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Alright, the job is done. I first filed down the stubs flat. I then used a Proxxon hand drill first with a 0.5mm bit to score a point to work from, then a 1mm drill bit to properly drill out some lug holes. I just went slowly, checking the depth as I went. I drilled the inside of the lugs, leaving the outsides unblemished. I was worried that drilling at an angle might be a problem, but it turned out fine. Lug holes don't need to be very accurate, so it was actually easy to create holes to easily accommodate a spring bar. The result is a 'good enough' outcome that worked for me. Thanks for your help everyone, loving the hobby so far. I learn so much with each project.

Well done Sam, you've successfully completed a tricky piece of work there

Welcome to the forum. Yep not a cheap hobby by any means , Ali Express, the Chinese Amazon has some decent tools but should ask the members their thoughts before purchase. A little reading to help you along. TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf

His feedback is 100%

His reply seems quite honest and fair. Whats his feedback like ?, i tend to buy into the seller more than into the sale. Though i do take risks occasionally if i have a gut feeling i can do ok. Missing and damaged stem can be a red flag but can also mean something quite innocent such as a stem release/set lever screw has come loose and the stem has fallen out and been lost over time. Missing crowns can be less of a problem. One of first things we do when receiving a watch is to try the wind and set functions and rotate the watch back and forth to see if the secondhand starts up. These are good internal indicators that you may get away with only a service to carry out. Things i personally usually avoid are damaged fancy shaped crystals , heavy case damage, watches with certain damaged/ missing internal parts( parts that can't be self maufactured by the average repairer )The idea is to build up a good stock of commonly comsumable parts, this would be, crystals, balance staffs, watch stems and crowns, springs ( setting and shock ) , watch jewels inc. Caps, impulse and pallet stones, timing washers, all kind of screws. Those are mostly at beyond a beginner level requirement .

Certainly looks like a ring that needs unscrewing in that photo. It definitely looks like a thread above the castellated ring as well. Separate to the caseback ring thread. It even looks to be a smaller diameter. I would expect that. Once undone out of its thread, it should fall out of the case. Would it be possible to make a tool shaped like a letter H with one side of the H engaging the castellations in the ring and the other side of the H for you to be able to unscrew it using your hand? Making a tool with 6 'legs' to pick up all of the castellations would be a labour of love.

Welcome to the forum, enjoy.

Just picked this up earlier today. This find just about epitomizes vintage watch collecting for me and what really keeps me going. Hit 2 antique malls today and saw a couple of pieces at the first one but just nothing that I needed. At the second one saw a Accutron 218 but it was 20 minutes behind the actual time. These "malls" have numerous booths of a variety of sellers who likely go in once or twice a week. Considering that that watch should be within a couple of seconds a month, I figured it hadn't been phased so passed on that for now knowing it would need work to run correctly and the price tag. Then I found this Excelle in a display case. I never heard of the brand, but in was an auto and had a little heft. It turned out to be 40mm lug to lug, 35.3mm case width, and 12.3 mm thick. On the spiedel once size fits most flex band. At $10.80US with tax I immediately pulled the trigger with nothing to lose. Before pictures: I spent a nice 30 minutes taking it out of the case and running that through the ultra sonic replacing the crystal and gasket and recasing, but spent five minutes first getting it running close on the timegrapher. Had a new crystal already in stock. I probably could have sanbed and polished the old one, but for $3 there is nothing like a new acrylic that makes a watch pop, in my opinion. The caseback gasket was hardened and just glad it wasn't tar. Changed that as well. Here is the after Pic on a temp black strap while I decide on a leather or steel bracelet. An added bonus was doing some research and finding out the Elgin connection and the movement is a PUW 1563T which is German I am pretty sure and probably why it doesn't say Swiss made on the dial. This movement is supposed to have a hack feature and quickset date by pushing the crown. But neither of those complications seem to be working. Not sure if the stem is cut too short because there is no gap for the crown to move. Either way at some point will need to be serviced and check the keyless works to find out what is going on with the quickset and hack of the sweep second hand.

On the link that I posted, one of the watches has no crown and another has a crown that is not square to the case. Does a broken crown signify that the movement may be quite corroded, hence the stem has broken, and does the bent crown simply signify that the stem is bent? Unfortunately as the seller has a bid on the items, he is now reticent to prise the casebacks off in case he damages something. The seller did reply with this email though. Hi again Michael - brief descriptions; Oris x 2, dials and hands ok and they set ok and one I just wound and it has been running for a few of minutes as I write this response. Rocar, dial ok no crown. No name dial no good and can't pull crown out to set. Roma dial and hands ok, I think it is pin pallet movement. Unicorn, good dial and hands and plexiglass ok for age. All cases and plexiglasses show wear except as mentioned. I have no idea what movements are fitted or condition so please if you do consider bidding, please do so accordingly as I don't like to disappoint my customers - regards and thanks again for your interest - Jim

The incomplete Vertex DD is a new project to sort out. The Seiko gen 1, is my favourite watch to wear and is my daily.

According to Borel the 814 and 815 use the same escape wheel. It's kind of an oddball being so long.

ohhh man, your watches are real military watches, mine are just some kind of military style fashion watches in comparison to yours