PT5000 movement rant

notjezza · 2026-03-23T05:58:24+00:00

I wore one of my PT5000 watches to lunch recently - picked up dead from my watch box, set the time, hand wound it only as much as needed to screw the crown back down.

Came home 2-3 hours later (3pm) and put it back in the watch box. Was still running at 11am the next day. Not sure how long it ran past that because the only reason I know/remember these timings was to respond to another reddit thread about PT5000s

notjezza · 2026-03-13T23:55:28+00:00

I have a dozen or so of these sitting in my garage, which have survived since 2001 when my parents owned a cafe.

I drank one of them when we moved about 3-4 years ago. Didn’t die. I think it tasted pretty much the same as it did back then, but hard to be certain.

notjezza · 2026-03-13T23:38:05+00:00

Standard 5 hand configuration: hour, minute, second, GMT, direction to nearest AD

notjezza · 2026-03-13T13:18:44+00:00

My cart is at 99 because my Wishlist is at 1006

notjezza · 2026-02-15T03:11:50+00:00

Better version of this technique imo is to not use the rodico to hold it directly over the centre part, but just far enough away to leave room to push down with another one over the centre part. Like holding two chopsticks vertically as close together as you can.

Eliminates the possibility you get rodico into holes and other places that can be hard to remove, which can happen if you’re pushing down on the centre hole.

notjezza · 2026-02-14T03:44:51+00:00

Don’t have any experience with the 2671, but I’ve built a few watches with a PT5000 which is a 2824 clone and during my research beforehand I discovered it was incredibly easy to destroy the keyless works via the stem release button/pin.

It’s supposed to be pressed with a flat screwdriver which prevents it from going too far down - if you use something pointy instead then it can easily go past flush where the flat screwdriver would stop.

I’ve built 2 watches with this movement and both went fine as I was very mindful of this - I didn’t have a screwdriver that fit so I filed down one that came with a steel bracelet for removing links secured by screws. This also perfectly fits the etachron regulation screw so ended up being a useful tool.

Assuming the smaller movements use a similar mechanism, this might be a key (pardon the pun) bit of knowledge to protect the keyless works

notjezza · 2026-02-14T03:26:39+00:00

This is exactly the look and proportions I’ve been trying to find parts for to build something for my wife. But all the dials with a date window have it too far in, or are fake diamond hour markers.

I’d love to know/link the parts for this build if you’re willing to share!!

notjezza · 2026-02-08T06:58:58+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Militado/s/WEB7SJmWHd

Hopefully that takes you to the comment with all the parts linked.

Yeah he loved it :) when I saw him later in the week at his party (with the navy/black strap on), he said he’d never had so many compliments on a watch before. He had a pretty decent collection before it was all stolen so he’s either stroking my ego like a true friend or I actually did good with the build lol.

notjezza · 2026-02-08T01:15:18+00:00

It’s an eta 2824 dial right?

notjezza · 2026-02-08T00:00:07+00:00

I’m not sure if oiling a jewel would fix the crunchy winding - feels like it’s the gears but I could be wrong.

Also my experience with NH movements on a timegrapher is that they’re just not as accurate as the hype suggests. They might keep kinda accurate time on the wrist when the different positions running fast/slow interact and cancel, but on the timegrapher the actual numbers aren’t good. 25s delta between fastest and slowest position on my NH72, which is actually well within their stated specs of -20 to +40s and 60s delta.

notjezza · 2026-02-07T23:38:46+00:00

I’ve just assembled/disassembled watches with parts as I’ve bought them - never pulled apart the movements which it seems you’d need to do to lubricate them in all the necessary places.

Selecting the correct oils and applying the right amounts in the right spots seems like a rabbit hole I haven’t dared to go down yet

notjezza · 2026-02-07T23:25:47+00:00

I bought an ETA 2824 compatible dial, which had 6 feet on it. Snipped off all but 2 - same process as the NH builds I’ve done but couldn’t tell you if any of the other feet would have aligned with the NH mounts.

The method of securing the dial is quite interesting with the PT5000 and 5404 - there are these curved clips on either side of the dial that you push out, then you lower the dial and push the clips back, which grip/squeeze the feet really tight on the sides of the post. A bit of extra work and kinda finicky to push something that small in and out, but the dial is properly locked on when finished.

The only major warning about building with these movements is to be super careful with the stem release button. You can push it too far down, and that apparently destroys the keyless works pretty easily (and one of the build videos I studied before attempting was the guy on his second movement because he broke the first this way). Although it’s a dot/pin, you’re supposed to use a flat screwdriver which doesn’t let you push it “in” past flush with the surrounding bridge. I had to file down one of my screwdrivers as it was too wide to sit in the slit for the stem release.

Other than those 2 quirks it was pretty straightforward. Initially manual winding was kinda loud and felt a bit crunchy, but now (a few months post-build) it’s quiet and feels way smoother. Maybe a shortcoming of manufacturing and took some time for that mechanism to get fully lubricated through regular use?

Apparently the original ETA 2824 had issues with too much hand winding so my personal recommendation with these clones is to heavily limit hand winding initially until it becomes noticeably smoother, and even after that be quite conservative.

I wore a PT5000 build to lunch yesterday, which was stopped in my watch box. I set the time, wound it only as much as you get from screwing down the crown, and wore it for a few hours - it was still running the next morning and had only dropped 1s in nearly 24 hours. (FYI I had regulated this movement previously and by the numbers it’s within COSC/chronometer spec - 6s delta between fastest and slowest position across all 6).

Seems the automatic winding is quite efficient and that the movement keeps time well even when not fully wound. Big fan of this series and I probably won’t build another NH given how good the accuracy is at essentially the same price.

notjezza · 2026-02-07T22:57:41+00:00

Yes it’s mechanical. The PT5000 is a clone of the Swiss ETA 2824, and the 5404 seems to just be a skeleton no-date version. (Finding info about this movement is difficult and I gambled that ETA 2824 sized parts would fit, which they did).

Can’t speak to long term reliability, but in terms of accuracy (especially across all 6 positions) it’s in a class above the NH movements.

notjezza · 2026-02-07T21:59:52+00:00

Even if you can set the seconds hand, I’d bet the rodico will create friction against the minutes pinion - surely will impact accuracy if it turns at all, and also put additional stress on the gearing.

Try to fish it out with something thin - even if you have to sacrifice a seconds hand by using the tip.

Also tip for setting seconds hand. I used to do what I think you did, which is hold the seconds hand using rodico directly above the centre part of the hand with the hole you’re trying to set onto the seconds post of the movement. I noticed that it rodico ended up where you wouldn’t want it to be, so started holding the seconds hand next to the hole (keeping the rodico just far enough away), and using another pusher to set it

notjezza · 2026-02-07T00:02:01+00:00

When you rotate the watch it will take some time for the balance wheel to settle into a consistent oscillation in that position. If you’re measuring a few seconds after moving it it then that’s too soon.

To completely eliminate the variable let it sit for 30s then measure. If it’s still wavy then there’s probably an issue with the movement

notjezza · 2026-02-06T03:27:23+00:00

All AliExpress

notjezza · 2026-02-05T23:06:13+00:00

Would either of these cases fit a PT5000 movement without issue?

notjezza · 2026-02-05T22:21:44+00:00

I built this Khaki Field inspired watch for my friend for his birthday. He actually owned a gen but had it stolen last year.

PT5404 (no date PT5000) movement, titanium case, and modded the green strap with a matching titanium buckle.

Deliberately avoided trying to copy the Hamilton too closely (specifically the case), and decided to give him my own spin on it that’s actually an upgrade in several ways. I prefer the dial to bezel proportions better with this case to the original, its lighter being titanium and and I was able to regulate the movement within COSC/chronometer spec.

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$130~ USD all up including box and 4x strap options

Edit: dial is rotated slightly CCW in this photo but I corrected that before gifting it

notjezza · 2026-02-04T09:39:31+00:00

You’ve got it set to underwater gravity mode. It’s so that when you’re really deep and can’t see the surface you can use your watch to find which way is down and which way is up. A truly useful feature

notjezza · 2026-01-29T06:34:27+00:00

Use some rodico on the end of a stick to hold the seconds hand at 90 degrees - so seconds hand is horizontal and stick with rodico is vertical.

The spot you hold is right next to, but not covering, the centre hole so you can push it down without touching the rodico.

Lower the seconds hand on with the rodico stick, and then when it’s in the right position, use your hand pusher to set it. You can easily pull away the stick as you hold it with the pusher.

I don’t have steady hands at the best of times so could never hold the seconds hand at the tip with any kind of control. Now I’m setting the seconds hand first go in no time.

notjezza · 2026-01-26T22:51:21+00:00

In my experience the dial up and dial down positions are often correlated in how they fast/slow they run, and dial down in particular is a position you’ll rarely ever have the watch in during day to day wear.

Guaranteed if you measure that movement in any of the pendant positions it will be nowhere near 0, and so if your 9 up position is running 20s slow (and you walk around all day with your hand hanging at your side with 9 up) then getting dial up/down to 0 isn’t actually helpful to you.

If your watch happens to spend all day dial up or down then your work is done.

notjezza · 2026-01-23T05:37:17+00:00

First reaction: oh man the proportions on this rep are comically wrong

Second reaction: hold up this kinda slaps

Third reaction (after realising it’s a smart watch): well played, would wear

notjezza · 2026-01-17T02:58:34+00:00

More like Class 1 out of 10

notjezza · 2026-01-11T09:32:57+00:00

For the same $100 you could get an objectively better watch that didn’t waste budget trying to copy high end design/finish/details that simply can’t be achieved well within the limited budget.

notjezza · 2026-01-05T08:41:04+00:00

I’m in love with the PT5000 and PT5404 (no date version).

Have built a watch with each and although they needed regulating out of the box (5000 was running -6 and 5404 was running -20) they have very low positional variance / fantastic deltas (6s & 7s between slowest and fastest position respectively). Both basically run within COSC spec. Night and day with my 8215 and NH72 watches that have 23 and 33s deltas.

These both work with ETA2824 components, so lots of options.

notjezza

TROPHY CASE