# Carrera Calibre 16 - leave seconds on ?



## Presidente (Dec 28, 2011)

Hello,

I have just bought the Tag Carrera Calibre 16 (day and date) watch and I think it is the best looking watch I can afford (or can't really afford but meh...)
I have just realised now that big seconds hand is not moving by default and it only moves when stopwatch function is on.
To me watch with seconds hand that just sits at 12 looks broken (or im just not used to it yet).

If I was going to leave the seconds hand on all the time will this in some way damage my watch? 
I have called the store and they said some people do it and it should have no effect on the watch itself but they didn't sound too convincing.

Anyone has similar experience? Can you please share?
Thanks!

EDIT: also apologies if this has already been discussed before. couldn't google up anything similar.


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## djpatrick35 (Jan 28, 2010)

You bought a chrono and the large seconds hand doesn't move unless the chrono's activated as a rule. I know it's hard to get used to as it took me a while to get used to not seeing that nice sweep of the second hand. But believe me you'll come to love that Carrera and chrono's in general. I did and every new watch I buy is a chrono now after resisting them for the first few years when I started collecting.


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## JiGoD (May 31, 2011)

I was under the impression that overusing the chrono function on an auto watch can be harmful. Having it always active seems like overuse?


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## vanilla.coffee (Feb 27, 2011)

I asked this question and searched through endless threads where this has been discussed before. 
Many respected posters here say no, other respected posters here say yes. So what to do...?

It will depend on the movement I have learnt. For the Valjoux 7750 (Cal 16) I came across the following...

_"The hour wheel runs in a hole in a plate rather than in a jewel or replaceable bushing. This construction reduces cost, but suggests that care should be taken in overusing the chronograph, particularly without regular service."_

So my advice would be not to leave the chrono running on the Cal 16.


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## nuovorecord (Nov 27, 2007)

I'd agree with the advice to not leave the chronograph function running all the time. It's not designed to be run constantly. Give it some time before you do anything rash, but if it bugs you that much, my advice would be to sell it or trade it for a watch with a sweep seconds hand.


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## Presidente (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks to all of you guys for replying.

I am definitely not returning the watch because of this. Second day owning it and I already kind of like this feature.
I have been waiting to buy this watch for so long, not parting with it now.

thanks again.


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## JiGoD (May 31, 2011)

Enjoy it. You will like it more and more as time passes.


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

My $0.02 worth: TAGHeuer chronos are highly jeweled. The additional wear to the chronographic section of the movement by running the chronograph should not be any more than the normal wear to the movement by running the movement all the time. But he power reserve will suffer... that is the only downside as far as I can tell.


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## joe48 (Dec 23, 2011)

Hi Presidente. I have a similar dilemma. I am about to but a TAG and I would like a chrono, but I was dissapointed when I realised that the main seconds hand only functions in chrono mode. I think a moving seconds hand adds to the appeal of a watch. It makes it look a living thing if you see what I mean. So I am considering one with the calibre S movement which has just the one large second hand for both the watch and chrono functions. It's a quartz though, and not everyone wants a quartz. The salesman in the shop is trying to persuade me to go for an automatic. He says I could just leave the chrono running, as he himself does. I asked if that would wear the watch out and he said that there's two sides to it really. On the one hand the parts are being used more, but on the other hand they are also being lubricated more. A bit like leaving a car engine without running it for a few months. It's better to keep it running regularly. So I'm still a bit unsure which to go for. I reckon if you just run the chrono now and again for a few hours when you really want to have the secong hand moving, then it should be perfectly OK.


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## vanilla.coffee (Feb 27, 2011)

And here is the dilemma... some say yes and some say no. 

I could never get a definitive answer from this forum or others so gave up asking and opted to not leave it running because some say it wears the movement out and others say it does no harm at all.


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## drunken monkey (Jun 22, 2011)

Some of the cheaper fakes has a constant running centre seconds hand.

I like the fact that the actual running second hand is in the 9 position because, well, not many non-watch people actually know that so it can become a little bit of a conversation starter. It is also a reminder that in the past, it was the chronograph/time-keeping that was more important than the telling of the time; the big second hand was so that you could see the seconds count when travelling at 100+mph around a corner through a check-point.


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