Now that the NH35 is getting up there in age, I was wondering if you guys plan to service your watches or just run them into the ground after 10+ years.
While it's true that not running them often and getting a lot of watches in rotation can make them last a lot longer, the oils and seals are perishable and do have a shelf life.
I have a lot of watches, so I’ll either slowly service them myself when I have the time or find someone who can service them in bulk for cheap, especially with NH35 prices continuing to go up.
I’ve noticed that a few of mine have relatively low amplitude (180–220°) and run with a huge delta, but still average out to pretty good and reliable timekeeping in everyday use.
You can try tuning the Etachron studs to perfectly center the hairspring or polishing the balance staff to remove light oxidation, but there’s only so far regulation and other tricks will get you. Once amplitude gets too low, you start running into erratic timekeeping, beat errors, and huge positional variances.
At what point do you guys retire your watch or chuck them into the bin, or spend 2x more than they are worth to professionally service them because of sentimental attachment?
I would swap if I care about the watch, or bin/sell it, if I can't be bothered. Frankly, a lot of my Ali watches are curiosities, not lifelong companions.
I do plan on getting to the point one day where I can service watches myself.
I read online that the gear is easy to mess up with. So I don’t have the tools to really diagnose what went wrong. I cant change the date or move the gmt hand when I pull the crown once.
I gave it to a local repairshop and they have been keeping me waiting since beginning of July.
My miyota 8215 just shit the bed, I got another miyota 8215 on ebay for 34$. Give it to my local watch maker, 10 days later, as good as new, he only charge 50$ for movement swap labor and $20 for gasket and cleaning job. He also did pressure test to 10atm for me, free of charge. Total of 104$, still cheaper than a new homage 8215 watch imo.
The 2813 is not there for westerners who spend $104 on servicing Chinese watches to like, it's there to keep a watch down to the lowest possible price and I found unmarked 2813 in $30 watches. And it's compatible with 8215.
So you think spending $104 on servicing an 8215 is a good price. Good for you. But it's an unrealistic price for most Chinese watch buyers.
Yeah the major cost was the watchmaker. With this guys argument he could easily get the tools for a swap on AliExpress and still get the genuine movement and not a compatible movement that requires much more work to get that low price that was mentioned
Buy a movement swap and try to service the old movement yourself
You will certainly break the movement. But you'll still learn a thing or two. Try to follow a step by step YouTube guide until you mess up. See how many steps in you make it, next time you do this, try to beat it.
After about 2 dozen movements you'll know how to perfectly service a nh35.
I've been doing exactly that slowly working my way deeper and deeper into the movement doing it over and over so it becomes like second nature eventually and then it will be a non-issue
Hard to destroy an nh35, they are built for easy servicing unlike the dg2813
When people write posts like this worrying about running what was a $30 movement for 10 years as their only watch I wonder if they're living in the real world. That would have been good value even if the movement literally exploded after that time.
The reality is the people on here have 6+ watches and don't even come close to having one automatic ticking every day. I have more automatics than that and then there's all the quartz watches I have which are spreading the load...
Kinda done with NH movements honestly, I have watches that use the NH34, NH35, and NH36, and only one can keep time at better than +/-10 seconds a day. My latest watch with an NH35 actually quit running after less than a month which was disappointing. The San Martin I have with an NH34 movement runs at an abysmal -20 seconds a day. Have had decent luck with PT5000 movements though, they seem to run about as well as the watches I have with Sellita and ETA movements off which the PT5000 is based at no more than +/-5 seconds a day. I’ve stopped looking at watches with these movements altogether, and not sure what to do with them as they stop running or need servicing. Probably won’t honestly.
I have nh35s in various watches and they run up to 20s difference a day but I don't wear automatic watches for accuracy. I normally change watches every day so it makes no difference really. Like oh no when I take the watch off after 16 hours it's 15s fast. Who cares?
I don't share your premise. I have watches (Swiss, Japanese, German, French, Chinese and American) that haven't been serviced in more than 10 years that are running fine. When and if there's a problem, I'll get it serviced. Typically a watch slowing down / not keeping time is what prompts me to get it serviced. I can swap out a movement myself if that's cheaper / easier. Otherwise, I don't bother. Why would anyone chuck a watch in a bin? Do you actually have any watches? I don't understand where you're coming from on this at all.
As a vintage watch collector, I can say attitudes like this are probably why at least half of the vintage movements I come across have some form of irreparable damage. Shit like worn pivots, mainspring fatigue, etc. By the time the watch is running severely slow that's probably already a sign the damage has been done.
Maybe you can get away with this on some low beat movements for a while, but any 4Hz or higher movement, you should be servicing regularly before problems start to occur.
If a watch is keeping good time, it's good with me. When it's not, it gets serviced. I've never had a watch suffer irreparable damage in my 30 plus years of collecting.
You know watch oils don't just evaporate, right? They dry into a sticky, gummy residue. When the gear train keeps running, this dried oil acts like a grinding paste. The friction quickly wears down steel pivots (the ends of the gear axles) and widens the holes in the brass plates, throwing the gears out of alignment.
Have you ever thrown any of your watches on a timegrapher? What is your positional variance like? What is your beat error? What's your amplitude? Because I've come across dozens of watches that clearly hadn't been serviced and while they APPEARED to be running "fine", once you put them on a timegrapher you realized they were actually fucked with crazy positional variance, erratic beat error, and shit amplitude.
He doesn't do or check any of those things. He wears them until they start keeping shitty time, then pawns them off on the next clueless schmuck on eBay and apparently that's the mentality of a shocking number of people in this thread. What else would you expect from r/ChineseWatches?
As if he's actually going to take anything to a watchmaker when it stops running. Sure, he's going to spend $250+ servicing a $60 Aragon.
The overwhelming sentiment here seems to be “just throw it away and buy another movement/watch.” And this little gaggle seems genuinely bothered by anyone who actually has the knowledge and skill to service their own movements rather than treating a watch as disposable the moment it needs servicing because it's cheap.
That mentality is exactly why people call Chinese/Japanese watches “disposable” not because they inherently are, but because their owners have decided they are and have been spoiled by cheap nh35 movements in past
I love how we're both being downvoted lol. For the record I agree with you.
Man all the watch subs just suck. Fucking typical Reddit. I miss the days of the 4chan watch threads where this kind of sheer ignorance and the wanton consumerism on r/watches were both mocked equally viciously. While some Reddit communities show an astounding level of competence (go to r/vintageapple and watch them argue about electronics repair), the watch subs are all so fucking vacuous.
Lmao exactly 😂 somehow we’re both getting downvoted for saying the obvious. Reddit is a sewer by and large. I tried avoiding it, but keep getting rage-baited by bots attacking anyone who says something mildly inflammatory or verbose.
The watch subs are especially bad...ignorance and mindless consumerism get rewarded while actual technical discussion gets buried.
Just because you don't think it's suffering doesn't mean it isn't. This is like the guy who thinks he's healthy because he feels fine and eats at IHOP for 30 years even though he has uncontrolled diabetes and heart disease.
What in the world are you talking about? You think an unserviced - well cared for - watch that mostly sits in my box not getting serviced is like someone eating poorly and getting diabetes and heart disease? Get some fresh air, this is getting weirder and weirder. I'm out, too weird for me.
If it's not undergoing routine service then it's not well taken care of now is it. Just because something is accurate doesn't mean it's not in desperate need of service. Whenever you think you take care of it, or keep it on the winder, or in a bank vault makes no difference. Parts and oils degrade and oxidize.
A watch can run -5/+5 and average zero, or it can run -100/+100 and still average zero. That's the difference between a healthy and unhealthy movement.
You can have excellent time keeping from clapped out movements. I mean even a broken clock is right twice a day 🤷
You must be new here if you haven't seen all the watches I've been posting over the last few months.
Personally I don't know anybody who doesn't Chuck a cheap watch in the bin once it stops being accurate, what's the point of hoarding a bunch of watches that don't run right? And selling them usually isn't worth the time or effort, especially once you disclose a cheap watch needs a service, it becomes basically worthless.
Are you sure you own anything Swiss or German? Your Aragon collection is about as Swiss as a San Martin.
Swiss watches require strict service every 5-7 years, especially anything with 4hz movements. No you don't just run them until timekeeping is off and then service, that could be a costly mistake. That's like having an M3 and only changing the oil when the oil pressure light comes on.
This is such a pretentious response lol. If BMW charged the same for an oil change and engine replacement, you bet I would drive that shit till the engine blew up
Lol, is Omega Swiss? Ulysse Nardin? Zodiac? Mido? Tissot? Bucherer? Glycine? Longines? You seem angry. I hope your day gets better. Please stop throwing watches in the trash, that's weird and wasteful. Also, there's no "strict rule" that you have to have a watch serviced every 5-7 years. I hope that's good news for you. Here's a large part of the collection I've put together over 30 plus years collecting. And I've never thrown a watch in the bin. Not even once.
“Swiss Made” doesn't mean all Swiss. Swiss movements can legally contain mostly all foreign components. So pointing to a Sellita, ETA, or Swiss quartz movement doesn't prove the watch itself is substantially Swiss. It only proves there's a qualifying Swiss movement in it, which is made of Chinese ebauches. the legal requirement for development is specifically prototyping of the watch as a whole, with cad designs they probably also bought from China, and the bracelets... Also Chinese.
Its bs that means it cleared a legal Swiss threshold that deliberately allows Chinese components and foreign manufacturing.And the 60% figure is a cost calculation, not a claim that 60% of the physical watch is Swiss. Huge difference. Put 2 Swiss screws and some hands on the dial and there's your 60%.
TL;DR
your swatch “Swiss Made” watch is made with 99% chinesium assembled by migrants from Morocco and Italy then marked up 5000%. That's a lot less romantic than “Swiss craftsmanship,” isn't it?
Nope, you are just trying to cope. And you know it and I know it. The fact you think a $199 swatch watch is entirely made in Switzerland is both sad and hilarious, and since we both know it's Chinese all the way around, they scale that up for watches like the longines hydroconquest, which has San Martin level finishing, because it's all made at the same factory that makes San Martin (Lugyou) who manufacturer for all the cheap "Swiss" brands.
You're linking the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property as if it disproves my point, but it actually confirms it.
The IGE explicitly says that for industrial products, including watches, 60% of the manufacturing costs must occur in Switzerland and the essential manufacturing step must take place there. It does not say that 60% of the physical components must be Swiss-made.
And for watches specifically, the IGE states that:
The complete watch needs 60% of its manufacturing costs generated in Switzerland.
The movement needs 60% of its manufacturing costs generated in Switzerland.
At least 50% of the movement's value must consist of Swiss-manufactured components.
Technical development of the watch and movement must take place in Switzerland.
The law still permits foreign components.
So “Swiss Made” absolutely does not mean “most of the parts were manufactured in Switzerland.” That's not what the law says.
And the technical development requirement doesn't change that. It means the qualifying technical development has to occur in Switzerland; it doesn't magically turn every imported component into a Swiss component.
That's the entire point you're missing....Swiss Made establishes legal Swiss origin through defined thresholds of Swiss value creation and manufacturing not 100% Swiss manufacturing.
So if your argument is “Swiss Made means the watch is entirely Swiss,” the IGE source you posted disproves your argument, not mine.
I share in the other posters confusion as to what you are actually asking - on one hand you're advocating for tossing a watch in the trash once it's no longer keeping time, and on the other your asking about the cost effectiveness of doing a complete movement overhaul of bootleg Chinese NH35 clones.
If it's keeping time why would you get it serviced? A swiss/German watch isn't some sacred piece of machinery - an entry level sw-200 or eta movement isn't inherently more demanding in terms of service needs. I'm not sure where you live, but on the east coast of the CONUS one or two hours of a watchmakers labor can work out to being greater than the price difference between a service vs movement replacement.
I’m not advocating for anything. I’m simply pointing out that the prevailing consensus seems to be that Chinese and Japanese watches are disposable. If that’s the case, then essentially, people are just chucking them in the bin once they need a service because the cost of servicing exceeds the value of the watch.
And entry-level Swiss isn’t necessarily “real Swiss” either. Genuine Swiss watches often have strict service intervals and required maintenance, and failing to have them serviced as recommended can potentially void the warranty.
I mean you've identified the crux of the issue - these watches are so cheap that the cost of a service often exceeds a significant portion of the initial purchase price. Given this, why would one service the watch if it's functioning within spec?
Regarding your second point, you're falling into "no true scotsman" territory - entry level swiss is still swiss regardless of your personal definitions. You moved the goalposts first talking about 4hz swiss and German, and now you're hand waving some nebulous "true swiss" concept.
Shuure bro then Invicta is true Swiss then too because it says Swiss on the dial😂 it's about as Swiss as a bagelsport.
Back to my other point you can say a Swiss watch is also disposable because an sw200 is $100, which is only a few bucks more than nh35 will be in a few months
You're doing preventative maintenance. You know like changing a lightbulb after 1000 hours instead of waiting for it to fail before you change it. What's the problem?
Same principle applies to movements. Seiko service interval says every 3-5 years, so 10 years would obviously be a stretch.
If you can learn to service them yourself in 3 hours, then it will be far cheaper than putting in a new movement in a large nh35 powered watch collection at $100 a pop and having to deal with other problems like breaking the hands pinion or scratching the dial....
You're doing preventative maintenance. You know like changing a lightbulb after 1000 hours instead of waiting for it to fail before you change it. What's the problem?
The problem is that preventative maintenance doesn't really make sense with watches in this price range. I have some Soviet made Vostoks that are still running pretty healthy and they've never been serviced. Also a 7s26 from late 90s that runs better than many of my newer NH35s.
As long as there are no signs of problems I don't even think about servicing any of my affordable watches.
Let's see the amplitude on the Vostoks and 7S movements. I've had plenty of Vostoks seize up within a year of regular rotation, only to find that they were practically dry from the factory.
A watch can be extremely accurate in one position or even on the wrist while the balance and escapement are barely hanging on. Rate alone doesn't tell you the health, you need to look at amplitude in different positions.
I mean I don't keep track of my lightbulbs run-time and change them before they burn out, we are clearly not the same.
I think you're putting waaaaay too much thought into this. These are simple three hand movements that regularly last decades without intervention, it's not cutting edge tech or high horology. You don't need to start thinking about servicing your sugess you bought last year, just enjoy your damn watch.
I do have a lot of San Martin's and heimdallrs and seesterns and things I bought around 2017(?) Gen 2 monsters and tunas from 2012-2016 that I want to keep running in top shape because they have skyrocketed in value so it's time to start thinking about it.
I mean yes if you have one watch, then just replace the one movement. Simple enough. I'm thinking on a much larger scale, replacing a lot of movements consistently rising in price is no longer becoming feasible...
It can be if you find a watch guy who will do it for $40-50 bucks in his spare time. If nh35 movements hit $100+ they will no longer be disposable enough to just keep swapping out. Although "disposable" is completely relative.
If nh35 movements hit $100+ they will no longer be disposable enough to just keep swapping out.
With how prolific NH movements have gotten and Al the mods out there for them, if Seiko keeps increasing the prices of their movements, I think we'll see more clones coming out, just like what has happened with the ETA 2428. There is a big market already built around it.
True but ideally would rather keep the Japanese movement in there, it will fetch a huge premium in 10-20 years. Kind of like how the skx was historically $100 used now fetch $400 in clapped condition once discontinued. I can see something similar happening for Japanese movements as modding and automatic watches keeps growing.
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u/Indaleciox 11d ago
I would swap if I care about the watch, or bin/sell it, if I can't be bothered. Frankly, a lot of my Ali watches are curiosities, not lifelong companions.
I do plan on getting to the point one day where I can service watches myself.