# Vostok Amphibia runs +37 seconds a day.



## captain kid (Jan 6, 2010)

Bought an Amphibia a few months back and found it running way to fast so I decided to time it using Windows time.
I Synced the Windows clock to Windows time at the start and end of the measuring and the test went for about 9 days.

I bought it from the well known Ebayer Zenitar.

What do I do? Send it back and have it fixed and hope its still waterproof after that? Or live with it and just don't use it when traveling using public transport :-d


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## Oldheritage (Jan 3, 2009)

You could also ask a local watchmaker (not a jeweler...) to regulate it. It's a really simple procedure that shouldn't cost much. Since Vostok specs it's watches between -30 and +60, yours is not out of spec and thus not a warranty case I guess.


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## captain kid (Jan 6, 2010)

Oldheritage said:


> You could also ask a local watchmaker (not a jeweler...) to regulate it. It's a really simple procedure that shouldn't cost much. Since Vostok specs it's watches between -30 and +60, yours is not out of spec and thus not a warranty case I guess.


I thought it was 10-30 seconds, that is what it says on Smirs.com.
The problem with a local jeweler is they don't have the equipment to test water resistance to 200m, only 50m.

And I want the watch to be water resistance to 200 m, even if I won't ever take it seriously swimming/diving..

Edit.
Just read you typed watchmaker not jeweler.
I don't think I can find a watchmaker in my neighborhood even with the wonderful invention of internet.


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## RGNY (Aug 22, 2008)

my "Zissou" from Zenitar ran +5 MIN/day until i spent the $40 to have it regulated. now runs at +3sec/day.

there are always going to be lemons out there, but this is an easy fix.

my advice would be to pay to have it regulated locally, then wear it a lot.


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## Seele (Jan 9, 2010)

A new watch needs "running in" for it to settle down on its proper time keeping operation, if it is somewhat off after a few months then a proper regulation would make it much more accurate.

It is not the watchmaker's fault really, think about this:

I get a case of current vintage wine and it would not be very expensive. It may be drinkable right now, but more often it isn't. I cellar it for a few years, then it becomes much better. Certainly you can go to a wine merchant and get some which had already been cellared to the point that it has settled down in peak condition, but you would pay a lot more.

Vostok could have held on to the watches, run them in for a few months, and then have them regulated again before shipping, but then you would be paying a lot more for them.


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## pyjujiop (Dec 7, 2009)

You are within specs for a Vostok Amphibia, although it's rare for them to ship that far off the mark. One I purchased earlier this year runs at +13.

Anyone who has some experience with automatic watches can adjust that watch to where it will be extremely accurate, sometimes within COSC specifications. As for the 200m water resistance, don't worry about it. All Amphibias do it with no problem.


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## pacifichrono (Feb 11, 2006)

*This is my post from a few months ago:*

Here's a photo of my Amphibia. I am no watchmaker, just a 'hack' who likes tinkering with his watches. ;-)

Here's my procedure:

After removing the back, I put on a pair of reading glasses (like 3.5 vs. my normal 2.25). I use a plastic or wooden toothpick
to avoid upsetting the magnetism of the movement. After taking note of exactly where the *regulator* arm is positioned
(and/or the index indicator on the opposite side of the arm), I VERY gently push the arm in one direction or the other depending
on whether I'm trying to speed it up or slow it down. When I say "VERY gently" I mean you only want to move it so slightly
as to be almost imperceptible. Screw on the caseback "finger tight." Check the time vs. time.gov and record both the
current time and the second hand's variance from the actual time.

Wear the watch normally for a few hours. Recheck the accuracy and record it. Note the amount of change in the few
hours and extrapolate that change to 24 hours. Is it close enough or not? If it's not close enough, then remove the caseback
and repeat the adjustment steps. It may take five or ten iterations to get the accuracy down to an acceptable level (maybe
+/-15s/d for the 2416?). When you're satisfied, screw the back on and tighten with a caseback wrench. It's really quite
simple - - and fun.


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## eteller (Aug 9, 2010)

Got one Monday from Zenitar, it's off by 3min 15sec. Gonna run it awhile and see what happens.


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## pmwas (Aug 20, 2010)

The truth is that Amphibian watches are not accurate. Obviously they don't regulate their cheapest watches well and they take better made movements for their more expensive watches - as I've seen K-34 are all much more accurate than Amphibians. You have to be lucky to get one that (by accident i a way) runs nicely. I wouldn't have it opened unless it'ss really necesarry. It's not a top class mechanical watch, so it can run fast (the specs are in fact -30 to +60 for Amphibians - Russian 2nd accuracy class  )


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## captain kid (Jan 6, 2010)

pacifichrono said:


> *This is my post from a few months ago:*
> 
> Here's a photo of my Amphibia. I am no watchmaker, just a 'hack' who likes tinkering with his watches. ;-)
> 
> ...


If it gets worse I might try this. 
What about water resistance? Apply a little silicon lubricant on the ring?


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## Seele (Jan 9, 2010)

pmwas said:


> The truth is that Amphibian watches are not accurate. Obviously they don't regulate their cheapest watches well and they take better made movements for their more expensive watches - as I've seen K-34 are all much more accurate than Amphibians. You have to be lucky to get one that (by accident i a way) runs nicely. I wouldn't have it opened unless it'ss really necesarry. It's not a top class mechanical watch, so it can run fast (the specs are in fact -30 to +60 for Amphibians - Russian 2nd accuracy class  )


pmwas,

Not that I have auto-wind Vostoks for first hand experiences, as I much prefer hand-winders. Once regulated, 2409 and 2414 are frighteningly accurate. But as most things, YMMV, so it would be difficult to say for certain that the inherent design is incapable of achieving good accuracy, because in my case (and I am sure, others' cases), they are indeed accurate without exception, and I don't even have a dozen of them. :think:


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## pmwas (Aug 20, 2010)

The base caliber (2409 and 2414) is a very good construction (the auto winder is well... not so good  ) so it can be accurate, but someone has to regulate it well. Because these watches are cheap, no one is willing to time them good enough, because it takes time. So it's better to extend the range in the watches specification instead. To tell the truth, I don't like Vostok watches for how precisely they're assembled which is... ehm... a matter of luck, let's say. I just can't help loving them for the factory's history and their origin. My first K-34 was really a piece of s...t, so I got rid of it, but just coudn't resist to buy another one. Missed it too much, really  this one, luckily, is fine


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## Seele (Jan 9, 2010)

pmwas said:


> The base caliber (2409 and 2414) is a very good construction (the auto winder is well... not so good  ) so it can be accurate, but someone has to regulate it well. Because these watches are cheap, no one is willing to time them good enough, because it takes time. So it's better to extend the range in the watches specification instead. To tell the truth, I don't like Vostok watches for how precisely they're assembled which is... ehm... a matter of luck, let's say. I just can't help loving them for the factory's history and their origin. My first K-34 was really a piece of s...t, so I got rid of it, but just coudn't resist to buy another one. Missed it too much, really  this one, luckily, is fine


pmwas,

My watchmaker has the electronic machine for timing the watch put on its test platform, so regulating it takes only a few minutes. This certainly helps a lot!

But this is besides the point, and right now I am afraid I am not sure if we agree with each other, or not agree at all! I hope we can clear this up for the benefit of our fellow members :think:

My point is this: you cannot expect a Vostok to run at optimal performance right out of the box. After running in for a while, perhaps a few months, it will settle down, and getting it regulated again will make it accurate: my experiences with 2409 and 2414 prove to be so, _but I have no experience with 2416._

So, I would feel very grateful if you can clarify what you said in your last post a bit further. Did you mean the 2416 is poorer than the 2409 and 2414, that after running in and subsequent relation, it still cannot hold accuracy, to the point that you sold your K-34? If that be the case then it is new to me, because I do not know much about the 2416 anyway.

However, if you meant that out of the box, accuracy between individual units varies a lot, and it takes luck to get one that is accurate, it would be in total agreement with me, like my wine analogy. The only difference is that, I (along with pacifichrono and others) feel that it is worth getting them regulated after running in as a high degree of accuracy can be achieved, but you feel that replacement rather than regulation works better in your circumstances.


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## pmwas (Aug 20, 2010)

Well, my K-34 had multiple problems with the automatic winder and I don't know a watchmaker, who knows how to service 2416B properly (no parts, no experience - unliike other Russian watches 2416B was rather rarely seen in the past). Regulating 2416B is exactly the same as 2414, because 2416B it's simply 2414 + automatic winder on the top of it . However if the mainspring barrel is badly lubricated, which is quite frequent in Vostok watches (at least those for domestic market, as I've noticed), the watch will be impossible to regulate, because of balance "knocking" problem. Normally, a well done 2416B movement can be very accurate, if it's well timed, of course 

And talking about the gasket - in a new watch no silicone should be needed. Just close it tight - the Amphibian's gaskets are very good


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## Dutch62 (Apr 24, 2008)

Hi, that is great info. A quick question, what is the function of the "index indicator"? 

Thanks,

Dutch62


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## pmwas (Aug 20, 2010)

You mean the one in the regulator? It helps you to see how much you've just adjusted the watch and helps finding the previous position if it gets worse. One more thing, I don't know if it has been mentioned before. While regulating you have to make sure you don't move the other lever (the one that holds the hairspring's end), because if you move it, the watch will not be accurate at all. Because this lever tends to move while you push the proper one (regulator) in some watches, it is best to rmember exactly how it was set originally (it is difficult, though).


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## Dutch62 (Apr 24, 2008)

pmwas said:


> You mean the one in the regulator? It helps you to see how much you've just adjusted the watch and helps finding the previous position if it gets worse. One more thing, I don't know if it has been mentioned before. While regulating you have to make sure you don't move the other lever (the one that holds the hairspring's end), because if you move it, the watch will not be accurate at all. Because this lever tends to move while you push the proper one (regulator) in some watches, it is best to rmember exactly how it was set originally (it is difficult, though).


:thanks Thanks again,

Dutch62


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## robbra (Dec 5, 2009)

Thanks to Tom I tried this and my 12 month Amphibia has gone from 3 mins a day to 10 secs. I don't think I'll try again as I'm likely to make it worse.
Thanks Tom 
Rob


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## antilucem (Aug 16, 2014)

Good information here and if I can't find a good watchmaker with a calibration machine I will try a DIY solution, following Tom's advice. My Amphibia is now four months old and ready for regulation. I am just in the process of measuring the gain against my PC clock and most accurate ETA quartz.
Barry


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## hantms (May 28, 2014)

I think it's important to not mix up accuracy with a watch's daily rate new out of the box. If for example it runs between +35 and +40 seconds every day then that is very consistent, and you can be confident that after running it in for a couple months it will either settle down to a daily rate in the 0-10 seconds range, or that regulating it will bring it to something like 0-6 seconds. 

By design you don't need to worry too much about ruining water resistance properties by opening it up and regulating it. You just need the case back tool to screw it down again properly. A little trial and error moving the regulation lever is all it takes, no need for a watch maker. (Though the watch maker has a machine to help him do it in a couple minutes, the trial and error method can take a day or two, three until you're happy with it.)

I've also self-regulated a new Seiko 5 and with that one it's much more likely to end up ruining water resistance with the super thin gasket used. Not to mention that Seiko 7S26 movements are incredibly hard to regulate; the tiniest hair of an adjustment will send it 30 seconds in either direction.  Russian watches in general aren't as finicky and I end up regulating most of the vintage ones; it may have run accurate in Ukraine in the winter, but then after shipping and sitting in the tropics here many end up a bit off, but virtually all of them are easily corrected.

(I did get the Seiko very near spot on accurate in the end, it gains 2-4 seconds dial up overnight, loses 3-5 seconds on my wrist during the day.)


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## hantms (May 28, 2014)

hantms said:


> I think it's important to not mix up accuracy with a watch's daily rate new out of the box. If for example it runs between +35 and +40 seconds every day then that is very consistent, and you can be confident that after running it in for a couple months it will either settle down to a daily rate in the 0-10 seconds range, or that regulating it will bring it to something like 0-6 seconds.
> 
> By design you don't need to worry too much about ruining water resistance properties by opening it up and regulating it. You just need the case back tool to screw it down again properly. A little trial and error moving the regulation lever is all it takes, no need for a watch maker. (Though the watch maker has a machine to help him do it in a couple minutes, the trial and error method can take a day or two, three until you're happy with it.)


Follow up to self with actual experience of two new Amphibias.

1. 2415 (no date) movement on an Amphibia from Zenitar.

This one started out only a little fast and is settling down to a really good daily rate.









2. 2416b Amphibia

This one was in a hurry from the get-go. It seems to be slowing down a little but too early days to say for sure. Also a little more erratic though the wearing pattern is also very irregular in that sometimes I wear it, sometimes my wife wears it, sometimes it's just lying flat dial side up, etc. It does show that sometimes they can run very fast indeed, one time at +40 seconds even.









*NOTES: *
* None of this is very definite as it's early days especially for the 2416b. It's actually possible that the 2415 will end up in the negative, while the 2416b will settle to a much more agreeable couple seconds fast.. 
* With just two random watches you absolutely cannot say anything about one movement versus the other.
* Both watches aren't worn every day. Also ambient temperature differences are substantial; when on my wrist on a week day it's in an air conditioned office all day. When the watch is at home alone, temperatures could be as high as 34 degrees C.

As an aside, the below is how I track it. I check every morning (plm. 7am) and evening (plm. 7pm) and record how fast or slow it is versus the time at http://time.is The +/- column calculates how much it sped up or slowed down compared to the previous measurement, and Excel puts in conditional formating in yellow for fast and blue for slow. I also add a remark on what was going on in that period. And then for the daily rate I just sum the morning and evening measurements for that day, as the daily rate should be per day, of course.


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## wizee (Sep 14, 2013)

Vostok movements are well designed and can be quite accurate but their quality control is inconsistent. I checked my ~4 month old Vostok Komandirskie on a timegrapher today and it went all over the place. Just resting dial up, it went everywhere from -5 to +90 seconds a day while sitting still in one position! I concluded that the mainspring barrel was not properly lubricated properly at the factory.

I opened up the watch and removed the barrel to lubricate it. I didn't want to take the barrel apart since I don't have proper tools to rewind the mainspring and put it back together. Thus, I just put some synthetic watch oil around the arbor pivots on the two ends of barrel and let it seep in as well as it could. After cleaning up the excess, I reinstalled the oiled barrel and put it all back together.

Now the watch is an order of magnitude better. It now makes straight lines on the timegrapher instead of generating a wild random curve. Dial facing up, it hovers between +7 and +12 seconds/day. When the dial upright (facing me), it does between -5 and -10 seconds/day in different orientations. Positional variance in average rate between the fastest and slowest positions is around 20 seconds. The daily rate on wrist should now be somewhere between -4 and +6 I'd reckon - quite respectable for a $35 watch. For comparison, my almost new Seiko 7S26 watches have over 40 seconds positional variance between the fastest and slowest positions.


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## Ita (Nov 6, 2013)

Yeah, my Amphibia was running about +15 over its first month of life rested face up overnight.

I changed face up to crown down and bingo! +5. Brilliant!

I love this positional variation gig...

Ita


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## GoodEyeSniper (Jun 5, 2012)

I got two at once, and got both an extremely accurate one, and a very fast one. I haven't done any formal checking for a long time. But I know that if I go a week wearing my blue "submarine" dial, it will be 5-6 minutes fast by the end of the week. I almost always wear my watches for large chunks of time without changing, usually wearing as I sleep also. My "Steve Zissou" model I can wear for several weeks straight and it *might* end up a minute fast. 

Need to get myself a caseback tool and do some tinkering.

edit: these are both a few years old now, very little difference in timekeeping from the first month out of the box. Both have been used in very demanding conditions, the Steve Zissou never skipped a beat through the "Tough Mudder" run (13 mile off road obstacle course, through mud, ice water, 12 ft walls, etc... Both have been swam in the ocean, have seen hundreds of miles on the bicycle, hundreds of hiking trail miles (which I used to run, not hike), pools, hot tubs, showers, etc...


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## Lenny1951 (Jun 12, 2016)

Best thing I did was to get a timegrapher 1000 off ebay , it's just over $100 but it tells you instantly what going on with your watch ..


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## Cafe Latte (Nov 3, 2014)

pmwas said:


> The truth is that Amphibian watches are not accurate. Obviously they don't regulate their cheapest watches well and they take better made movements for their more expensive watches - as I've seen K-34 are all much more accurate than Amphibians. You have to be lucky to get one that (by accident i a way) runs nicely. I wouldn't have it opened unless it'ss really necesarry. It's not a top class mechanical watch, so it can run fast (the specs are in fact -30 to +60 for Amphibians - Russian 2nd accuracy class  )


I must be very lucky then as I have three all way more accurate than any watch I have ever owned and I have an Omega and a Squale in my collection. One of my Vostok's is plus or minus nothing a day the second gains maybe 3-4 seconds a day and the third is an older wind up which gains 12 seconds a day and looses the same at night (zero a day overall), Clearly Vostok movements are no good, not...
Chris


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