Who needs a Rolex?

[Rocker]

Back in early September, I bought a Casio watch made in China for $69.95. I set it then by the on-line US official time clock, and have not altered it since. Today I found that it had gained just three seconds. Isn't science wonderful?

[silentC]

Rocker, I've got a watch that was given to me as a wedding present. I've never adjusted it and it still gives the correct time twice a day!

[Rocker]

Darren,
It sounds as though you might be having the same problem with your watch as I am having with my video recorder; but I have the excuse of old age and incipient dementia.

[Iain]

While serving in sunny (and wet) Vietnam I bought two Rolex watches for $10.00.
A week later they stopped running and our instrument man told me the reason was that the bamboo mainspring had dried out.
Never buy Rolex again, crappy quality, I expect perfection for top dollar.

[Rocker]

Well, it is a year now, and my Casio has gained 30 seconds, so it is marginally superior to John Harrison's H4, which he built in the 1760's to solve the longitude problem and win himself the prize of 20,000 pounds. 30 seconds in a year is about 1 in 1,000,000. H4 was out by 5 seconds in six weeks - a pretty amazing feat for those days. H4 is preserved in the Maritime Museum at Greenwich, and still runs.

Rocker

[Roberto Perez F]

I though that Casio watches were made in Japan not in China!

[himzol]

to John Harrison's H4, which he built in the 1760's to solve the longitude problem and win himself the prize of 20,000 pounds.

I seem to re-call it took most of his life to develop and sell the thing.

BTW they must have better quality bamboo in HK, I baught my son a rollex a couple of years ago and it's still going :confused: , although the guy did try to sell me one with really friendly numbers, they were all hudled together near the six. :D :D

Himzo.

[silentC]

I read Dana Sobel's book Longitude - good read if you're interested. I think she is a great grandaughter of John Harrison's or something.

It was a while ago but my recollection is that he struggled for years to get his method recognised and only got there after 40 years. He had a rival who also happened to be involved in the commitee which decided who would get the prize for solving the longitude problem. They kept changing the rules so that an astronomical solution would have a better chance of winning.

[himzol]

Dana Sobel's book Longitude

I might have to look it up, I watched the mini series on the ABC or SBS...it even captivated my teenage son :D :D

[simon c]

Well, it is a year now, and my Casio has gained 30 seconds, so it is marginally superior to John Harrison's H4, which he built in the 1760's to solve the longitude problem and win himself the prize of 20,000 pounds. 30 seconds in a year is about 1 in 1,000,000. H4 was out by 5 seconds in six weeks - a pretty amazing feat for those days. H4 is preserved in the Maritime Museum at Greenwich, and still runs.

Rocker
Rocker, you're inadvertantly doing Harrison a bit of a diservice. The H4 was actually a much more accurate watch than 5 seconds in 6 weeks. The requirement was for it to lose no more than 5 secs on a voyage from London to the West Indies where it would have to endure the effects of temperature variations and the motion of the vessel. Left on a table in London it would have been significantly more accurate than that.

If anybody visits London, make sure to go to Greenwich as all of his original clocks are on display.

Simon

[Rocker]

Roberto,

My Casio says "Made in China". I suppose the Japanese get them assembled over there nowadays.

Simon,

I was going by this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1864737.stm , but you are probably right in saying that H4 would be more accurate if sitting on a table, rather than travelling on a sailing ship to the West Indies.

Rocker

[vsquizz]

The Singapore copy watches actually could be quite good. There was one you could get for about $40 Aus which had the fake Rolex case but with a genuine Seiko guts. It lasted about as long as much more expensive watches do on me (about 5 mins on the chainsaw):D . I put on an automatic and kill it dead within a few hours. Other people put it on and it works again. Go figure.


Cheers

[Barry_White]

. I put on an automatic and kill it dead within a few hours. Other people put it on and it works again. Go figure.


Cheers
Squizzy

Funny you say that I have a friend whos wife whenever she put on an automatic watch it would die. Must be something to do with the electrical field in the body or something.

Would be a good question for Dr Krusinenski or what ever his name is.

[AlexS]

SWMBO bought me a cheap digital watch with large characters so I could read it without specs. After a couple of weeks it died. Exchanged it & the next one did the same. Finally twigged when the 3rd one beeped and died - I'd been zapped by static when I took of my windcheater, and this killed the watch immediately. Replaced it with a slightly more expensive one and have had no further problems.