Quote Originally Posted by Ruggertech View Post
which seems unlikely or Seiko send out their unbranded nh movements better set up than the branded ones they put in their own watches.
Unbranded NH35 movements are definitely NOT regulated to a better standard than Seiko branded ones. The watch manufacturer is going to the trouble of regulating them properly, which any manufacturer should do.

Contrary to popular myth you cannot simply fit a new movement to a watch and expect it to run to time, some degree of regulation is highly likely, and in the case of Seiko/NH the beat error will almost certainly need correcting. Regulating a Seiko/NH takes around 20 minutes, even if you're used to them it still takes several goes to get them right owing to the lack of a fine adjustment for the regulator.

I treated my own Seiko, a Seiko 5 7S26 that's 20 years old to an upgrade by fitting an NH35 movement, thus providing hacking and hand-winding. This needed some adjustment and regulation but it now keeps time to with a couple of secs/day provided it runs in a high state of wind (v. important with Seikos). The 'upgrade' was necessary, I`d nicked the balance out of my old watch to use in a repair job!

Seiko/NH movements always benefit from being regulated and adjusted carefully, if only they had a fine adjuster for the regulator (ETA style) they would be far easier to set up. One benefit is the sheer robustness, they don't suffer from wear in the way that some far more expensive movements do.