I use a White Labs Liquid yeast, and do a yeast starter (even though it says I don't have to). I leave my beer in the primary fermentor for 1 week. I am afraid to remove the lid (thereby introducing oxygen into the mix every time I open it) to check the SG. Typically, after a few days of bubbling, the bubbles slow down significantly. When I rack it over to the secondary fermentor (5 gallon carboy), I check the SG. In all of my 3 batches (I know, not many), the SG has been very close to my target FG.
Once in the secondary fermentor, I start taking readings every few days. Since there is much less headspace, I am not as concerned about introducing O2 into the mix. I have found the SG drops only slightly over the first week or so, then stays constant. Once it is constant, then I leave it for a few more days (or a minimum of 2 weeks) to let the yeast flocculate. Sometimes, I leave it in there longer. Since, I am starting with a liquid yeast (with a high number of CFUs), and doing a starter kit (which increases the CFUs), there is more yeast to flocculate. It is good to know I can leave it for much longer withouit worry of autolysis.
Then, I bottle, agitate in 1 week, then check the carbonation in 2-3 weeks (from the start of bottling). So, I was doing the 1-2-3 method on accident (I haven't heard of it until now).
Questions (assuming you took the time to read through all of this):
1. Should I worry about removing the lid from my primary fermentor to check the SG?
2. Are there any specific beer types that require more precise timing for moving to the secondary fermentor?