Day 100, time to reflect…
Above is the watch, along with some of the straps that I have worn most. I have rarely gone more than two or three days in a row on any single strap, sometimes changing straps/bracelet a couple of times a day. This watch just rocks all straps!
Its looks, style, aesthetics and general practicality/wearability are also perfect for me. Robust enough for wearing in the workshop and off-road cycling/camping, waterproof enough for dips in the pool / car washing, smart enough for nice dinners out and casual enough for daily wear at work, or to the pub. Over the 100 days I can not see any marks or scratches, save for some inside the lugs (strap changes) and on the bracelet clasp.
However, it seems that I can not live with just one watch and tomorrow I will be rocking something else. Actually, let me refine that - I can not live full time with just one mechanical watch; I miss quartz accuracy.
The only “weakness” of this watch was it’s occasionally very inconsistent timekeeping. Most of the time it was accurate to +/-2sec a day. Over a week or so, this would average out to nearly zero, but there have been a dozen days or so over the last three months where it has randomly started gaining or losing 6sec to 8sec a day. I have no idea why. I’ve taken it to a local jewellers to demagnetise it (no effect) and dipped in with a full manual wind every so often (again, no effect). A day or two after these “blips” it would revert to +/-2sec again, but would be significantly out of time by then.
I fully respect the fact that for most people this would not be an issue, but I found that it got into my head. I found myself checking the time accuracy several times a day and always trying to second guess what the watch would do next. I even generated an Excel spreadsheet to log accuracy, time deviation and my activities on any given days to see if I could work out what was going on. No pattern or effect.
My plan is to return it to CW Towers for an inspection/service. After that, it will be gifted to my nephew who will be graduating into the Royal Navy later this year, that seems perfect. My original, prototype Dartmouth should be returned from its own CW service in the next week or two, and I will continue to wear that in rotation with my (now significantly reduced) collection.
So, a summary. A near perfect everyday watch; just chuck in a thermo-compensated quartz movement and I’d happily have this as a real, full-time one watch collection.
Keep well,
C
CW Watches - Malvern, Dartmouth, Lympstone, Sandhurst, Elite 1000, c60 300 Quartz.
Recently started hand making most of the leather straps you’ll see on my watches, happy to consider bespoke order for forum members.