will want to have anything to do with it now, so my best option is the 500 quid IWC service. I presume it is to some extent a "fixed price" unless they find something dramatic?

One issue is insurance. The most I can get for Royal Mail Special Delivery is 2.5k but the watch is worth about 5k. The last watchmaker who fixed it has his own insurance cover for 25k, but IWC don't seem to have any such thing. They suggest taking it to some shop in London but that's a whole day wasted for me.


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## harryblakes7 (Oct 1, 2010)

Sounds like either the incabloc on the balance staff is stuck at a unusual angle, or perhaps the sweep seconds hand is dragging..........

Dont know what to say about the postage, i dont think i would trust royal mail with a £5k watch.............


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The watchmaker who worked on this watch several times is Omega authorised so I would expect him to know how a watch works, especially as these use the same ETA7750 movement which half the auto chrono watches out there use (with modifications). Would it be possible that he would not have spotted it?

Also it is exceedingly intermittent. More now than before. If I had not done the videos (posted earlier) absolutely nobody would have believed me. I am an "engineer" (electronic, electrical, mechanical) and to me it is obvious that something is getting moved / getting caught on something / etc and this happens when the watch gets moved in a certain way, and you can get out of it by gently bumping it. For sure the rapid time advance is not terminated simply by winding the watch up a bit, or by using the stopwatch.

I don't think the hands are dragging; that would make it run slow, not fast, surely?


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Capitulation. It's going back to IWC for the 500 quid service.

They probably won't find anything wrong. I included a flash stick with the mp4 video showing the problem...


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The watch has come back from IWC.

Looks perfect.

I am a bit nervous about the ceramic however *edited*


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## it'salivejim (Jan 19, 2013)

Peter-H said:


> The watch has come back from IWC.
> 
> Looks perfect.
> 
> I am a bit nervous about the ceramic however *edited*


 :laugh:


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

They go on Ebay for 5-6k and that is in unknown condition and no warranty


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

The funny thing is that the watch now gains about 3 seconds per day, after the £2200 IWC job, whereas the previous watchmaker was able to get it within 1 second, each time. Except when it was gaining 3 seconds per minute


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## wrenny1969 (Jun 24, 2008)

Hopefully sorted - what's ceramic on it?

Hopefully as good as new now. Maybe seek out a glacier to conduct a summer ski test, good luck with the watch :thumbsup:


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## wrenny1969 (Jun 24, 2008)

Scrub my earlier comment about what's ceramic - I googled and seen the case is ceramic. Looks like metal :yes:


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

Yes it looks just like new and I have a 2 year warranty on it.

It will have to go back to IWC though because (on a better measurement) it gains about 8 seconds a day.

The lesson is: never spend more than a couple of hundred quid on a watch!


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## nevenbekriev (Apr 21, 2019)

What a interesting story...

I hope I am wrong, but I guess that the problem will reappear again, sooner or later…

Next time tell the one, who will service the watch, this: He should lift the hairspring until it touches the balance bridge. I believe that the outermost coil will remain stacked to the bridge and the movement will start to go faster - this is the wrong situation… If I am right, the watchmaker must demagnetize the bridge… But, this means to disassemble all parts of it - stud holder, regulator, etc., and demagnetize all steel parts separately. If demagnetizing all together, sometimes no demagnetizing is happening at all…

Sorry I red the story just today, if I did few months earlier, It could save you about 2k…

Good luck!


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## Peter-H (Feb 6, 2018)

I just randomly popped in a year later...

Very interesting post by nevenbekriev above. Didn't see it last time. But also I don't know a watchmaker who would do such a job.

I also see one of the mods removed my comment above that I would sell the watch 

Perhaps surprisingly it has been working for the past year, no problem. Worn 24/7/365, survived 2 ski trips, lots of off road biking. My guess is that IWC must have demagnetised the parts. They do claim to take the watch completely to bits and check each part.

They never communicated in any way whatsoever regarding anything specific to the watch; a weird corporate policy which is the complete opposite of their ultra smooth posh image where they send you standard letters with phrases like "thank you for trusting us with your timepiece"  It's clear the staff are not allowed to make any comments on a particular customer's watch, report what they fixed, etc. Only if they are charging for something, like the "cracked" case, will they say anything.

I did pop into a number of watch shops asking how much they would offer, and it was always about 50% of the Ebay prices. The problem with Ebay is that you can get scammed so easily. So I am keeping it. But I would never buy such a watch again, and neither would anybody who I have told the story to. I am sure people who buy e.g. Rolex get the same situations. A friend who has a collection of IWC watches says Yes this is normal; you budget for £500/year in maintenance.


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