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And here it is, happily ticking on my wrist today...

I always try to view problems as learning opportunities I believe the success at the end is so much sweeter. Bit deep for me, obviously need malt whisky! Cheers, Vic

One of my favorite watch restoration guru's is Steffen Pahlow. The screwdrivers he uses looks like he found them in a salvage bin at a pawn shop. I don't think any two of his screwdrivers match. The important thing is the screwdrivers either turn the screws in and out or they do not. I have several sets, some are considered to be high quality and others are not. It is probably more about what you are used to then anything else. I have removed many screws with my el cheapo's and they work fine. I have removed screws with my Horotec's and they work fine. The Horotec's are extremely well made and do not have any wobbly components. The blades are perfectly centered in the holders and are high quality blades. That said, there is nothing wrong with the less expensive screwdrivers. The are not as beautifully made but they work fine. david

If you haven't already do some research on sharpening your screwdrivers and dressing your tweezers, it will make your life a lot easier.

You need to speak to them in a calm reassuring voice ! Welcome to the forum

Ordered this watch today so I could learn to take it apart, clean it and put it back together again. Its a 18 jewel movement that looks to be in pretty good shape. Hopefully no problems and I can just practice dissasembly and assembly.....any thoughts?

I got this Seiko 6139-6002 for pennies on the dollar albeit it was not working, in poor physical condition and with missing and damaged parts. I used after-market parts to “restore” this watch to a portion of its lost glory. This will go down as one of my favorite repair and restoration projects.

It is in not working condition seller said balance is not good but I will try to take all apart clean it and see how it goes ...I do not know , if possible , how to fix it . I will take this as a practice before servicing my working Rockford watch... Moises

These watches are pure electric , not electronic . No circuit board , resistors , and the coil is on the balance .

See this vid on Bovet watches. The star (sorry about the pun) of the show is the Bovet 1822. a similar watch by Bovet sell for 295,000CHF or £236,917.

Hi Ray, I know that it's personal choice but I tend to agree. My largest watch is my Precisionist and its one of the three Quartz I have, the first being a Tissot bought for me by my mother and the other a £25 Sekonda that I use when I go abroad. I put the Precisionist next to the TWSteel and its chalk and cheese. It dwarfs just about everything else I have, the Omegas are old mechanicals and look small beside it but I know what I prefer. Cheers, Vic

Lovely to be present at the birth of a new tinkerer. Cheers and best of luck, Vic

The Watch-O-Scope noise levels were "in-between", so the measurements aren't 100% reliable. 21600 BPH, and I took a lifting angel of 52 (not sure if that's correct for the 3133 ?) DD -33s/d Amp 327 BE 0.3ms DU -25s/d Amp 300 BE 1.2ms CU -39s/d Amp 224 BE 0.4ms CD -65s/d Amp 223 BE 0.4ms Can't say there is something drastically wrong with this 25 years old movement. If I can assemble the courage, I may give it a service and compare the numbers ...... Edit; I just Googled and the lifting angle of the Valjoux 7734 is 48 degrees.

Good on you George Yesterday my Poljot 3133 Sport arrived and I can share your comment. Currently I'm warming up my Watch-o-scope to get an idea about Amplitude and beat error......... Seems there are two happy 3133 owners

Adn as I posted in the other section (ops...) The Sturmanskie is finally working fine. I only need to fine-tune it, and polish the glass, and this project can be called "FINISHED!"

Today I was pleasantly surprised by a normally running Poljot 3133 Sturmanskie Chronograph. It is running fine, and keeping time. NICE!

It's to let you know it is a left hand thread. A lot of watches have this identification but not all, so be careful in the future.

Not too much to be wary of on this one. The crown wheel screw (with three slots) is left hand threaded though so urn it clockwise to undo. Have fun.

Hey Douglas1701 Good luck !... I'm going to do the same to this elgin and see how it goes...I will try to do the same way adioro110 did on his . Regards...

Strip it down and build it back up for practise. I did this with a few Russian watches years ago before I dove into a real value watch. Just be very very patient. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well done on the repair but what a hideous watch! It's typical of the overpriced and oversized "fashion watches" found on the high street. Cheaply and poorly made, the owner could of bought a decent Seiko for a similar price with a mechanical movement, but each to their own I suppose.

Yep its amazing what you can achieve with pegwood and a fiber brush time and a Bit of hard work.

Thank you all for the welcome. I am so pleased to have found this forum. I have to admit my watch repairing knowledge is very limited (none) now that's what you call limited. I have purchased Donald de Carle's book "practical watch repairing" and some basic tools, will update them when I understand more, and know what is needed. Any tips and advice would be gratefully appreciated. I wouldn't dare touch my own watches so I have been checking eBay for some watches to learn on, again any advice on the ideal types of watch to buy would be gladly taken and acted on. Also I had better buy some watches because my own watches are all huddled together in a corner shaking and screaming don't touch us we don't want to die!!!!!!

Good Luck ... I am new too... What I did my first time was take just a few components off and put it back together , then the next attempt go a little deeper and put it back. It was a good exercise and built a little confidence also gets you familiar with where things go. Also as WileyDave suggested taking photos of each step is invaluable. Using method I described above I was able to fix a broken watch ( it was just the mainspring) my first time out. Must have been beginners luck, because it seems the more I know the more problems I am starting to have. LOL Regards Anthony

Molnija 3602? An improved SSSR variant of a 15 jewel Cortebert 616. Good choice, I think. Solid movements, affordable and still plentiful. Quite a few sites and videos about them too, Molnija is quite popular. Another bonus is that one can imagine working on a vintage Rolex movement in a Panerai while rebuilding it, as mentioned Corteberts were used by them...

Don't think of it as victim, rather a patient that needs a doctor's touch. I could see in the pic that your primary winding wheel screw has been used a bit more than normal. (often an indication it had been over torqued at some point in time) Probably wouldn't hurt to capture each step of disassembly with photos, in case you are called away from your "victim". Good luck and if you get stuck with something, just ask, someone should be able to help.

Take your time, and if possible, do some research on that particular movement, so you don't have any surprises.

This is the sacrificial lamb...basically an 18 jewel copy of a 1940's rolex....dirt cheap...which is right up my alley...lol

Set your meter to ohms, you can use an analogue meter, or a digital meter to check the coil, but in general an analogue meter is more versatile for watch repair. Remove the coil and look for the two tracks on the small pcb attached to the coil that have the two ends of the wire attached to. Measure on ohms. The resistance will vary between different models of coils, but roughly 1k to 5K ohms and it is good, higher than that, or direct short and its not ok. If faulty it cant be repaired and will need to be replaced, be careful removing it as a slip with a screwdriver into the coil will likely damage it.

Welcome Johnnie, many here in the same age group (including me). This is a friendly forum hope you enjoy.

Hello Johnnie, another one in my age group You will find lots of good info on here from watches, tools and a little on clocks. I've been retired for many years at one time I was a watch/clockmaker.

Welcome, Johnnie! Don't worry about being a late bloomer... I'm 63, too and I've only been messing with watches for a few years. I've been around them most of my life, as my Dad was a watchmaker. No one in my family shares my interest in them, so if your wife is mystified by your interest, that's not unusual. You'll have plenty of friends in this forum who will be happy to talk shop with you. There's not an unfriendly one in the bunch! Welcome aboard! Shirley

Welcome to the group!

At the risk of further confusion, I use this for almost all watch parts. Don't leave shellac in it for too long, but good for everything else. Add a brush for more stubborn stains. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Instrument-Degreaser-Cleaning-Fluid-250ml-Essence-of-Renata-Watches-hairspring-/381837066990?hash=item58e74342ee:g:slYAAOxyMxpRwaJY Recently though I picked up an old pocket watch which had been lubricated with industrial quantities of what looked like green engine oil. The cleaning fluid dissolved and removed all the oil, but left behind the "green". I had to clean the hairspring with a small paintbrush soaked with cleaning fluid. Yuck.

You have to combine a couple of different methods, but basically line everything up reasonably well, gently lower the bridge (baring in mind it wont be lined up), place the bridge screws in if possible, but tighten them only so far as the bridge will be kept vaguely in place, Then you can combine gently wiggling of the bridge (which i do with a cot covered finger) manipulating of the wheels with pegwood (at which time you'll want to let up on any downward pressure on the bridge), and with great care, patience and perhaps a good eye -- to see which wheel is off two degrees in what direction -- you can usually line it up so that everything will slip into place. tightening the bridge screws gradually as you go, checking for problems, once you think you have it, continue to finish tightening the screws but do keep checking for problems, see if the gear train runs properly, if it doesn't you might make matters worse by screwing the bridge down firmly. That's the approach that works for me anyway, others might have better things to say.

I believe that the best way to assemble and fix a movement is to first understand how everything about it works. So I made some animations to help in understanding how the chronograph assembly works. The Seiko 6139 features a column wheel and a vertical clutch. The chronograph second engages and engages with the 4th wheel via a clutch spring. The clutch is controlled by the first and second coupling levers. See how pressing the operating lever rotates the column wheel, which in turn, controls the coupling levers. While the chronograph is running, pressing the flyback lever will have no effect. But when the chrono is stopped, pressing the flyback lever will activate the hammer, which in turn, resets the chronograph second wheel and the minute recorder wheel. I hope these animations were helpful.

Well I would definitely start with Moebius 9010 (for train wheels and balance endstones) and 9020 (for train wheels) if you are working on Pocket Watches. Moebius 9415 is a must for Pallet/Escape wheel teeth. A quality silicon grease. Moebius D5 is essential (barrel arbor, motion work). Molycote DX or Moebius 9501 grease for keyless work. Moebius 9501 or 9504 for high friction (e.g. Cannon pinion, Setting lever spring and anything at high friction). Moebius 8200 grease for mainspring. Moebius 8217 for barrel wall (automatic watches) It's a lot but at a minimum get 9010, 9415, D5 and 8200 I hope this helps. Recommended Lubricants for Getting Started.pdf Moebius_Oil_Chart.pdf