My 7a28 701a has always had decent timekeeping - probably (as I never decided to check it myself since I'm hardly ever in the same place each day and setting it and returning to check it exactly 24hrs later never seems to work out for me ) a few seconds a week at the most in the last years.
Since wearing my Omega MK40 more and more my 701a has languished in it's case more than it deserves. However when I do pull it out to wear I notice even over a few days the time of slow by minutes.
The sub seconds hand isn't yet doing the 2 step low battery dance yet so I can only imagine there is something else up. Has anyone else had a similar experience and what was the solution?
It sounds like your watch may be suffering from 'old sticky oil syndrome' and in need of a service. Over many years, the oil in the jewels thickens. Instead of lubricating, it adds friction, causing a watch to slow down and eventually stop. If you wear you 7A28 continuously, you'll probably find that it keeps as good time as it did before. The difference being when its on your wrist it's almost operating at body temperature, as opposed to room temperature; the extra warmth thins the oil. I have a couple of watches like that myself. If I leave one of them in an unheated room overnight, it will sometimes actually stop. Pick it up, reset the time, put it on my wrist and it starts ticking away. The only permanent solution is to strip, clean and re-lubricate the movement.
That's a good answer and for some reason hadn't crossed my mind.
As it happened though one day after I posted the sub seconds hand decided to remind me it was actually low on battery. This came and went for a few days till it remained and since I had fortunately stocked up with a reserve Seizaiken last year I popped the back off (ok unscrewed actually) and a week later it's still keeping time almost to the second even though it's been sitting in the box in a cold room.
I did notice on the inside of the casebook a date penned in which appeared to be day/month/2010 which I shall assume was it's last service. To which level of service I'll never know but I do plan on getting it to someone decent in the next year to redo the pusher seals and replace the hardlex with sapphire (if I can find one that is the right size/thickness) and I guess have look at cleaning/re-oiling. I don't baby this one but I also don't trash it and despite a very (almost invisible) scratch on the top of the glass the watches is pretty mint. Would love the lime back but dubious anyone would do it cleanly enough as to look original - there's nothing worse than a bad watch repair to me.
) a few seconds a week at the most in the last years.