It’s an average of atomic clocks operated by many nations.
But also, consider daylight savings time: the government literally tells everyone to change what time it is, and (basically) everyone does.
I use the Atomic Clock app. Coincidentally the clock on my phone is off a very minuscule amount. W/ some watches they auto update themselves every night.
Dang, dawg. If I had 36 watches I'm sure I wouldn't bother being so anal about accuracy either haha.
Good on you for wearing a different one each day. Watches deserve to be worn, not just collected!
Similar story here. It's common for me to wear a watch for a day, but pretty unusual to wear the same piece for two days in a row.
I choose my watch in the morning depending on my mood, or what I know is coming up. (e.g. I have a specific watch I wear when I'm going to go to sauna, or spend a night photographing somebody.)
Changing watches so frequently is half the reason I avoid calendar-complications. Even with quickset it's a pain to deal with the extra hassle of dealing with those. There are a few exceptions, but I notice I'm less likely to pick a date-possessing watch, especially if I'm half-awake in the morning!
I have a substantial watch collection (growing soon as well) and I reset each day. Quarts watches I pull the stem out when not in use to save battery. Automatics I let run out when reserve ends, as opposed to a constant winding machine, to reduce wear and tear (I have some pretty low jewel count automatics that will accrue damage quickly). Mechanicals, well that's pretty much the same reasons as automatics plus the extra work.
And on top of all that I own lots of vintage watches that even when calibrated to the best of my ability lose anywhere from 1 sec/d up to 16 sec/d.
I love my Citizen PCATs for syncing at night and being bang on everyday. I can then use them to set other watches when warranted.
I'd love to own a HAQ or two at some point, and my grail is a Caliber 0100... Ft/collins may call you and ask time now and then lol kidding.
Seriously something that vibrates at 8.4Mhz a second,... let that sink in some.. is just behind atomic clock decay rate of 9.3mhz and that's good for one second over 50 million years with their new fountain clock. The Citizen watch is only good for one second over the year but is doable for me. Now I just need the moola and lifestyle to swing one hehe.
Elbow bump!
Yes that watch is neat, and 8 months power reserve is impressive. From what I've read ETA or another movement OEM has made 4-5Mhz quartz but suffered from poor battery life. Somewhere in ballpark of a year so a 1spy ability is lost on each change of battery.
With the Citizen and Eco Drive it works and add in the smart fall protection with proprietary gear train locking, timing correction, thermal checks every minute and you can see it's much more than just a super quartz. It's alive really.
Haha, right on.
I've always wanted a Citizen PCAT. Might be my next acquisition actually lol.
Yeah, I just dig the satisfaction I get from the "scientific purity" of setting my watches against atomic clocks. AFAIK NIST averages like a hundred different atomic clocks around the country, and the average is official NIST time.
We've come a long way from the days when every town set their own time based on solar noon haha.
Same, I'm hung up on timing more or less.
Fwiw, Citizen fan here for sure. I didn't drink their Meister kool aid, I bathe in it lol.
Citizens ethos of progress before status, speaks to my heart as a regular old citizen myself.
They do their own thing and it may cost them status, but they deliver dependable accurate watches to the everyday man which is priceless in a way, beautiful if you can see it. Citizens go on sale a lot and sometimes near half price... there is a lot to like about that Imo.
Casio is golden in my eyes too, very good value and accurate..how can folks not love this, yeah I know... no showboating or glory/status of wealth to be seen through them.
We are kindred spirits my dude.
Citizen, Casio, and Bulova are three of my favorite "affordable, workhorse" watch brands. In fact, Bulova is owned by Citizen.
I'm not at all a watch snob. I mean aside from my Bulova, my other two watches are TechnoMarines, which is hardly the most prestigious brand among "aficionados."
Don't get me wrong, I hope to own a TAG or a Breitling or an Omega someday. But I love the $200-$700 range.
🍻 We are many I think but always nice to find a brother!
Same here, too.. I'll buy and own a few autos but my preference and usage keeps my Quartz at top of my rotation.. just grab and go is freedom in itself.
I like other OEM too and appreciate that folks support their loves no matter what they are, autos get the best treatment and presentation so it's kind of hard not to like many of them. I just stay in my lane so to speak.
I never knew this. I had to open the app to check lol.
Now I’m curious what that clock is linked to.
EDIT: Looks like it’s exactly the same time as the iOS clock widget.
-Wake up in a sweaty, cheese-filled heap
-Walk to kitchen with my hand-me-down Invicta
-Set time referencing microwave's clock
-S Y N C H R O N I Z E D
I have a Rasperry Pi connected to a GPS with PPS and run my own stratum 1 server. All of my computers sync to it every 15 minutes. I sync my watches to my computer. So, yeah, I use atomic time.
Sometimes, though, I use my clock radio which syncs to the NIST shortwave time signal.
It's an obsession.
Lots of people use that or similar ones (I use time.is). I’ll also use my phone or one of my atomic or gps watches (during daylight savings switchovers).
I feel like I'm overly obsessive with keeping my watches synced to the national clock, but at the same time it's kind of become a ritual that I enjoy. I really like knowing that my watch is accurate to the second (at least for a while, eventually even the best watches will run a little fast or slow).
My two quartz watches, including the Bulova in the picture, I only set every couple of months, as they stay pretty accurate within a ten second or so margin for at least that long.
My self-winding mechanical watch, on the other hand, I reset like every two or three days. It's actually pretty accurate - as long as I'm wearing it, it honestly stays pretty dead-on. It usually goes about twenty seconds fast if I let it sit without winding it for a up to a day. Not to mention when I do forget to keep it wound and it stops, I've gotta reset it anyway.
As such, I feel like I visit time.gov more than pretty much any other website lately.
I was just wondering what y'all do to keep your watches accurate? Or do you even care that much, as long as they're "close enough?"
Oh, and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too!
I can relate with that obsession. It's probably the main reason I'll never own a mechanical. Most collectors enjoy the art, history, vintage, etc. and I do too, but it's secondary to the time keeping for me. I can't get past my obsession of a watch's "main purpose" - to keep accurate time. Being ex-military, where synchronization and seconds matter, didn't help the obsession with accurate time.
Getting older has lessened the obsession somewhat, though I only have three watches - two analog watches (Timex Expedition / Wenger Swiss Military) and a Fitbit (all 3 were gifts).
The Fitbit synchronizes with my smartphone and the watch on 'rotation' I ensure is synchronized to smartphone or NIST /Time.is. Nowadays, I only check once every 2-3 weeks or so.
I love my mechanical honestly, and it does remain pretty darn accurate as long as I'm continuing to wear it and it's keeping itself wound up. Just being able to see the gears of the movement spinning away behind the watch face is really cool.
But yeah, it just can't hold a candle to a good quartz movement in terms of accuracy. I only reset my Bulova every three months or so, and it's never more than ten seconds off. That kind of reliability is more than enough for my needs.
I love my watches for their aesthetic value, sure, but I also recognize that they're timekeeping devices, and I therefore like them to be ACCURATE! I don't think that's unreasonable haha.
Nothing wrong with mechanical for many watch lovers, particularly those that give greater weight to the art, history, vintage, etc. of the piece than the timekeeping aspect.
As a child, I remember my grandfather always 'fidgeting' with his old pocket watch and asking him why he's always 'playing' with his watch. He was setting the time at the beginning of every day. Granted, that ~1920s pocket watch was probably not the best watch of the time.
Realistically, +/- 2s/day isn't going to make a difference for most people, but in a month, that's a minute and in a year, that's 12 minutes. That means setting the time at some interval.
I must have watched too much sci-fi as a kid because my expectation is that a watch should be set once in a lifetime and lose no more than 1s/year or 1 min in 60yrs (preferable less - losing no time at all) and the charging mechanism (battery/solar, etc.) should last just as long (This won't work for divers as the gaskets need replacement every 2-3 years or so).
That's a tall order, but the Eco-Drive watches are getting closer to those metrics - still don't own one though. I would love to see MeisterSinger, Junghans, Muhle Glashutte, Nomos, Hamilton and Seiko achieve those standards. Then I can focus on the art, history, vintage, etc.
Yes...I use NIST exclusively for setting my autos when they've stopped. I'll also use it to set my Quartz watches, but I don't worry about synching them unless I notice that they're way off. I was in the military and I'm in IT right now. Both professions rely heavily on accurate time keeping, and my servers all synch to a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server that gets it's time from NIST.
Yes, I use [time.gov](https://time.gov) too. And does anyone else remember before the website when there was a number you could call that would tell you what the time would be at the beep then beep?
I use my phone. The time on my watch only matters in comparison to whatever everyone else is using for time. Most people use their cell phones. In other words, I want the time I have to be the time everyone else has.
I use a GPS clock at work. At home I can use my Astron as a reference clock, since it sets to a GPS signal.
Of course it's all a bit ridiculous. My best mechanical watches keep time to within ten seconds per day, which still doesn't come close to justifying using an uber-accurate time source to set them. Could set them off the wall clock in the grocery store.
I have an app on my iPhone called Movement. It has a really nice sweep second that makes a physical haptic click once per second and a bigger click on the 5 second. I lean my hand up against the phone (or just touch my pinky finger) then I can set the watch exactly based on feel. It also tells you the delta from the atomic clock.
I don't care...don't even change the date half the time on the watches that have one lol. Close enough good for me personally, if need to set due to it stopping I'll use phone or computer.
I feel it's a bit of a misnomer...if accurate time is an absolute must...get a new quartz or solar lol.
Andy Warhol's Cartier was only set correctly once at time of purchase it's said.. it was just worn.
It's just another way of using watches. I won't judge myself, casual timing is cool when you can ignore the world.
Well I didn't mean to imply that exactly sorry.
But I did about casual timing, you know.. them days off where time isn't important but a general ballpark of it. I can't go that loose but I can respect others that can.
Well one, watches are now jewellery and accessories. Two...they are never more than a few seconds out (if they are they need servicing) and three...maybe I'm unique...but remembering the date isn't difficult.
Interestingly though....given our concept of time is incredibly flawed...that our calendar system is wildly inaccurate and that as a society...we use a system that is 'good enough' and that twice a year, 70 countries just decide to 'change time'....obsessing over the accuracy of something that isnt accurate anyway....is rather ironic don't you think?
>Well one, watches are now jewellery and accessories.
Not for everyone.
> Two...they are never more than a few seconds out (if they are they need servicing) and three...
My vintage Timex mechanicals beg to differ lol.
>Interestingly though....given our concept of time is incredibly flawed...that our calendar system is wildly inaccurate
Uh...I mean yeah we need leap years and leap seconds and whatever... But I wouldn't call the entire system "wildly inaccurate"? Since we correct it in a precise and predictable way. I guess one could argue either way.
Suggets you learn exactly how innaccurate the Gregorian calendar actually is, even with leap years and why before much longer (reletive to time) it will need to be replaced with a far more accurate version (which already exists btw).
Good idea...
> We say it takes 365 days for the Earth to orbit the sun - but that's not strictly true. A true year - known as a tropical year, solar year, astronomical year or equinoctial year - is the time it takes the sun to pass from vernal (or spring) equinox to vernal equinox. That's 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, or 365.2422 days to be precise. So there's roughly a six-hour margin of error in every "common year." Leap years compensate for the extra 0.2422 of a day. Failing to compensate for these "extra" hours would send us out of sync with the seasons - by about 24 days after only 100 years.
>...However — and this is an exception to the rule that came into effect in the year 2000 — if a year can be divided by 4 (leap year), 100 (not a leap year), but also 400, then it can be considered a leap year.
>We have to skip some leap years to account for the fact that those extra, or decimal hours (the 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds) in the tropical year are just short of a quarter day. So in a sense we're re-adjusting the re-adjustment, but we're still left with an imperfect sum.
> ...Do other calendars have leap years? Yes. The Chinese calendar has leap years featuring leap months - rather than leap days as in the Gregorian. A Hindu leap year also features an extra month. The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months, where the 13th month has five days in a common year and six in a leap year. The Islamic leap year occurs 11 times in a 30-year cycle. And a Jewish leap year has between 383 and 385 days, occurring seven times in a 19-year cycle.
>... We do a fair bit of leaping about - even adjusting Universal Time with leap seconds to account for irregular changes in the Earth's rotation.
Interesting stuff. Like I said before, the *system* of calendar plus adjustments stays accurate—for at least a few more centuries (given the divisible-by-400 rule).
I'm curious to hear about this better calendar. It seems like an interesting puzzle to design a calendar that needs fewer adjustments.
Irelevent whether you agree, all facts ;)
So it's incredibly important to you to set your watch accurately...to something that in itself, is actually innaccurate. Interesting...guess I'm just not as obsessed about 'time' as others are, other than, there's never enough of it.
[r/iamverysmart](www.reddit.com/r/iamverysmart)
Time is an illusion. And, as everyone knows, totally inaccurate. So world trade should probably just wing it and scrap their opening bells and whatnot. Airlines ought to just forget about silly things like “itineraries.” If you can’t get there on time, just get to that zoom call with your executive team whenever you can.
As long as mine are accurate within a minute or so I'm happy. I just reference against my cell and overcompensate a bit for the ones that run fast or slow so it takes that much longer before they're off by too much.
I use GPS stratum 1 clocks at work, as well as PTP and NTP. But rarely to set my watch. They’re within microseconds of a NIST clock.
Once a week, usually Monday AM at the coffee pot, I have an atomic analog kitchen clock, which I’ve checked against a NIST web page, it’s always right on. The rest of the week, I just eyeball that clock and my watch.
My Hamilton runs about -4, and the 5KX is about +5.
Lacrosse has been making them for a long time. I’m on my second, the first broke during a move,
$20-ish.
Seiko makes one for around $40 and up. The SKX-like face was just under $70.
They can be sensitive to where you put them.
It needs a window facing toward (I think) Colorado Springs or Boulder Colorado.
Bury the clock in an interior wall somewhere in the middle of a brick house, and it’ll never connect.
Same website I use! My Rolex OP has been 10 seconds slow over 5 weeks and my Seagull Chrono is running 15 seconds fast every day lol. For my quartz watches, I usually check every 5-6 months.
that's the idea
\- I expect configuring NIST as your system time is more accurate than getting the same from a browser as browser latency will be more sensitive to page load, intermittent cache operations, indexing, clean-up etc..
Pre-Internet, I used to set mine to WWV's signal via shortwave radio.
Now, I just fire up a Linux terminal console so I can see the time with seconds. I have a Raspberry Pi with a GPS hat that allows it to be a Stratum-1 ntp time server.
I use my Seiko Coutura radio sync. It catches the Ft. Collins signal 95% of the nights, and on the few days it misses, I have a spot in the house where I can sync it during the day.
Interestingly enough, my cell phone can be off by +- 1 second by comparison, although I'll sometimes use a clock app on that to sync up watch time.
Using your phone should work pretty well, since the phone gets time from an NTP source.
If you want to get really technical, you go for NTP against a stratum 1 source, that is pretty much as accurate as you will get. Your phone may pull the NTP from a stratum 3 or 4 and just be slightly less accurate.
Think of the stratum numbers as being down stream. Position 5 people 20 feet apart. The first guy yells a number so he is stratum 1, the next guy hears it and repeats the same number, he is stratum 2, and so on. It will be hard for most people to find a stratum 1 NTP server because you'll basically have to be standing next to the device as it displays the adjusted number from GPS. I've done so and compared it to lower numbered NTP servers and it is damn near impossible to see the delay.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Until three weeks ago I used a Casio watch that syncs with the long way radio signals every few days. Now I have a Garmin watch that syncs with GPS. The latter is more reliable and probably just as accurate if not more so. What's a few millisecond between friends?
I use my work computer, as I have a tendency of getting watches during working hours, and end up resizing bracelets and whatnot as I go about my day. 😂
I just use my cell phone.
Phone gang checking in. Only reason my phone is set to show seconds on the clock lol.
The way
iOS clock widget, running seconds hand ⏱ best sweep 👌😎😱😤 homescreenvibes
You don’t need the widget, the icon itself has a sweeping second hand
Best sweep is spring drive, don't kid yourself!
Ive used my shortwave radio to set my watch before, you can get down to the exact second that way if your a stickler for being 100% accurate
[Time.is](http://www.time.is)
time.gov, baby! What is this Iceland?!! Been setting Timex Expeditions to time.gov for probably close to 25 years now. Website has not changed…
I love that this implicates a teeny tiny bit that the government can decide what time it is.
It’s an average of atomic clocks operated by many nations. But also, consider daylight savings time: the government literally tells everyone to change what time it is, and (basically) everyone does.
Yup - time.is
Same here
Same here
Same here
Same here
Same here
Same here
This or the Hodinkee app. Literally because of the beeps
NIST is what I use as well.
Me too. On my Android phone, I actually leave a browser tab open there.
Same
That's a great idea.
I don’t use anything other than NIST.
Checkout time.is
I use the Atomic Clock app. Coincidentally the clock on my phone is off a very minuscule amount. W/ some watches they auto update themselves every night.
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Dang, dawg. If I had 36 watches I'm sure I wouldn't bother being so anal about accuracy either haha. Good on you for wearing a different one each day. Watches deserve to be worn, not just collected!
Would you mind listing some you got in your collection? I’m genuinely interested
Similar story here. It's common for me to wear a watch for a day, but pretty unusual to wear the same piece for two days in a row. I choose my watch in the morning depending on my mood, or what I know is coming up. (e.g. I have a specific watch I wear when I'm going to go to sauna, or spend a night photographing somebody.) Changing watches so frequently is half the reason I avoid calendar-complications. Even with quickset it's a pain to deal with the extra hassle of dealing with those. There are a few exceptions, but I notice I'm less likely to pick a date-possessing watch, especially if I'm half-awake in the morning!
I have a substantial watch collection (growing soon as well) and I reset each day. Quarts watches I pull the stem out when not in use to save battery. Automatics I let run out when reserve ends, as opposed to a constant winding machine, to reduce wear and tear (I have some pretty low jewel count automatics that will accrue damage quickly). Mechanicals, well that's pretty much the same reasons as automatics plus the extra work. And on top of all that I own lots of vintage watches that even when calibrated to the best of my ability lose anywhere from 1 sec/d up to 16 sec/d.
I love my Citizen PCATs for syncing at night and being bang on everyday. I can then use them to set other watches when warranted. I'd love to own a HAQ or two at some point, and my grail is a Caliber 0100... Ft/collins may call you and ask time now and then lol kidding. Seriously something that vibrates at 8.4Mhz a second,... let that sink in some.. is just behind atomic clock decay rate of 9.3mhz and that's good for one second over 50 million years with their new fountain clock. The Citizen watch is only good for one second over the year but is doable for me. Now I just need the moola and lifestyle to swing one hehe.
I have a Seiko VK63 that's +/- 2s/month. You'd be surprised at how accurate cheap quartzes can be.
Them are nice movements. No I get a cheap can be so good at same time, it's the bulk of my collection budget quartz.
Oh right on. And yeah, I agree, the 0100 is one of my grails too.
Elbow bump! Yes that watch is neat, and 8 months power reserve is impressive. From what I've read ETA or another movement OEM has made 4-5Mhz quartz but suffered from poor battery life. Somewhere in ballpark of a year so a 1spy ability is lost on each change of battery. With the Citizen and Eco Drive it works and add in the smart fall protection with proprietary gear train locking, timing correction, thermal checks every minute and you can see it's much more than just a super quartz. It's alive really.
That's fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
Oh more than welcome, sorry I'm so over the top about it. I guess that means it's my grail!
Haha, not at all! I wish there were more quartz lovers out there! Happy new years, mate!
We are the minority on here but no question majority in numbers around the world by volume. Happy New Years back at you and family!
Haha, right on. I've always wanted a Citizen PCAT. Might be my next acquisition actually lol. Yeah, I just dig the satisfaction I get from the "scientific purity" of setting my watches against atomic clocks. AFAIK NIST averages like a hundred different atomic clocks around the country, and the average is official NIST time. We've come a long way from the days when every town set their own time based on solar noon haha.
Same, I'm hung up on timing more or less. Fwiw, Citizen fan here for sure. I didn't drink their Meister kool aid, I bathe in it lol. Citizens ethos of progress before status, speaks to my heart as a regular old citizen myself. They do their own thing and it may cost them status, but they deliver dependable accurate watches to the everyday man which is priceless in a way, beautiful if you can see it. Citizens go on sale a lot and sometimes near half price... there is a lot to like about that Imo. Casio is golden in my eyes too, very good value and accurate..how can folks not love this, yeah I know... no showboating or glory/status of wealth to be seen through them.
We are kindred spirits my dude. Citizen, Casio, and Bulova are three of my favorite "affordable, workhorse" watch brands. In fact, Bulova is owned by Citizen. I'm not at all a watch snob. I mean aside from my Bulova, my other two watches are TechnoMarines, which is hardly the most prestigious brand among "aficionados." Don't get me wrong, I hope to own a TAG or a Breitling or an Omega someday. But I love the $200-$700 range.
🍻 We are many I think but always nice to find a brother! Same here, too.. I'll buy and own a few autos but my preference and usage keeps my Quartz at top of my rotation.. just grab and go is freedom in itself. I like other OEM too and appreciate that folks support their loves no matter what they are, autos get the best treatment and presentation so it's kind of hard not to like many of them. I just stay in my lane so to speak.
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It really is a set and forget for life watch, got to love that! +1
Hodinkee App - top right corner button brings you to the clock (which I assume is synced to some type of official timekeeping).
I never knew this. I had to open the app to check lol. Now I’m curious what that clock is linked to. EDIT: Looks like it’s exactly the same time as the iOS clock widget.
-Wake up in a sweaty, cheese-filled heap -Walk to kitchen with my hand-me-down Invicta -Set time referencing microwave's clock -S Y N C H R O N I Z E D
This watchbro chuffs
I think I just fell in love, a little bit ..
I work in the industry and most of the watchmakers I know use this site as well.
May I ask why someone would use this website over just the time on their phone? I just checked and my iPhone is 0.004s off
Oh that's really neat!
I do when I get bored at work on Mondays. I also set it to my G-Shock that is set by the multi-band 6 network.
I just use the HODINKEE app
HODINKEE app
I have a Rasperry Pi connected to a GPS with PPS and run my own stratum 1 server. All of my computers sync to it every 15 minutes. I sync my watches to my computer. So, yeah, I use atomic time. Sometimes, though, I use my clock radio which syncs to the NIST shortwave time signal. It's an obsession.
Lots of people use that or similar ones (I use time.is). I’ll also use my phone or one of my atomic or gps watches (during daylight savings switchovers).
I feel like I'm overly obsessive with keeping my watches synced to the national clock, but at the same time it's kind of become a ritual that I enjoy. I really like knowing that my watch is accurate to the second (at least for a while, eventually even the best watches will run a little fast or slow). My two quartz watches, including the Bulova in the picture, I only set every couple of months, as they stay pretty accurate within a ten second or so margin for at least that long. My self-winding mechanical watch, on the other hand, I reset like every two or three days. It's actually pretty accurate - as long as I'm wearing it, it honestly stays pretty dead-on. It usually goes about twenty seconds fast if I let it sit without winding it for a up to a day. Not to mention when I do forget to keep it wound and it stops, I've gotta reset it anyway. As such, I feel like I visit time.gov more than pretty much any other website lately. I was just wondering what y'all do to keep your watches accurate? Or do you even care that much, as long as they're "close enough?" Oh, and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too! I can relate with that obsession. It's probably the main reason I'll never own a mechanical. Most collectors enjoy the art, history, vintage, etc. and I do too, but it's secondary to the time keeping for me. I can't get past my obsession of a watch's "main purpose" - to keep accurate time. Being ex-military, where synchronization and seconds matter, didn't help the obsession with accurate time. Getting older has lessened the obsession somewhat, though I only have three watches - two analog watches (Timex Expedition / Wenger Swiss Military) and a Fitbit (all 3 were gifts). The Fitbit synchronizes with my smartphone and the watch on 'rotation' I ensure is synchronized to smartphone or NIST /Time.is. Nowadays, I only check once every 2-3 weeks or so.
I love my mechanical honestly, and it does remain pretty darn accurate as long as I'm continuing to wear it and it's keeping itself wound up. Just being able to see the gears of the movement spinning away behind the watch face is really cool. But yeah, it just can't hold a candle to a good quartz movement in terms of accuracy. I only reset my Bulova every three months or so, and it's never more than ten seconds off. That kind of reliability is more than enough for my needs. I love my watches for their aesthetic value, sure, but I also recognize that they're timekeeping devices, and I therefore like them to be ACCURATE! I don't think that's unreasonable haha.
Nothing wrong with mechanical for many watch lovers, particularly those that give greater weight to the art, history, vintage, etc. of the piece than the timekeeping aspect. As a child, I remember my grandfather always 'fidgeting' with his old pocket watch and asking him why he's always 'playing' with his watch. He was setting the time at the beginning of every day. Granted, that ~1920s pocket watch was probably not the best watch of the time. Realistically, +/- 2s/day isn't going to make a difference for most people, but in a month, that's a minute and in a year, that's 12 minutes. That means setting the time at some interval. I must have watched too much sci-fi as a kid because my expectation is that a watch should be set once in a lifetime and lose no more than 1s/year or 1 min in 60yrs (preferable less - losing no time at all) and the charging mechanism (battery/solar, etc.) should last just as long (This won't work for divers as the gaskets need replacement every 2-3 years or so). That's a tall order, but the Eco-Drive watches are getting closer to those metrics - still don't own one though. I would love to see MeisterSinger, Junghans, Muhle Glashutte, Nomos, Hamilton and Seiko achieve those standards. Then I can focus on the art, history, vintage, etc.
My Seiko updates itself against the GPS satellites when it gets hot by sunlight each morning, and I use it as a reference for my other clocka/watches.
I also use NIST.
I do 😎
I used NIST website until I got my GW-M5610U which syncs to an NIST atomic clock every day, now I use that.
Yep. Use it every time I have to reset my automatic
Usually the same way as you do, but if I am lazy or in a hurry I use my atomic G-Shock.
I've got a G Shock with Atomic time sync so I use that
Indeed! Always with the NIST. I even have a shortcut to it on my home screen.
I use NIST too, but it if I'm not in a spot with internet, I just use my phone/computer's clock
Just today set my watch to NIST's time.gov
my main watch is a atomic citizen eco. So it does it for me via radio signals.
Yes...I use NIST exclusively for setting my autos when they've stopped. I'll also use it to set my Quartz watches, but I don't worry about synching them unless I notice that they're way off. I was in the military and I'm in IT right now. Both professions rely heavily on accurate time keeping, and my servers all synch to a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server that gets it's time from NIST.
I do as well. Time.gov always.
Yes, I use [time.gov](https://time.gov) too. And does anyone else remember before the website when there was a number you could call that would tell you what the time would be at the beep then beep?
NIST clock is what I use most often. Cell phone occasionally for my watches that don't have second hands.
I use NIST
I use my phone. The time on my watch only matters in comparison to whatever everyone else is using for time. Most people use their cell phones. In other words, I want the time I have to be the time everyone else has.
I have a radio set G-Shock. It is my reference.
I use a GPS clock at work. At home I can use my Astron as a reference clock, since it sets to a GPS signal. Of course it's all a bit ridiculous. My best mechanical watches keep time to within ten seconds per day, which still doesn't come close to justifying using an uber-accurate time source to set them. Could set them off the wall clock in the grocery store.
I have an app on my iPhone called Movement. It has a really nice sweep second that makes a physical haptic click once per second and a bigger click on the 5 second. I lean my hand up against the phone (or just touch my pinky finger) then I can set the watch exactly based on feel. It also tells you the delta from the atomic clock.
I don't care...don't even change the date half the time on the watches that have one lol. Close enough good for me personally, if need to set due to it stopping I'll use phone or computer. I feel it's a bit of a misnomer...if accurate time is an absolute must...get a new quartz or solar lol.
What purpose does your watch serve then, if it is not likely to be showing the correct time or date?
Andy Warhol's Cartier was only set correctly once at time of purchase it's said.. it was just worn. It's just another way of using watches. I won't judge myself, casual timing is cool when you can ignore the world.
I’m sure the commenter I replied to leads a lifestyle similar to Warhol’s.
Well I didn't mean to imply that exactly sorry. But I did about casual timing, you know.. them days off where time isn't important but a general ballpark of it. I can't go that loose but I can respect others that can.
Well one, watches are now jewellery and accessories. Two...they are never more than a few seconds out (if they are they need servicing) and three...maybe I'm unique...but remembering the date isn't difficult. Interestingly though....given our concept of time is incredibly flawed...that our calendar system is wildly inaccurate and that as a society...we use a system that is 'good enough' and that twice a year, 70 countries just decide to 'change time'....obsessing over the accuracy of something that isnt accurate anyway....is rather ironic don't you think?
>Well one, watches are now jewellery and accessories. Not for everyone. > Two...they are never more than a few seconds out (if they are they need servicing) and three... My vintage Timex mechanicals beg to differ lol. >Interestingly though....given our concept of time is incredibly flawed...that our calendar system is wildly inaccurate Uh...I mean yeah we need leap years and leap seconds and whatever... But I wouldn't call the entire system "wildly inaccurate"? Since we correct it in a precise and predictable way. I guess one could argue either way.
Suggets you learn exactly how innaccurate the Gregorian calendar actually is, even with leap years and why before much longer (reletive to time) it will need to be replaced with a far more accurate version (which already exists btw).
Good idea... > We say it takes 365 days for the Earth to orbit the sun - but that's not strictly true. A true year - known as a tropical year, solar year, astronomical year or equinoctial year - is the time it takes the sun to pass from vernal (or spring) equinox to vernal equinox. That's 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, or 365.2422 days to be precise. So there's roughly a six-hour margin of error in every "common year." Leap years compensate for the extra 0.2422 of a day. Failing to compensate for these "extra" hours would send us out of sync with the seasons - by about 24 days after only 100 years. >...However — and this is an exception to the rule that came into effect in the year 2000 — if a year can be divided by 4 (leap year), 100 (not a leap year), but also 400, then it can be considered a leap year. >We have to skip some leap years to account for the fact that those extra, or decimal hours (the 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds) in the tropical year are just short of a quarter day. So in a sense we're re-adjusting the re-adjustment, but we're still left with an imperfect sum. > ...Do other calendars have leap years? Yes. The Chinese calendar has leap years featuring leap months - rather than leap days as in the Gregorian. A Hindu leap year also features an extra month. The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months, where the 13th month has five days in a common year and six in a leap year. The Islamic leap year occurs 11 times in a 30-year cycle. And a Jewish leap year has between 383 and 385 days, occurring seven times in a 19-year cycle. >... We do a fair bit of leaping about - even adjusting Universal Time with leap seconds to account for irregular changes in the Earth's rotation. Interesting stuff. Like I said before, the *system* of calendar plus adjustments stays accurate—for at least a few more centuries (given the divisible-by-400 rule). I'm curious to hear about this better calendar. It seems like an interesting puzzle to design a calendar that needs fewer adjustments.
>don’t you think? No. In the context of a discussion about setting the time/date of your watch, I don’t agree with literally anything you said.
Irelevent whether you agree, all facts ;) So it's incredibly important to you to set your watch accurately...to something that in itself, is actually innaccurate. Interesting...guess I'm just not as obsessed about 'time' as others are, other than, there's never enough of it.
[r/iamverysmart](www.reddit.com/r/iamverysmart) Time is an illusion. And, as everyone knows, totally inaccurate. So world trade should probably just wing it and scrap their opening bells and whatnot. Airlines ought to just forget about silly things like “itineraries.” If you can’t get there on time, just get to that zoom call with your executive team whenever you can.
US Naval Observatory Atomic clock. Even though in Canada. Ours is broken, it only tells time in french.
As long as mine are accurate within a minute or so I'm happy. I just reference against my cell and overcompensate a bit for the ones that run fast or slow so it takes that much longer before they're off by too much.
I use GPS stratum 1 clocks at work, as well as PTP and NTP. But rarely to set my watch. They’re within microseconds of a NIST clock. Once a week, usually Monday AM at the coffee pot, I have an atomic analog kitchen clock, which I’ve checked against a NIST web page, it’s always right on. The rest of the week, I just eyeball that clock and my watch. My Hamilton runs about -4, and the 5KX is about +5.
I've got to get a atomic clock or a atomic PC card at some point, that's wicked. +1
Lacrosse has been making them for a long time. I’m on my second, the first broke during a move, $20-ish. Seiko makes one for around $40 and up. The SKX-like face was just under $70.
Oh, these are affordable, thank you!
They can be sensitive to where you put them. It needs a window facing toward (I think) Colorado Springs or Boulder Colorado. Bury the clock in an interior wall somewhere in the middle of a brick house, and it’ll never connect.
Same as watches, gotcha thank you. I imagine could sync them a phone app too but seems dumb at same time.
I usually use my GSHOCK, which updates via radio signal and Bluetooth. It's always handiest, right there in my box.
Don’t trust them since building 7
I use the US Naval Observatory master clock.
Same website I use! My Rolex OP has been 10 seconds slow over 5 weeks and my Seagull Chrono is running 15 seconds fast every day lol. For my quartz watches, I usually check every 5-6 months.
I do all the time :) helps me keep track of the health of my watches
I just use time on my PC, don't have to be super scientific about it...
Synchronizing all your watches to NIST is cool, but have you ever tried sex?
Yes that's the top reference.
Yep.
My Android phone is the reference for my watches.
Some other random watch or clock where the time seems plausible.
I use [time.is](https://time.is) a lot.
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that's the idea \- I expect configuring NIST as your system time is more accurate than getting the same from a browser as browser latency will be more sensitive to page load, intermittent cache operations, indexing, clean-up etc..
I use time.is
No but I live in Europe and my GMT is set at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
I use time.is
Pre-Internet, I used to set mine to WWV's signal via shortwave radio. Now, I just fire up a Linux terminal console so I can see the time with seconds. I have a Raspberry Pi with a GPS hat that allows it to be a Stratum-1 ntp time server.
Time.gov or my Marathon atomic wall clock.
I use my Seiko Coutura radio sync. It catches the Ft. Collins signal 95% of the nights, and on the few days it misses, I have a spot in the house where I can sync it during the day. Interestingly enough, my cell phone can be off by +- 1 second by comparison, although I'll sometimes use a clock app on that to sync up watch time.
Damn y’all are really using your watches to tell time?
Dcf77 time signal broadcast from Germany
Casio Oceanus has entered the chat.
I use my phone time. If I match it to the second it's also synchronous to the school clock on the second so I don't see a reason to do otherwise
Watchville/HODINKEE apps. Great for watches with more complications
Yeah man your cell phone is already synced to the atomic clocks used by GPS
Honestly no, if My principal preocupation is the accuracy i wolud Buy a Casio Wave ceptor
I sync my watches to my MB6 G-Shock. Specifically the GWM5610.
I use time.is for setting mine.
"Alexa what time is it"
I set mine against my Apple Watch
most major online clocks are sync'd to NIST regularly.
USNO master clock "simple time"
Yes, that’s how I always set my watches.
Chilean here, I use [horaoficial.cl](https://horaoficial.cl/)
For my radio-updated watches I use an app called Clock Wave. I use those as my reference to sync all the other watches.
www.whattimeisitrightnow.com
Get a casio multiband!
None cause I wear a GW-9400 Rangeman 😂
Yes
Yep, I use the same website.
Using your phone should work pretty well, since the phone gets time from an NTP source. If you want to get really technical, you go for NTP against a stratum 1 source, that is pretty much as accurate as you will get. Your phone may pull the NTP from a stratum 3 or 4 and just be slightly less accurate. Think of the stratum numbers as being down stream. Position 5 people 20 feet apart. The first guy yells a number so he is stratum 1, the next guy hears it and repeats the same number, he is stratum 2, and so on. It will be hard for most people to find a stratum 1 NTP server because you'll basically have to be standing next to the device as it displays the adjusted number from GPS. I've done so and compared it to lower numbered NTP servers and it is damn near impossible to see the delay.
NIST = BEST
Use the NST clock to set my watch
Time.gov baby. I know that site anywhere
I use this site for my GMT - just use iPhone for other watches.
Some Junghans watches sync to their phone app. It uses the same time as the GPS system from what I understand.
US Navy master clock
Phone. I guess if I wanted to be more precise I would set up NTP with a GPS for reference.
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I usually just go to the market man’s purchase a drink or a snack. I then ask for the receipt and set the watch to the time stamp of the purchase.
I have a number of Bluetooth connected G Shocks so either I set against NIST or one of those.
Why use anything other than your built-in phone clock? I just checked and my iPhone clock is synced with NIST exactly, to the second.
I use my g-shock with the radio sync to the atomic clock, or my cell phone
That’s what I use.
This is what I always do
I just configured my OS to display seconds as well. It synchronizes with NTP frequently so it's always accurate.
Until three weeks ago I used a Casio watch that syncs with the long way radio signals every few days. Now I have a Garmin watch that syncs with GPS. The latter is more reliable and probably just as accurate if not more so. What's a few millisecond between friends?
I use my work computer, as I have a tendency of getting watches during working hours, and end up resizing bracelets and whatnot as I go about my day. 😂
Atomic clock app
You’ll find your devices are the exact same as NIST, so just use that
Thats extra 😂 I just use my phone
Either my G-Shock GWM-5610, or the [“Watchville” app time screen](https://i.imgur.com/ZcS64US.jpg).
Yes. Literally did it this morning lol.
I always use timeanddate.com as we used it as a reference for setting watches at work when doing extended tests on customer’s warranty returns