Can a Quartz Watch Actually Run Slow?
Contrary to popular belief, a quartz watch cannot technically run slow in the traditional term but it can stop intermittently, making it look and feel like it’s running slow. This is mainly because of the watch battery or circuitry rather than the actual movement in most cases.
The main culprit is usually your watch not getting a consistent stream of power from the battery, which reasons like a faulty or old battery or problems with the capacitor can cause. This causes mini interruptions which can cause your watch to stop for a few seconds or even a few minutes every once in a while.
But there are also other reasons like mechanical and maintenance problems that make a quartz watch look like it’s running slow. Issues like having damaged watch hands or problems with the watch’s motor can also be a factor, but it’s rarely the case.
A good rule of thumb is to listen to your watch, if it makes any sound other than your typical one tick-per-second sound, it’s probably a mechanical problem.
Maintenance issues like debris inside your watch, corrosion, or just the lubrication gunking up can cause a lot of friction to the motor and other moving parts.
Common Reasons Why Quartz Watches Can Run Slow
1. Battery is Either Running Low or is Old/Faulty
The most common issue for a quartz watch appearing to run slow is that the battery is running low. If you have a low battery, the quartz movement will have trouble getting a steady stream of power and that’ll cause your second hand to stop intermittently.
Many quartz watches will have an end-of-life indication, which will slow down the second hand’s tick from once per second to once per 2 to 4 seconds.
If you’ve just changed your watch batteries and the watch is still ‘running slow’, then it’s pretty likely that you have a faulty or just an old battery.
Batteries that have sitting around for a while will see a decrease in performance, and the same can be said with batteries that were maybe left out in low or high temperatures for long periods of time.
Also, if you buy a low-quality battery, the chances of it failing are much higher. Read your watch’s manual and find out what batteries they recommend, but most likely it’s going to be a silver oxide or lithium. Another thing to look for is a RoHS and CE certification, which are industry standards and can be found in most high-quality batteries. Here’s a great guide on silver oxide batteries that I recommend checking out.
Trust me, it’s not worth skimping out on batteries. I had a cheap battery leak on me once and it wasn’t pleasant. If I had to describe it, it probably feels like bleach touching your skin – not fun.
2. Maintenance or Servicing Issue
If you’ve never brought your quartz watch for a service, especially your quartz watch, it might be a good time to do so! Many people think that quartz watches don’t need servicing but that’s not the case.
The moving parts of any quartz watch like the hands or any complications, will need to be cleaned and lubricated every 1-3 years. Over time, old lubrication can dry and gunk up.
Gunked-up lubrication causes a lot of resistance for parts like your watch hands and makes it hard for it to move forward, despite the motor registering a tick. Over time, this will add up and make your watch appear like it’s losing time or running slow.
Although not very popular, there are some watchmakers that are still using animal or plant-based lubrication, which I’d avoid. Organic lubrication tends to gunk and gum up much more frequently and more often compared to synthetic ones – so just keep that in mind!
The quartz crystal and stepping also wear out over time and need to be replaced during a full service (6 to 10 years). Unless you have a luxury watch, most watchmakers and service centers will just replace the movement entirely.
If you do have a luxury watch with an in-house movement, they’ll take the time and effort to replace the crystal and motor!
3. Magnetism Can Also Affect Quartz Watches
Yes, even quartz watches can be magnetized, but the effects are not as severe as mechanical watches. When a quartz movement gets magnetized, it only affects certain parts like the hands and motor. This causes the hands to not tick as smoothly, caused by it being mildly attracted to the other metal components.
Placing your watch for prolonged periods near electronics like your phone, laptop or television can cause your watch to get magnetized over time – I’ve had it happen to me once. If you work near heavy machinery like an MRI machine, magnetism is likely what is causing your watch to run slowly.
A simple fix is to bring it to a watchmaker. Most of the time, they’ll demagnetize any watch that you might have for a small fee or even free of charge!
Alternatively, you can always opt to do it yourself using a demagnetizer. I’d say it’s worth it if you work with a lot of heavy machinery or magnetic fields on your day job and get your watch demagnetized often.
I’ll talk about how to detect and remove magnetism later in the article, so stay tuned for that! Oh, and magnetism also affects the accuracy of mechanical and automatic watches – but much worse!
4. Extreme Temperature
Extreme temperatures can and will damage both your watch and your battery. As I’ve mentioned earlier, performance can degrade when left out in cold or hot weather.
When temperatures are too hot, your battery has more capacity and output but you risk a battery leak or having it catch on fire. Prolonged exposure can lead to your battery degrading at a much faster rate, causing it to perform a lot worse.
Cold weather, on the other hand, means less battery capacity and a lower power output. This causes interruptions in the steady stream of power, making your quartz watch stop every once in a while.
Seiko recommends to avoid temperatures less than 5°C and higher than 35°C (or 41°F/95°C) for mechanical watches. I would personally follow this suggestion for quartz watches too because extreme temperatures like these affect all aspects of the watch (lubrication, gaskets, etc.), and not just the quartz movement.
5. Corrosion and Water Damage
Corrosion and rust are both very real things that can impact many watches, even quartz ones. Even a single drop of water in your watch can cause parts like the motor and hands to corrode or rust over time.
If you’ve felt rust before, you know it feels very rough. Now imagine this rough feeling all over your watch hands and motor – you can see that it can cause a lot of friction right?
Although modern stainless steel watches are very corrosion resistant, many components inside these watches like the balance spring or the metal stepping motor in quartz movements can be corroded easily.
The scenario is pretty similar to the gunked-up lube example that I shared earlier, with the motor registering a tik but the second hand didn’t, causing it to just stop for that one instance.
So, What’s the Best Things to Do If Your Quartz Watch Runs Slow?
1. Replace Your Watch Battery and Get a Good One
The single easiest thing you can do is to try to replace your battery. As mentioned earlier, a dying or low battery is a common culprit behind a quartz watch that is running slow.
When the battery’s voltage drops below a certain level, it cannot provide the necessary power to sustain the quartz crystal’s oscillations at the correct frequency. As a result, the watch can begin to lose time or run slow!
You can either bring it to a watchmaker or opt to replace it yourself, remember look for the relevant RoHS and CE certifications before buying!
Remember, all batteries have a shelf life, and using one that’s been lying around for a couple of years is a hazard. The older the battery, the worse the performance. Better to be safe than sorry, especially for more expensive quartz watches! Here’s a great Wikipedia guide on different batteries and their shelf life to check out!
2. Detecting and Demagnetizing Your Watch
Detecting Magnetism in Your Watch
How do you tell if your watch has been magnetized? Here’s a common tip that I tried that really works (Keep in mind older smartphones might not have the necessary hardware to support this app’s function, but there’s no harm trying it out!):
- Begin by downloading the “Magnetometer” app from either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
- Once the app is downloaded and installed on your phone, you’re ready to proceed.
- Open the app and let it idle. In this state, the app’s reading should typically hover around 40-60 units, and you’ll see this number displayed in green.
- Bring your watch close to your phone while the app is running. If your watch is magnetized, you’ll notice a sudden spike in the reading, and the numbers will turn orange/red.
Actually Demagnetizing Your Watch
So how do you fix it? You can opt to buy your own demagnetizer! It’s not expensive at all and you can demagnetize your watch or anything else by yourself without needing to go to your watchmaker. Here’s the one that I recommend on Amazon.
Demagnetizing your watch using the tool is pretty straightforward. All you need is to:
- Place your watch in the allocated area.
- Hold the red button for 5 to 10 seconds.
- While holding the button, the light should turn on and you should feel a buzzing sensation.
- Let go of the button and your watch should be demagnetized!
If you feel like it’s not worth it buying your own demagnetizer, you could always bring it to your watchmaker and they are likely to do it free of charge, based on my personal experience. Though it depends on the watchmaker!
3. A Watchmaker Knows Best!
For all of the other reasons, it’s best to bring it to a skilled watchmaker. Every case is unique and different, and there is simply no one-size-fits-all solution. Different parts might need lubrication or maybe the stepping motor has corroded – you get what I mean.
Most watchmakers will opt to replace the quartz movement entirely, as it’s cheaper and less labor-intensive to do it. This is usually the case as most quartz movements are sourced from manufacturers (like Ronda, ETA, and Miyota) and they’re available to most watchmakers.
If your quartz movement is made in-house (designed and manufactured by the watch brand) or has some fancy decorations on the movement, it’s best to bring it back to the brand’s official service center. They’ll replace each component with care!
Most independent watchmakers might not have the knowledge to know how to work on in-house movements because it’s just too specialized. However, for partial services and off-the-shelf movements, they’re often cheaper and faster to get serviced at third-party watchmakers!
How to Minimize the Chances of Your Quartz Watch Running Slow
If you want to prevent a quartz watch from running slow or losing time in the future, you should always follow best practices like:
- Avoiding Prolonged Exposure to Extreme Temperatures (Anything Below 5°C and Above 35°C).
- Take Off Your Watch When Working Near Machinery (Magnetism)
- Take Your Watch for a Partial Service Every 1-2 years and a Full One Every 6-10.
- Avoid Storing or Placing Your Watch Near Electronics like Smartphones, TVs, Laptops, etc.
Conclusion
To sum it up, a quartz watch can ‘run slow’ or ‘lose time’ but for mostly different reasons when you’re comparing it with automatic or mechanical watches. Although they are more resistant than their other counterparts, they can still run slow because of battery issues and all the other problems mentioned earlier.
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