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Ive just joined after watching many of Mark's excellent videos on Youtube. They have taught me many things and reminded me of many I had forgotten... I'm now 55 and slowly getting back into watch-repair. When in school at age 12 or so I used to mess around repairing, and by age 16-17 was OK-ish I thought, even tackling an Omega 861 with complete success. I would never contemplate doing one now however! I Thought at the time that there was little future in watch-repairs as the Q revolution had taken a big hold so went into electronics repair instead I was pretty wrong!..... Is the age of 55 too old to get back into this?--I dunno maybe, but with lots of loupes and glasses plus a £5 microscope from ebay I manage--so far! I'm particularly into Accutron Tuning-Fork types and have a number of 'Vicims' I have four 214, four or five 218's, and a couple of 219's most running well Recently Ive aquired a couple of ESA 9162 types One of these, a very poor Tissot looked as though it had had a very hard life and was used as a donor for others--Even the bezel is missing from the case, Both coils faulty, missing hour-wheel etc, Very sad condition but does have a nice blue dial. I managed to fix the coils, (the windings themselves were good, or I wouldnt have stood a chance.) The TR coil had a broken transistor and the RC had a high value resistor (4M8 instead of 3M3) so both the res and cap were replaced (One benefit of being electronics engineer!). bought a new hour-wheel, serviced it now its working good, so the hunt for bezel is on.... This afternoon, I'm going to tackle an ESA 9164 in an Omega, See what sort of mess I can make of that!

doesnt it say 390 only on the inside of the Timex caseback?

I've been using Kleenstrip VM&P (Varnish Makers & Painters) naptha, it seems to work OK. The following is from the MSDS which is on their site. The CAS# is a standard chemical ID. CAS # 64742-49-0 Hazardous Components (Chemical Name) - Hydrotreated light naphtha Concentration - 95.0 -100.0 %

Hello Tim and a belated welcome from me in N.E. UK (Newcastle upon Tyne), I have actually just returned from 4 weeks in LA visiting my son. I don't think we ever stop learning and if one ever thinks they know it all then fate takes a hand to slap them back down. I am sure you will have fun and get help if needed within this forum. Cheers, Vic

if you check the side of the lighter fluid cans of various makes then you will probably get as near to it as possible for what you want ie Petroleum Spirit - Light Aliph (Naptha). I found a tremendous variation in the fluids but look for "Extra Refined" on the can and the only substance to be stated as being Naptha as in some cases the light Aliph is diluted by kerosene / parrafin. All companies are obliged to publish a sheet to state what is within their product and for instance Zippo is a mix of Naptha and Kerosene where in the past it used to be pure Naptha and was probably degraded for financial reasons. Note that it is not always the expensive ones that are the purest. In any case as someone who just works on one watch at a time I use the lighter fluid for the first clean and Isopropanol for the wash. You may wish to keep the Pallets out of this for fear of melting the glue / shellac. A handy test for any liquid given by George in this forum is a few drops of fluid on a clean mirror allowed to evaporate then wipe the mirror with a black cloth if you get a white residue don't use it. Cheers, Vic

Chemical pure petrol. That is what we call it in Sweden. White gas? Check this out? http://fireartsmagazine.com/2013/02/know-your-fuels-whats-in-your-double-bucket-4/

I think 'pure 100% Naphtha' might be a self defeating phrase, according to wiki/google it's a generic term for various oil mixtures of hydrocarbons. Maybe that's why you can't find 'pure naphtha' (unless it is normally diluted with some other additive/retardant as well?) Hope that helps.

If you get yourself some Loctite 290 or stronger ( check their website for stats/strengths ) you can get a good bond. Line each surface that requires the bond carefully with a light layer ,fix together , wipe away excess with some methylated spirit on cloth. Should set firm in 20 minutes but fully cured in 24 hours. Best of all if done right there will be no signs it was ever detached

Capillary Attraction (Science 101) causes the oil to stay put--not the properties of oil itself, regardless of the blurb Swatch tell you! IMHO--You cant design into a Fluid Medium a desire to stay where it is! A fluid will move/flow to suit its surroundings--thats why its a fluid. If it didnt--it would be Grease-which Isnt a fluid! Does Moebius pour out the bottle?--Sure it does! Even Fish-Oils that Moebius used to supply Flow and creep, but its the Capillary Attraction that makes it stay in jewel-holes... Using a 100x Microscope, I checked one of those 10 year Mobil Accutrons... There's Oil Still in the jewel-holes of the four that are visible on the top bridge These are endstone type, Lets see Moebius try That for size!.... I was going to invest in fresh Moebius--Don't think I will now after seeing that oil is still there, watch working fine and after 10 Years!

Sunny day here in Berlin... A perfect weather to show off my pick for today...

Welcome from good ol' US, Tim! Like we all said, there is always something new to learn and watchmaking seems to be an endless learning experience! I love it! Cheers, Bob

Welcome Tim lots of knowledge her either from pro,s or enthusiastic hobbyists. Enjoy

Found these on the WUS forum - not sure if they are current: [email protected] (Omega USA President) [email protected] (Head of Swatch Group US) [email protected] (Head of Swatch Group in Switzerland) [email protected] (President of Omega in Switzerland)