How to Speed Up a Slow Self-Winding Rolex

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A Rolex watch makes a statement. A beautifully crafted timepiece, a Rolex is expensive, fashionable and says you've "arrived." But what to do when you want to arrive on time and your Rolex is slow? Moving up the minute hand every month or two wasn't in the game plan when you bought this expensive machine. A Rolex watch should be running within an accuracy of -4 to +6 seconds per day. If yours isn't, there are a few things you can do to get your watch up to speed.

Have your Rolex professionally cleaned by a watchmaker if it's more than five years old. Oil can dry up, and the watch will not keep time as perfectly as it should. Have the battery checked; it may need to be replaced.

Lay the watch flat and face-up every night. This will gain a few seconds every day.

Wind up your Rolex a full 45 to 50 turns and check time again over a day or two. This may jump start your Rolex into speeding up.

Have your watch regulated if all else fails. A watchmaker can adjust a Rolex using a timing machine. Rolexes have adjustable mass balances -- small weights that are either screws on the outside or nuts on the inside -- that can be adjusted to move the speed of oscillation.