The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Okay, I've heard this mentioned on this board quite a few times. When a watch is running a little slow or fast people will "regulate it" and it will work itself out. What is regulating a watch? and how do you do it? My seiko orange monster is running about +20 second a day. Any help?

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"Don't Touch The Watch." - Patrick Bateman

OK, two answers to this one - the quick answer and then the more complete one - feel free to stop after the first if that's all you need.

Quick answer:

There is a part in a mechanical watch that controls the rate at which the watch 'ticks'. In Breitlings the movement is 4Hz which means that it ticks 4 times per second. If the part that controls that (the balance) is not perfect then it may not tick exactly 4 times a second - if your watch is 20 seconds a day fast and it is a 4 Hz movement then it is ticking 80 times extra per day (4 per second x 20 seconds). Regulating the watch involves a watchmaker adjusting a metal arm that is connected to the balance in order to bring the time closer to the 4 per second. Note that it isn't always 4 per second - 2 1/2 and 3 are common, and Zenith is well known for 5. Modern technology helps with regulating because watchmakers have access to machines which can tell them exactly how accurate the watch is based on listening to the ticks.


Complete answer:

In a mechanical watch the movement of the hands is caused by the release of power from the mainspring. If this was not controlled then the spring would simply release all of its energy in one go - the hands would spin rapidly for a few seconds and then stop. As a result a watch contains something called an escapement that controls the release of energy. That consists of a pallet fork and a balance. The pallet fork literally 'jams' the wheel at the end of the running train (that transfers power from the mainspring to the hands) and stops the energy from being spent in one go. The balance controls the rate at which the pallet fork is released and then re-engaged. The rate of that releaseing and re-engaging is what controls the accuracy of the watch.

The pallet fork is controlled by a pin that rotates on the balance wheel. The wheel swings back and forth at a rapid rate - in a Breitling 4 complete cycles (which is actually 8 oscillations) every second. The wheel is controlled by a balance spring - tension builds in the spring when the wheel spins one way until the energy in the spring stops the rotation of the balance wheel. The balance spring then releases that energy causing the wheel to spin the other way. Momentum keeps the wheel spinning, again building tension in the balance spring and the process repeats.

The balance spring is a spiral with one end attached to the balance wheel and the other end attached to a pin that is on an adjustable lever (the regulator). By moving the regulator the spring is effectively shortened or lengthened increasing or decreasing the tension in the spring. This will have the effect of reducing the amount of time that it takes to stop the balance wheel (speeding up the rate of spinning and causing the watch to run faster) or increasing the amount of time (slowing the rate of spinning and slowing the watch down).

In older watches there were also screws attached to the wheel in various locations and loosening or tightening them would speed up or slow the watch down. Today, most movements have solid balance wheels where the screws are not used.

There are a number of considerations when regulating a watch. The rate can be affected by temperature, and also by position (if the wheel is spinning in a vertical plane then it will run differently than in a horizontal plane) so regulating a watch is really a matter of trying to find a compromise that will allow the watch to run accurately in 'normal' wear. A perfectly regulated watch on a bench will likely not be perfect when subjected to being on the wrist all day.

Great summary Roff!

Also, just for reference, the Monster contains the movement detailed here. You can see the regulator pictured several times in this review. The regulator is the part with the + and - signs.

http://www.thepurists.com/watch/features/8ohms/7s26/

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

Look Roff, if you're going answer people questions, can I please ask that you treat them with respect and put a bit of effort into it in future? I mean, these half-a*sed answers of yours do no-one any good!

When I saw the OP I thought I'd stick my 2p worth in, but then I read Roff's reply, and that was that!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Well every now and then I have to show my worth (however small that may be).

I keep thinking that I need to do some more articles like last year - there are just a few things that hold me back.

I did this myself a few times on a knock off Asian 7750 copy and a couple bottom grade ETA 2824s. Of course it was hit or miss - literally. Mostly I just did my best to avoid hitting the beat adjustment., but I was able to get something that was running a minute fast to within a few seconds.

Still I would NEVER get near a decent movement on a decent watch anymore than I would do heart surgery on myself.

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SHARKMAN

Roff - I vote we keep you on a little longer around here. That's a damn fine explanation.

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BREITLING - SKYRACER - PRO II Bracelet
(No rubber)

Nice explanation. I have also come across this old video which explains the basics of a how a movement works in a way that even I understood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiCPu0SjEW4

Yeah, that's been posted a couple of times before - it's very clear.