Patek Philippe

This is a general question but leading to a specific question. If you set up your watch such that at a beginning of a minute the minute hand is exactly aligned with a minute marker on the dial, would you expect the minute hand to be exactly aligned to the... 

if you mean that when the second hand makes a tour of its dial, the minute hand should arrive at the next marker, then I would say yes. I can't see what could cause a delay leading to a growing gap between the second hand arriving at its "0" position and ... 

and it seems to me something is wrong. I hope PP agree! As you can imagine I have looked at many pictures of the 5235 and it seems not many people care that the minute hand is aligned to a marker when the second hand is at '0' when they set the time, even... 

You're talking about the fact the second hand can be at "0" and the minute hand not be at the marker's level. It depends when the second hand was stopped or how the minute hand was set. This is normal. What is not is that once both are "synchronized", the... 

Yes I understand that. Of course with the 5235 stop second hand feature it is very easy to set the minute hand exactly where you would like it corresponding to a particular point for the second hand, it is just that mine does not stay that way :)

and I think that it isn't always resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Does the watch keep the correct time? Does the minute hand miss the markers by its own width or less? Does it change if you place the watch on its side with 3 o'clock up, or 9 o'clock u... 

It is indeed something to remember. Cheers, Mark

to answer your questons.. Does the watch keep the correct time? Yes Does the minute hand miss the markers by its own width or less? More! 25 minutes around from original setting it will be sitting in the middle of the minute markers (having been set exacl... 

For those with an interest in this thread I now have an official answer from PP. In summary it is considered 'normal' behaviour. The variation is plus or minus 15-18 seconds due to tolerances of the gear cutting. More likely to be noticed on a stop second... 

I guess many of the mechanical watches have something working that way indeed. Good news it is normal then! Cheers, Mark

Hi, the issue you describe is one of those which could well be at the top of a FAQ for watch lovers. And, as with many other technical imperfections of mechancal watches, can have several different reasons. As a standard procedure you should first make su... 

Thank you for your explanations on that amtter Suitbert, much appreciated Cheers, Mark

Indeed one of the first questions PP in London asked was if I was setting the hands CCW. I was, I learned this before when setting a JLC Master Control. the deviation was still there. From my own tests and the answer from PP Geneva I too very much suspect... 

My 5235 behaves as your described. The minute hand is adjusted exact to the minute index, with second hand at 60. But it will gradually deviate, and only reached minute index when second hand is already +5sec. The deviation will then go away when the minu... 

Thanks Henry, yes the time keeping of this calibre is indeed excellent, I think the best of all my watches in fact