Search the Community

I’m starting to suspect I’m a victim of my own reliance on technology. I’ve been learning to restore to working order Elgin pocket watches since Jan/2022 (Grade 291 7j and 313 15j since they are relatively cheap and abundant on eBay and there are even some NOS parts available). A couple of the 15 movements I’ve purchased really only needed a proper cleaning and a new mainspring to return to life. However several others, while running after being cleaned and broken parts being replace (wheels with broken teeth mostly), have not performed well on the inexpensive timegrapher I bought on Amazon . these watches graph hundreds of seconds off per day, low amplitude, and high beat errors, or even not at all. No amount of adjusting or fiddling has improved them, and in a couple of cases I even ruined the balance wheel/hairspring trying to get them back to timing well. Then I read something on the forum about vintage pocket watches and inexpensive timegraphers that made me wonder—so I gave all of the working pocket watches a good wind and timed them manually over a 24 period (6 hours dial up, 6 stem up, 6 hours watchmaker side up, 6 dial side up again). After 24 hours here are the results.

is the Is price difference from the Timegrapher 1000, to the 1900 worth it? Any input appreciated as will be purchasing one soon. Don' want to waste money that could then be spent on more movements ..... :)

Hello I measured my Omega Caliber 1120 through an timegrapher app. (Dial Up, full wind) I know the app is not very accurate. I checked about +100s/d difference and sharply tilted graph . The odd thing is that the bottom part of the graph is not printed every 100+- seconds.(red-colored circle) Is this a feature of the timegrapher, or does it indicate abnormal state of movement component? Thank you for the comments.

Hi, my name is Ross. I am a rookie watch enthusiast and I am really puzzled here. Could someone explain to me what kind of a problem am I facing with my timegrapher? I do two sets of measurements with the same watch (1 day or 6 days apart) and receive vastly different results - to the point of being completely different from what I observe in real life. For example, my timegrapher shows that my watch is running fast (or ahead of time), while in real life I observe that it runs 7 seconds per day behind. I even recorded a video about it so you could see it for yourself: https://youtu.be/mhGzf6aLMlY How should I interpret that? Am I doing anything wrong? Problem_with_Timegrapher_-_Knowledge_Sharing__16.mp4

Hello. I am working on a vtg. Citizen cal.7520 automatic movement. I have put the watch on the timegrapher The graph looks OK but the beat error shows 9.9ms. I presumed that beat error should be around 1.0~2.0 given the shape of the graph. Is the beat error actually bad or the timegrapher is wrong?? Thank you!

I was wondering how do the timegrapher phone app's out there compare to a dedicated bench top machine. I'm guessing it's all down to the piezoelectric pickup? I installed tickoprint on my phone the other day. But to get the full features you need to shell out $30, if you then also have to shell out for a piezoelectric mic, then you are almost at the same price point as a cheap chinese bench top machine!

Hello Everyone, Padd here from the UK. It all started with a desire to fix a Submariner replica I bought off a lucky lucky man in Pisa, Italy while on a European tour. Next thing I know I'm investigating Submariner replicas and building my own, signed by me, using a Seagull ST2130 movement, adventure watch. Now I'm hooked, I took inspiration from Marks videos, now I'm happily starting to work on parts of the movement, and have recovered one or two movements where the stem came out, but wouldn't stay back in. I have built a few watches for friends and relations, but now I need to be able to service them when they come back to me. I also have a couple of movements that run really badly, so I will be practising on those over the winter weekends. Full repair/servicing kit IS my Christmas present. I really want to get one of those ST2130's, serviced and tweaked by me, doing a -------------------------- on my timegrapher. not a -.'-.'''--,'.'.' (and worse) that they do at the moment. I wont start to list my watch collection, but it runs from a Casio digital to a Rolex pocket watch with Seikos, Citizens, Omegas and home builds in the mix. Must do Mark's course, but I'm afraid I may have already learned 60+% of it already.

I have gotten hold on a Elma Star vibrograf. Does anyone know if you can still buy paper and carbon for this machine?

HI EVERYONE ...I had a Seiko5 SNZG15K1 ...I started playing around with the regulator and bought a timegraph 1000 ... anyways as I was moving the beat lever the hairspring stopped . I removed the spring , wheel and cock and the spring was a mess. I just want to know do these watches come ready to regulate or do you have to turn the brass stay bits on the end that hold the spring ..I think that the spring jumped on mine .but at the time I wasn't thinking straight and ran to disassemble it when I should of looked a bit closer back then ..Thanks Lenny...........

Just uploaded a new video. this one concentrating on correcting beat error.

I have just posted a new vid on YouTube. This one takes last weeks video a bit further and shows the basic operation of a Timegrapher timing machine.

Christmas has come early, just received a brand new Timegrapher 1900 (cause I've been a good boy and have only used naughty words 99 times a day instead of the usual 200+). Have been looking for lift angles of various Seiko movements but the links to lists have dried up, any one out there have these?

1. Could this be the worst reading possible on a timegrapher? 2. Where do you start in fixing this watch that has just came in for a repair? Thanks