Great take on this old weapon Fred... I had my battery replaced last year and pulled out the stop button to keep it from draining.

Whatever watch used for "prediction effects), I recommend that you use either a silver oxide or lithium button battery. They have the longest shelf life -- and will last longer for entertainers who use the watch frequently for prediction effects. Avoid the cheaper alkaline batteries which do not stand up with heavy use. THEY WILL ALSO CORRODE over time when completely discharged and left in your watch over a long period of time. That corrosion could destroy various connectors and make the watch unusable. If you do not plan on using a watch for a while, I recommend that you remove the battery -- especially if it's "alkaline". Doing so will avoid the watch becoming "Decomposed".

One last comment regarding "alkaline" batteries. These batteries are very inexpensive and are bought in "sheets" of 10 or 20 cells when bought wholesale. The majority of them are made in China or Japan and the wholesale cost is less than ten cents per battery. These batteries are sold in many places, such as Walmart and drug stores. These retailers will charge approximately $3.00 plus change for the battery -- A HUGE MARKUP. If you use a prediction watch frequently and still wish to use "alkaline", check out eBay for really inexpensive prices for a strip of 10 batteries. If you use a watch INFREQUENTLY, and keep in in your "drawer" for an extended time, definitely go for silver oxide or lithium battery. It will give you added protection against corrosion -- and will last much longer.

Fred
magicianscottage@yahoo.com

Hi, everyone.
I am not new in magic, but I read a lot in this forum, sadly I don't write to much because my English it's no so good.

I don't know how the watch works. I know that you can not post the how of the effect... but I am form Chile, so I speak Spanish and if the watch needs English voice, is not useful for me, so I need a hint.

The other doubt that I have is that I want to be able to use this watch with my Sixth Sense (from Hugo Shelley) so my question is: the simple version (without mag*** in the bands) watch don't use any kind mag*** inside the watch? Yes I read the first post that said no mag*** but just to be sure.

Respect to the mag*** version, right now I am seeing the web page from vikingmagic and see that in the purchase options there is a Blk-Stainless-Blk color option...that in the description and in the pictures doesn't appear. Anybody has that color config version?

The last question, I know that it's a version with mag*** switch, what is the real benefit(to the effect) of that version instead the other version? The spectator can handled the watch all the time?

Thanks a lot !!
And sorry if my post sound to claimant.
I hope that you can understand my English.
Best regards from Chile

Mr. Richi,

As an actual Watchmaker and someone who owns this particular watch, let me address a couple of things. First, it is obviously a quartz movement. Quartz movements work with a magnetic rotor that is stepped when the circuit tells it (usually once a second but could be every 5, 10 or 12 seconds, even once a minute). Using a strong magnet too close to it can interfere with this rotor. But since you really are not using it to keep accurate time, it doesn't matter (plus it has to be a very strong magnet).

Magnets will not ruin a quartz watch unless it's on the end of a crane that picks up cars or something. On another note: Mechanical watches are a different story. Anyone who uses magnets around a mechanical watch is going to get an earful from either myself or Mr. Palmer. Don't do it!

Without tipping anything, but just a general statement, some watches many years ago had an inset push button in the crown to set the hands which could be pushed with a pin or similar pointy object. The stem was not turned to move the hands around. The stepping motor that accomplishes that is fairly robust, and I wouldn't worry about it. Because of the setup in this version, I would not wear it as an everyday watch since the chance of damaging the "extra" bits are higher than normal, and you can't just run down to you favorite jeweler and grab another band.

The watch is so worth the money. One comment from long ago that I would also like to address is the fact that the watch has no sweep seconds hand (seconds not second) means nothing. It was odd that people found it strange that it didn't have one, when so many watches even very high end watches that cost more than I make in a year have no sweep hand. There are even high end watches that are quartz and they don't even have a sub seconds hand. People would never notice unless you pointed it out.

You really can't go wrong with this watch.

Respectfully,

Phil

P.S. Is there REALLY a country named Chile? Mmmmmmm Chili

I have an original Perfect Time, I believe version II. The battery ran out. Has anyone been able to replace it? Or can a 'normal' watchmaker do this? It would be quite a hassle to send it to Viking and get it back just for a tiny battery replacement ... .

Any watch maker can do it, I've done it more than once. But tell him about the specifics, especially that there is wire inside the band which goes inside to the battery holder. Jan

Thanks Jan.

What I cannot understand is why the mechanics of these watches have never allowed the hour and minute hand to be set independently thus making the time to 'get there' much quicker. The fact is it can take up to 70 secs to 'get there' is ridiculous IMO. And the reason I've never bought one.

Beginning of March 2017, I purchased the Perfect Time III (magnetic option) from Hocus-Pocus, PT being unavailable at Viking Magic.

When I received it, the watch wasn't working. A friend of mine purchased another PT from Hocus-Pocus (same: 2013 model) before me. His watch also wasn't working. He brought the watch to a watchmaker, and apparently it's the battery that went missing, and when the battery was inside, the watch worked. However, when I received the watch, I decided to send it to Paul Gross for a battery replacement (instead of a local watchmaker, as my friend did). It took some time, but when I received the watch, the mechanism works, the watch gives time. But there was a problem. The hands were misaligned. See below :



I didn't know how to fix that. At some point, I tried to shake it a little bit (I don't know why I had this idea) and the hand for the hours moved. So, this way, I managed to "fix" it. A few days ago, however, as I was leaving for a show, I dropped the box which contains the watch, and as I was looking at the watch, the elements on the watch face were disconnected, loose, as in the below photo :



I've been told by a watchmaker that the repair (i.e., battery change) of my watch was probably made by an amateur, because special tools are required to open a watch case, and it would not leave any marks or scratches on the watch case, as shown in the photo below :



When I sent the watch to Paul Gross for a battery replacement, there were no scratches. When I got the watch back, there were scratches and the hands are misaligned. In any case, I didn't have the chance to perform with the watch, so I'm out of luck. By far, the worst investment in magic I've made in my life. I have some regrets.

I was thinking about leaving some good feedback here. I love the watch. Too bad, I have to report bad news. Why something like this happened. I'm not sure whether it's the watch itself that is extremely cheap or because it has been mistreated when I received it. My grandfather was a watchmaker (and I'm not kidding) and some of my uncles too (because they were my grandfather's apprentices), although they assemble some watches, the quality is so-so. Yet, this is why, when I was very young, they gave me many many watches. Most of them (except one) were extremely cheap. Yet I have never seen anything like this. Just one little drop, and the PT is dead. I have several old watches that went through some horrible things when I was young, and they are still functioning.

But maybe the other owners of PT can tell more about the quality of the PT watch.

There is also another thing that bothers me. Paul gross told me this, in a mail : "There is no special key required to open the watch as you have suggested..There is a small notch in the back that you can slip a knife blade or other flat object to open the watch."

In fact, this is not what I've been told by the watchmaker. A professional will use a special key, not a knife.

Pm'd you....

These last days, I got further confirmation from several other watchmakers. They said, without doubt : the guy who changed my battery was an amateur, not a professional. The scratches being a proof of that. Some admitted that this may explain why parts of the watch face became loose. One of the worst customer service I've ever seen (Paul Gross told me there is no guarantee or refund that is possible with the said item although he was the one responsible for the damages). I haven't ordered many items from Hocus-Pocus, but now I'm not sure I want to purchase anything from them.

The PT probably wasn't a high quality watch but that cannot explain why the pieces become loose so easily.

I use to have this and just went to a watch repairman here at the mall. No problem at all....

I finally sold my watch because it looked to small on my wist. The watch face was little like a woman's watch IMO and the strap was almost to short to go around my wrist. I had to use the very last hole in the band.... It was something that I would never wear as a normal watch.