Ebel 1911 problem

[Art Perry]

I have an Ebel 1911 automatic movement watch purchased within the last
year. It constantly runs fast. I wear it daily, and I wind it
manually before taking it off, but this doesn't seem to help.

Is there a problem with the way I use or maintain the watch from day
to day, or does the watch need service?

Thanks!

-Art

[Jim Bianchi]

Post by Art Perry
I have an Ebel 1911 automatic movement watch purchased within the last
year. It constantly runs fast. I wear it daily, and I wind it
manually before taking it off, but this doesn't seem to help.

I'm speaking from a vast fund of ignorance here, but it seems to me
your watch *may* be optimised to be wound using normal body movement, so
when you wind it manually, you're in effect defeating this optimisation by
supplying more power to the spring than the optimising process anticipated.
(Of course, it's the purpose of the escapement to regulate the power flow,
but my point is that if the power available is constantly raised beyond the
level the optimisation process considered 'normal,' this optimisation
process can be messed up. Maybe. I think.)

Post by Art Perry
Is there a problem with the way I use or maintain the watch from day
to day, or does the watch need service?

1. Try NOT manually winding it every day (don't manually wind it at
all). Or,

2. Someone really skilled might be able to re-optimise it to take
into account that you wind it manually every day in addition to the normal
winding of an automatic watch. But this strikes me as an exceptionally long,
involved, and expensive proposition. (Esp expensive.)

[Moka Java]

Post by Art Perry
I have an Ebel 1911 automatic movement watch purchased within the last
year. It constantly runs fast. I wear it daily, and I wind it
manually before taking it off, but this doesn't seem to help.
Is there a problem with the way I use or maintain the watch from day
to day, or does the watch need service?
Thanks!
-Art

How fast? If it's a matter of seconds a day that's what to expect from
a good quality mechanical watch. If it's running 10 seconds a day fast
perhaps it could be regulated to run a bit better but that's little more
than a minute a week and probably within Ebel's tolerances. If it's
running more than 30 seconds fast consider it a warranty claim.

Don't hand wind your automatic watch, it puts strain on the mechanism
that was designed to self-wind.

Richard "will they ever make a mechanical watch as accurate as quartz?" F

[Jack Denver]

No, unless it's something like the Seiko mecha-quartz. The fact that the
quartz oscillator is thousands of times faster than a balance wheel, plus
the inherent weaknesses of mechanical oscillators (influenced by gravity,
shock, state of wind, etc. while quartz is insensitive to these influences)
make it a pretty safe bet that they won't.

OTOH, my Zodiac is -7 since the daylight savings time changeover two weeks
ago (the last time I opened the crown) and that is the most it has been off
in that period. That's -7 secs cumulatively, not per day.

Post by Moka Java
Richard "will they ever make a mechanical watch as accurate as quartz?" F

[Jack Denver]

Neither, the watch needs a simple regulation. Mechanical watches vary in
their timekeeping based upon position, temperature, state of wind and other
factors which vary with the individual. Every mechanical watch has a means
of setting the watch to run a little faster or slower. Your Ebel has what
is called a "regulator" to allow this fine tuning adjustment. At the
factory, they make a "best guess" as to the conditions in which customers
will wear the watch and then they typically set it a bit fast, on the theory
that the watch may slow down a little as it breaks in and also because
people generally would rather have a fast watch to a slow one.

What you need to do is to take your watch to a watchmaker. Not a jewelry
shop that will send it out and charge you double, but an honest to goodness
watchmaker with an electronic timing machine. Tell him how many seconds per
day the watch is running fast and ask him to trim that many seconds off the
daily rate (keep a record for a week or two and compare your watch to an
official time signal). He should be able to do this while you wait and it
should take about 10 minutes and cost a few dollars - basically all that is
involved is turning 1 adjusting screw a few degrees.

By the way, you did not tell us how many seconds per day the watch was
gaining. Mechanical watches can at best be expected to be precise to maybe 6
seconds/day so if you are within that zone you are already doing about as
well as can be expected and don't bother with any regulation.

Lastly, if an automatic watch is worn all day (or indeed more than a few
hours per day) it should wind on your wrist. That's why you bought an
automatic in the 1st place. All you are doing by hand winding is causing
unnecessary wear on the watch - chances are it is already fully wound when
you take it off. If your watch stops overnight unless you do manual winding,
something is probably wrong and it does need service. It should run for at
least 36 hours without winding after spending the day on your wrist.

Post by Art Perry
I have an Ebel 1911 automatic movement watch purchased within the last
year. It constantly runs fast. I wear it daily, and I wind it
manually before taking it off, but this doesn't seem to help.
Is there a problem with the way I use or maintain the watch from day
to day, or does the watch need service?
Thanks!
-Art

[Art Perry]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. I think I've been seriously
overwinding the watch, because it was gaining 5 to 10 _minutes_ an
hour. I hope that I haven't done any serious damage. I think I will
let the watch rest for a few days (not wear it) and see if it slows
down after that. If not, I will take it in for service.

I have never had an automatic watch before, but I have had hand wound
watches, pocket watches, etc. It has run fast ever since I got it, so
I wasn't sure what was going on.

-Art

[Moka Java]

5 - 10 minutes an hour is way to fast and beyond what can be adjusted by
regulating. Sounds like a harispring problem. Letting it rest won't
help, it needs service. It's less than a year old so Ebel has a
warranty repair to do. Hand winding an auto watch puts strain on the
wind mechanism, not the hairspring or balance whcich is at the other end
of the train so don't think you caoused the problem.

Richard "assuming you have a real Ebel and not one of the many fakes
floating around" F

Post by Art Perry
Thanks for your comments, everyone. I think I've been seriously
overwinding the watch, because it was gaining 5 to 10 _minutes_ an
hour. I hope that I haven't done any serious damage. I think I will
let the watch rest for a few days (not wear it) and see if it slows
down after that. If not, I will take it in for service.
I have never had an automatic watch before, but I have had hand wound
watches, pocket watches, etc. It has run fast ever since I got it, so
I wasn't sure what was going on.
-Art