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Since I was working on the Landeron 48 with wrong dial, from which I used the case and a Landeron 151 and correct dial to make a new watch, I saw this Landeron 248 sitting in the drawer at my desk and devided to finally tackle the issue it had: a slipping mainspring. I documented the disassembly of the movement vith 3 videos, the first of which is here below: Hope you enjoy

I saved this watch from a friend who was throwing it away. It wasn't working and was beyond repair. The quartz movement was interesting as the stem hole was rather deep into the movement towards the Base. The hands measured at 150/90 which to me are for a mechanical movement ! I restored this watch on a very tight budget, ie.... using a cheap Chinese replacement movement. Even so I think the end result is a very pretty watch. The old movement. Replacement. Also having some vintage, it's very comfortable on the wrist, not being to large. Really can't understand the modern fashion for large watches. What's the point of strapping a mantle clock to your wrist that's about as comfortable as wearing a brick. Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I think the majority of those who do not think IP has value have never produced any, and thus have no idea of the effort that it takes to do so, whether it is writing a program, song, or book, or making a movie or video. They assume that physically intangible results require no work to produce.

I'm sorry dadistic, but watchmaking would be dead without brands, without brands there would be no continuity, though I will say I understand how much manufacturers milk their brand and certainly a brand is no absolute guarantee of quality/consistancy. (indeed I don't think such a thing exists in any aspect of life) But you can't ignore that brands offer at a glance a great deal of information regarding the piece, with which depending on your knowledge you can make a potentially great deal of safe assumptions about it. When you have a 'Rolex' that was made cheaply, not by the people who spent years of hard work establishing the brand and its reputation you lessen the prestige they worked so hard to build, devalue their brand and make it harder for them to reap their profits. (indeed, knowing that 99/100 Rolex out there are tacky fakes worn by tacky people does impact my desire for one.) And I would champion intellectual property value as well, A lot of people these days seem to have come to this conclusion that IP is just some abstract made up thing that we could all do without, true it has its problems, but suggesting it has no value it is a total leap from pragmatism to ideology that's too abstract to actually make sense in the world we live.. .

Look at the hook on the main spring arbour.

I'm fairly new to horological adventures but a recently retired 72 year old with all the hassles of a shaky hand I didn't know I had and old age dim eye sight. In six months of learning I have removed and replaced two main springs in exactly this method. Whilst the first took a lot of patience to get started, it was thicker than the one demonstrated here, but it actually gets easier towards the end. thanks a lot for those discussions and videos. I owe you a lot. Nearly gave up a few times.

I gotta say. That part when you fixed the hairspring yourself, considering that was your first time, is kind of incredible.

You were reading an advanced type of recommendation. The most important asset in this hobby I think is being reasonable, progress in small steps and do not go after windmillds, I can promise you that no pallet jewel suffered because begin given 9010 instead of 9020; but what it makes the all the difference is HOW and HOW MUCH you lubricate. Same story for tor tools; anyone can spend a fortune on the best brands and exotic gizmos; but without knowing how to use them, they are the same than the cheap ones.

There are bazillion types http://www.aliexpress.com/item/12-Detachable-Clear-Plastic-Divided-Storage-Box-Home-Nail-Art-Empty-Divided-Boxes-Rhinestone-Storage-Case/32687481957.html Browse for more

That's good advice JDM, when it was on the timer (which handily rotates with the watch locked in place I noticed), I tried that quickly tonight and noticed the numbers changed when the watch was rotated 180 degrees. i think it slowed it down by 10-15 seconds per day, but was being shouted so had to stop what I was doing. i am going to start testing tomorrow night thanks again Guys

I don't know about winders but if you place the spring into the barrel, and go around holding the coils in place with the flat of the tweezers, possibly using finger coats in the right hand, it will go in without much effort.

I'm really surprised how bad my experience with these last two mainsprings has been. I am ordering a new one and will just pop it in the barrel. The next watch on my to do list is a Seiko cal 6139. I have already bought a new mainspring just in case. If I can't re-wind the old one I must clearly be doing something wrong.

I have that style of winder + a Bergeon style the same as Mark uses. I found that with both of these winders the issue is releasing the arbour once wound. If the spring is a bit tight around the winding arbour then if not careful it will pop the spring out with the flower. I found what really helps is to give the winding arbour a thin coating of either barrel grease or Vaseline. Then this really helps when removing. Also slowly does it I have a very thin pair of tweezers that I use to keep poking the centre of the spring back as it tries to pop out when releasing.

That's right JoeyD! Its not about the brand of the watch for me. It is the instrument itself, the mechanism of gears, springs, and plates and screws that come to life to measure passage of time. I have many watches considered cheap when released that are now very collectable (My array of Sicura watches come immediately to mind) and I also have a few vintage Omega chronometers, a couple of Bulova oceanographers and some others that are all endearing in some way or another. None are "masked" in an attempt to represent something else. Knock-offs are just that: cheap attempts to deceptively come across as items that have a mystique or aura of luxury, and so have no place in the realm of collectors. JC JC

Hello and welcome from me Clayton. Most of my hair is below brow level as well but not by design I am sure you will fit in here and try a search on the forums if you run into bother and if that does not work then I am sure you will get help when you post your problem. my top tip is to take a photo before and after you remove each bit of a watch - it goes back together so much easier when you have a photo to refer to. Cheers, Vic

You've raised a couple of good points here. Firstly the reason you give for somebody buying a fake Rolex is probably just as good for somebody buying an original. I believe the vast majority of purchasers have no appreciation of a fine watch but it's the socially acceptable thing to do. So they can all sit round the table sipping their pink gin admiring their Rolex or patek. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The watch in question isn't a serious fake, not with spelling mistake and at 15 euros! There are serious counterfeiters out there that produce fine quality fakes and ask serious money for them. On the concept that as the prospective purchaser,the more you pay, the less likely you are to accept it's fake. Oldhippy gave good advice on previous thread that if your paying a lot of money, buy one with paperwork. Unfortunately the serious counterfeiters will have fake paperwork and guarantee cards produced with their watches. The only real way to be sure of purchase is to send the watch to the original manufacturer's for assessment,if possible. But why or how could a watch lover wear a non original watch? I will try to answer this from my own perspective. I have an original 1980s omega dress watch but I really liked the omega 1538. Yes I probably could of bought an original (wife would not be happy,but never mind) But at the price I would have to pay would I be happy wearing it. What if it rains and the watch leaks! What if I knock the watch against a wall or something! I have six springer spaniels,what if they eat it,stupid dogs! So I made something up which pretty much resembles a 1538 at a fraction of the cost and I wear this daily without loosing sleep over it. The money I spent producing this watch. Yes I could of bought a very nice Seiko or something like that but then I wouldn't of had the fun of putting my own watch together. But generally I agree with jdm's comments. If I wanted a Rolex submariner and didn't have the cash I'd probably go for the Orient Mako Tony Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk