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That's an interesting article Bob but it doesn't actually explain the difference in the colour of the jewels, it is referring to the difference in clarity. Polyrubies are translucent, almost waxy in appearance, the synthetic rubies are clear, like red wine. Both are red in colour. In my own watch mechanicing endeavours I have encountered red, blue, and white (or clear as in colour, not clarity) jewels. Red jewels are rubies. Blue jewels are sapphires. And white jewels are diamond, these I have only encountered as balance end stones on much older higher end movements. Some sapphire jewels are very pale in colour, and because they are also very thin, they can look colourless, thus easily confused with diamond. Diamond is of course carbon. Rubies and sapphires are essentially the same as each other as they are both aluminium oxide (or corundum) with the difference in colour resulting from trace elements within the crystal structure (chromium in rubies, and nickel, iron, copper, etc in sapphire giving rise to colours from blue to yellow and green). As sapphires and rubies are effectively the same stuff, with the same physical properties, I can't really see why one should have any advantage over the other, except maybe cost, and that may simply be due to economy of scale of manufacture. Maybe the use of sapphires is to create the perception of higher quality since they are more expensive? Who knows. The most common use (that I have seen) for sapphires is for pallet stones in older watches. Then for balance end stones, and this may have been to create the impression of diamond (which is harder and more expensive) in this highly critical part of the movement. Sapphire end stones are a pig because their lack of any strong colour can make them very difficult to see, especially when they are in a jar of naphtha for cleaning (thankfully not how I do it any more). Diamond end stones tend to be less of a problem from a visibility point of view as they are usually in a setting. I have also seen sapphire pivot jewels though. They have tended to be in more modern movements, but I have as yet to find any convincing argument to suggest that they provide any practical advantage over rubies.

Loaned it to the Blue Tits so they know when dinner time is.

So after being told by the guys that my balance staff is shot, I need to order a new one. Where do I get one of these? Note that because there seems to be almost no pivots on either end, I have estimated the length. After I get the new staff, I then need install it, true the balance both flat and round and then put back the double roller table and safety table HELP Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just picked up this Seiko SRP775 Turtle re-issue from the local Seiko AD nearby . It's an automatic a with hacking feature that can also be hand wound . It has a 4R36 movement and has a 44 mm case . It has a 41 hour power reserve . It comes with Gold or Blue accents in the Stainless Steel bracelet , and Black or Pepsi with the Silicone Rubber strap . It will join my other Turtles using the 6309 Automatic movement . Flanking my New Turtle is a 6309 - 7049 on the bottom , and 6309 - 7040 models on either side . The 6309 - 7049 has a Stainless Shark Mesh bracelet and a double dome Sapphire crystal with a light blue tint . I have always loved the Sword on the 12 O'clock index . Other cushion case Seiko Divers I have are the 6105 - 8009 and the 6105 - 8110 ,... The 8110 in the center also has the DD Sapphire crystal and AM dial and hands , while the other 2 are original . The one on the left is a 8110 sporting the original Seiko Waffle watchband . The one on the right is a 8009 model . I'll take this opportunity to share the other Seiko divers in my collection . Top left is a Seiko Monster , bottom left is a 7002 - 7000 . Top middle is a 7S26 with the Sapphire crystal , Green Bezel insert , and original SS bracelet . Bottom middle is a 6309 - 7092 also with Sapphire crystal , Pepsi bezel insert , and a finer Shark mesh SS bracelet . On the right is a 6R15 - 00G0 Seiko Sumo . I hope you Enjoy looking at them as much as I do.........Aloha , Louis

Also with magnetism watch is not loosing but gains seconds , hours i would say , per day. Someone correct me if i am wrong. And yes 30-40 seconds needs a tiny adjustment, just a noticable with your eyes push.

Congrats pip , its really a nice watch 30-40 seconds per day is little i think to be magnetism . Maybe its just a hairspring regulator issue.

Was it still attached to the owner

The movement is ticking but with ~100 degrees amplitude. Beat error is low. Hairspring looking good. The impulse jewel may be wrong... Actually, the movement bought for replacement has also an Ellipsenstein. I will replace that and see what happens. Also its looking like the center wheel staff is not upright. First the replacement center wheel was looking like an umbrella after riveted to the staff. The watch was stopping randomly as the center wheel was touching the balance wheel. This was corrected.

Hi Tim, I think the Bergeon winder sizes go up from 12mm (#8) to 19mm (#15) in 1mm steps. The ones I can be sure about are #8 (12mm), #11 (15mm), #13 (17mm), and #15 (19mm) as I have measured my own #11 and #13, and I have found the #8 and #15 sizes on Cousins web site. The others I have inferred as they seem to fit a logical sequence. #00 to #7 are a little less obvious. They can be found on Cousins site if you need them but as you are enquiring about pocket watches I assume you're mainly interested in the larger sizes. The sizes refer to the outside diameter of the winder drum so to work out the correct size winder for a given barrel you need to measure the inside diameter of the barrel and select the largest winder that will fit inside it. This will then ensure that when you insert the wound spring it is fully inside the barrel when it releases from the winder. Individual winder barrels do crop up from time to time on eBay and other online sellers so it's well worth keeping an eye out for them. Hope this is of some help.

Magpies!! How about Crocodiles...I know of one that ate one!

From the styling and the flat sapphire type crystal, my money would have been mid 80s...

Very artistic watch out for magpies tho they like shiny things and will fly away with it.

I have looked covetously at those Bergeon hand gauges on many an occasion, even put in the cheeky bid only to loose out to someone with better finances, but the truth is I simply can't justify the cost. Measuring the inside diameter of hands is something that I don't often need to do but when I do need to I use the poor man's approach :-) A brass taper pin, a CD pen, and a vernier caliper. The taper pins can be obtained in a variety of sizes from clock supply houses for not very much and are extremely useful in all sorts of situations. This one goes down to 0.2mm which is fine for most hour and minute hands; seconds hands may require a slightly smaller pin. The hand slides down the pin until it stops, and the pin is marked with the CD pen. This is a minute hand for an ETA 2783. With the hand removed the pin is measured at the pen mark using the vernier caliper. In this case 0.9mm. As I said, I rarely need to do this but when I do it's when I am sorting through my collection of salvaged hands to try and find one to fit a particular job, in which case I actually adopt a slightly different approach. I measure the post that I need to find a hand to fit. Then using the caliper I locate the point on the taper pin that corresponds to the required diameter and mark it with the pen. I then simply drop the potential candidates onto the pin and see how close they get to the mark. If they are too big then they will drop to below the mark and are rejected. If they stop at the mark then they are the required size. If they stop above the mark then depending on how much too small they are they are either rejected or broached out until they fit. Simples

More info http://www.reportertime.com/Homepage.aspx Film was released in 1975, so that gives me a rough idea of when my watch was made, probably late 70's.

Today I'm wearing this.

DSC07437 by Micky Aldridge, on Flickr

Hi Anyone use these ? It's just a small camera on a stand that plugs into your pc and gives a visual on the screen. They are pretty cheap but then again you get what you pay for. I see a lot of guys use the stereo microscope, just wondering which way to go. I cannot see jewels or inspect a jewles whole with my current visor. And more immediately I have again dropped the balance cock and tangled the spring wich I will again destroy trying to untangle if I can't see it ! Thank you for any advice, Tom

I will be giving this one a try. However for Mac uses such as myself it is not straight forward in fact 11 steps are needed to make it work on a Mac. I will set it up when time

Ah! I found it: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f2/smoke-mirrors-part-1-eta-grades-explained-458060.html Check this out Danh! I just forgot! You are Welcome, Danh!

We all need to take a look at someday, Roger! Pictures please!

This vid explains all re-snipping:

Hi guys, I believe the transparent jewels are better quality since -- don't quote me on this one, it is from memory! -- the white transparent jewels are cast and the red are pressed from "dust" like particles. They are both man made "rubies". Cheers, Bob

Marc, you're on "fire" today with your excellent posts!