Is The PT5000 A Reliable Movement?

The PT500 is a watch movement that is starting to appear more often in watches, especially the ones coming out of China, such as those sold on Aliexpress.

As we are now more likely to end up with a watch that has this movement, we have to ask if it is reliable and should we buy watches that contain it?

The general consensus is that it’s okay. It’s not excellent and there are better options available, but it’s also not awful and will do the job just fine, especially for how affordable it is. If you end up owning one, it should serve you quite well.

What Is The PT5000 Watch Movement?

The PT500 is an automatic watch movement that was introduced in 2015 by HK Precision Technology, who are a Chinese company.

The movement is a clone of the Swiss ETA 2824. Basically when the patent expired for this movement there were a number of clones that appeared on the market. They are not direct copies, but are very similar and use the design of ETA as the base and then make their own little tweaks. It’s not quite known if parts are interchangeable between these movements.

The PT500 is automatic and can also be hand wound. It contains 25 jewels and beats at 28800VPH with a power reserve of around 38 hours. It should also perform within +/-12 seconds a day.

It has the usual three hands (hours, minutes and seconds) and has a date function and it hacks.

What Is The Accuracy Of The PT5000

The ETA 2824 that the PT5000 is based off is COSC certified, meaning it is very accurate and runs with +6/-4 seconds a day.

COSC is the official Swiss chronometer testing institute. They test watches to see how accurate they are and if they can meet the high standard they are given certification. They say on their website that only 6% of the watches they test meet these criteria, so if a watch achieves this then it’s a very impressive watch. (COSC stands for Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres)

Although the PT500 is a clone, it is not a 1 for 1 direct copy, which means it may not be as accurate and it cannot just say it is automatically good enough to meet the COSC standards.

However, a watch containing the movement was sent to the Glashütte Chronometer Observatory in 2018 to be evaluated, which is the German version of COSC. (COSC will only look at Swiss watches)

The Germans where happy the movement was good enough and said it could be chronometer certified. They are equally as strict as the Swiss when testing watches, so this is a very good achievement for the PT5000.

Of course the watch that was sent to them for testing will have been specifically made for them to test. It will have had extra care put in to its assembly and will have been regulated to get it at peak performance for the test. This means the watch you buy will probably not be this accurate straight from the factory, but they do say the watch should run within -/+12 seconds a day which is still pretty decent.

In general people who own a watch with this movement are saying their watches are running fine and it does seem to be a pretty accurate movement.

What Is The Price Of A PT5000

Generally The PT5000 is fairly cheap, especially when it is compared to the ETA movement it is cloning or the Sellita SW200 which is would be the main rival to the ETA.

The PT5000 is around £50, which is very affordable and this is why it is appearing in a lot of affordable Chinese watches.

It’s rise in use is probably also helped by the recent worldwide shortage of NH35s, which is a very reliable and affordable movement that is usually found in these types of watches, due to its similar price point. 

What Is The Overall Reliably Of The PT5000

The PT5000 is still quite a new movement, being only introduced in 2015, so it has not been around long enough to check how reliable it is long term.

There is also the problem that it is not a widely used movement yet. While its use is increasing and more people are starting to own this movement, it does mean that we have quite a small sample size to look at for now. This along with the fact that the movement has only been available for a short amount of time means it’s hard to confirm how reliable it truly is.

However, we can look at some general feedback up to this point, from people who have a watch with this movement inside.

The majority of people seem happy enough with it and it seems to be running pretty well. Of course there are people saying they have had trouble, but I think that is always going to be normal in a new and affordable movement.

I think as its popularity grows and more time passes, we will start to see that this movement is reliable and a good choice for affordable watches.

Quality Control In The PT5000

One of the biggest issues with this movement seems to be around quality control.

I have heard a number of people say the winding mechanism can feel like a little gritty compared to other watches.

The people who have said they have had issues with their watch, and then gone on to take it apart to investigate, have said they have found a lot of dust and finger prints in the movement, along with it not being oiled well enough. This would help explain why some of the crowns can feel a little gritty when winding.

While I am not a watchmaker and can’t confirm any of this, we have to take this anecdotal information into consideration. Chinese made watches do have a reputation for cutting corners when it comes to quality control, so it could also be the case here. The good thing is, if this is an issue, it is something a service and a good clean will fix, the movement itself or its components are not the issue.

Conclusion

The PT500 hasn’t been around long enough to prove itself, but so far it seems like it doing a good job. I think this movement will start becoming more and more popular as time goes on.

It is very affordable and seems to run pretty well. I think with time it will be able to prove itself as a reliable movement and will be able to easily rival the NH35 and other similar movements.

(You you are interested in watch movements you can read more about – Are Vostok Movements Good?)