Second hand on analog chess clocks?

I'm intrigued by vintage wooden chess clocks, but I don't yet own one. I've seen on eBay that some of them have second hands -- either long ones as long as the minute hand, or small inset ones.

Question: can you set these vintage clocks to be precise to the second, for games like 10-minute blitz?

In other words, can you truly set them to allot exactly 10:00 to each player by setting both the minute and second hands?

As an example, I was browsing eBay for Jantar clocks like this one: eBay Jantar Clock.  It has inset second hands.  Can those second hands be zeroed so each player has exactly 10 minutes?

We never had atomic digital clocks to test them against, so I don't think we knew.

Somehow, they were good enough. 

We never gave it a second thought.

I'm not looking for perfection here, just wondering if you can zero the second hands.  Otherewise, one player could have significantly more time than the other, no?

Yes, if someone really wanted to cheat on time, they probably could have gotten themselves a few extra seconds.

But, like I said, it seemed good enough. 

Blitz was played for fun, not money.

It would have been an even bigger worry in long time controls. But I never heard anyone complain that clocks were maladjusted.  

Thanks. I

So, can you only set the minute hands and not the second hands?

I guess those clocks are better for longer games where you might not care so much about the seconds. I often play 10-minute games and they often go down to the final seconds. If we couldn't make the second hands equal, the analog clocks wouldn't be able to replace our digital one.

You are assuming that all digital clocks are extremely accurate.

Have you ever tested them?

I'm sorry if I'm not being clear.  I don't care about nanoseconds etc.  I just want to know if you can pair the second hands between the two sides of the chess clock.

I have. Bad digital clocks are inaccurate to a second or two every few days. That's not going to make any difference to a game of chess.

OP - no you cannot adjust the seconds hand on an analogue clock. Basically they are two alarm clock mechanisms connected by a stop start mechanism. If it's that important, old mechanical clocks are not suitable.

The only thing you can do is mechanical zeroing by letting the second hand run until 12 o'clock on one timer and stop the clock, then adjust the minute hand for your 10 minute blitz, then do the same for the other timer. There's no automatic zeroing feature. And this clearly requires the clock to have proper second hands, and not that little four-pointed 'wheel' you find on Garde clocks or the pendulum on the older Jerger and Olympia clocks.

56ANAVZ: The increment is an excellent feature of digital clocks (and I just wish they would use them to play with proper time controls, rather than 60min or 90min + 30s/move for the entire game which has become the norm), but I have to confess that I really miss the quiet ticking of the analog chess clocks plus the fact that they are much more esthetically pleasing (just like watches).

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Ah.  That makes a lot of sense. @BonTheCat: I've never used a mechanical chess clock, so please excuse this noob question: can both clocks be stopped at the same time?  I see how you could zero one clock, but would it start running when you try to zero the other clock?

I would only use the Jerger 5 minute or Jerger 15 minute blitz clocks for a blitz game, but I will not assume them to be accurate to the second. You can stop both clocks at the same time.

I miss the ticking of clocks as well and I find them very useful in teaching the kids the time factor of a chess game. I realized that kids do not understand and press the chess clock when it is a electronic one but have much easier time when it is a mechanic one. Maybe a ticking sound option would be nice for the new clocks? 

I would adjust a Jerger 5 minute blitz clock until both sides were running at the same, and hopefully correct speed.  There is a pendulum adjustment behind nearly all mechanical clocks.  To set the clocks before a blitz game I'd run both sides stopping each at the precise moment the flag fell. That way both are at the same point at the top of their 5 minute cycle.  For a ten minute game, both clocks would go around twice.

As for a second hand (that goes around once a minute) few chess clocks have any. None are of any use.  They are subordinate inserts under the main dial with no correlation with the operation of the flag.  Syncing them to the falling of the flag is matter of luck.  You could argue a player's time elapses when the zero mark is passed in the cycle the flag fell.  But this is no claim to precision or fairness.