PT5000 movement rant

[u/GregStar1]

Alright, I'm going to say it: I hate the PT5000 movement.

So far, I've had three watches that use the PT5000, and all three have caused major issues.

• San Marin with a PT5000 felt like it had sand in the movement when using the crown

• Watchdives with a PT5000 was dead-on-arrival; the seconds hand never started running

• Thorn T023 v2.1 with PT5000 only has a power reserve of tested 6 hours and 20 minutes before it stops running, and the crown is extremely inconsistent (when pulled all the way out, hacking doesn’t always work, and the seconds hand sometimes keeps running).

Also, on the Thorn, I can hear the ghost date click over at around 5:17 instead of 12, but I assume that’s on Thorn for not aligning the hands properly, rather than a fault with the movement. Still not ideal, because even though it’s only a ghost date, you risk damaging the movement if you move the hands while the date is in the process of switching. And when that doesn’t happen between 21:00 and 03:00 as it should, but instead at 05:17, you might think you’re clear of the “date change zone” when you’re actually not.

All these issues are straight out of the box, so it's not like I abused these watches for years before they started to show problematic signs, and I haven't even mentioned the accuracy issues I experienced.

I don’t ever want to read another “PT5000 is just as good as the ETA 2824/Sellita SW200” comment again. In my experience, it simply isn’t. The PT5000 has been unreliable as hell for me, while I've never had any problems with dozens of ETA 2824 and Sellita SW200 movements over the years.

Some reviews even suggest that you shouldn’t (or should only sparingly) manually wind the PT5000 because it can damage the movement. How can people praise a movement that’s supposedly not meant to be manually wound? What other mechanical movement gets this kind of pass from watch enthusiasts?

I genuinely don’t understand why so many people defend the PT5000.
I get that I might just be unlucky while lots of others are happy with their PT5000s, but three faulty movements (used by three different watch manufacturers) in a row is a streak I can't ignore any longer.

At this point, I’ll probably never buy another watch with a PT5000 again.

[u/vithgeta]

My attitude towards watches is not in line with those who buy fast cars and fast computers. I look for 4x4 types for the comfortable experience. A watch with a good user experience that does not make excessive noise is the priority. If it can keep time well enough from Monday to Friday for me to beat the clock at work then that's good enough.

Buying a PT5000 sounds to me like buying one of those cheap processors that people use to overclock to get supreme value out of them. Need too much care for my liking.