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Firstly, thank you to everyone who offered advice under the topic... Below is a picture of my new working environment with better ambient lighting; a bright LED light with vertical and horizontal tilt plus some better quality eyeglasses crucially of a more reasonable magnification than the OTT eyeglass I have previously used. [This picture was taken on my mobile 'phone which has adjusted the exposure so actually it is a lot brighter than the picture makes out]. So my first weekend foray was with an MST 522. Looking pretty original but very grubby I carefully dismantled for cleaning. I was concerned I had somehow lost the winding pinion along the way as this was missing but a careful search of my working board and no sign. Mmm. But then look at the click spring ... it seems someone has previously messed around in here. I'm sure the watch never left the factory with that spring! Okay let's park that watch ... ... and move onto an AS 1716. Again a careful dismantling for cleaning and service showed this movement to be in pretty good condition; I really liked the separate little automatic module too! However the keyless works highlighted another click spring issue! This time with a spring that has broken. Not the end of the world ... ... but after getting about 95% through putting back together and putting back the calendar ring slide spring. Carefully, carefully ... PING! I then spent 20 minutes recreating a scene from CSI trying to find this on the floor and surrounding area. No luck. The good news is that the watch is running though - yay. So three spring issues in a weekend!. What are the chances...?! :-)

I went to the library and was looking through the small section of watch books they had on the shelves when I came across a Hamilton Odyssee 2001 from around 1968 - 69 . I immediately thought of the Stanley Kubrick movie , " 2001: A Space Odyssey ", and found out that indeed this watch has a connection to the movie . http://shop.1025vintage.com/products/hamilton-odyssee-2001 http://thewatchspotblog.com/?p=4890 When I saw the watch in the book it grabbed me and I knew I had to have it . I guess luck was on my side , because when i got home and searched for it I found one up for sale on Ebay with a BIN price or make offer . I made an offer that was $225 less then the asking price and forgot about it . Two days later I got a message that the seller agreed to my offer so we made the deal . There are 2 versions of this watch that were made and I got the second version . The dial , hands and bracelet are a bit different . On mine the hands have serrated lines the length of the hand and the buckle matches this design . The case back is stamped with the Fontainebleau logo that Hamilton had a series of in the late 60's and early 70's . I decided to do a service on it and wad fortunate to find the watch featured in " The Watch Spot Blog " where the author was kind enough to pass on the trick on how to get the movement out of the case . That information is in one of the links I've attached . This is an Automatic winding watch that has a Hamilton Cal. 64 movement which is actually an ETA 2472 movement . A very well made movement that lined up the parameters on my timegrapher perfectly . I can say that I am very pleased with the appearance of this watch and that it is very comfortable on the wrist .

I've just watched that video above, it should be "X" rated!

You don't pull the stem out the way it is shown in that video, that way your are more likely to break it, you pull it straight out, at times he forcing down and you don't use the tools he used. Its a bad design because the stem isn't a two piece. I cringed watching that video.

I then attached a new leather strap. She looks quite well now from a distance. Macro pictures reveal every tiny dent. All in all I am absolutely happy with the result. This is less than one year after I dared disassembling a movement for the first time. The first movement was a Chinese Unitas 6497 movement. I bought this new for learning because I had a lot of material available for this one. Cheers Alexander

Hi For quite a while I used a table top and adjustable legs from IKEA to work on so I could set the working surface at a good height for working on watches. It was mostly fine but as I used my microscope more often, and the fact that I do other stuff than watch work on the table, the set height wasn't always appropriate. Earlier this year I splashed out on an electrically operated adjustable desk and it has been great. At the press of a button I can raise or lower the working surface and it it suprisingly solid, even at it's top height - which is really meant for using as a standing desk so is higher than I'll need. It helps that the top is actually a piece of wood rather than whatever the IKEA one was made of. I'm fortunate that I have a lot of storage and space (a side effect of living on my own ;)) so everything gets put away every time apart from my microscope which is attached to the table top with a clamp and articulated arm. Combined they are heavy so it can also bear a lot of weight, as well as having a large surface area. The thing I miss from a real watchmakers desk is any kind of edging/fence/rail, or groove, for catching parts. I don't have as many 'flyers' as I used to, but still have a habit of dropping the odd part and then having to search for it. Not trusting my rather poor woodworking skills I looked for another solution and decided to give this a go: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PREMIUM-Edge-Corner-Guards-Set/dp/B00U77TJ4Y/ref=lp_60569031_1_15/255-3214105-4836363?s=baby&ie=UTF8&qid=1481537394&sr=1-15 It's obviously meant to protect children from table edges, but what interested me is that it stands proud of the surface. Also you can remove it if it isn't right :). I bought some and fitted it and am quite pleased with the result. It's not as good as the 'proper' solution, but as you can see from my attached photos it projects about 1.5cm above the surface, easily enough for stopping small parts. As I fitted it all round the edge (including in front of where I work instead of the traditional groove) it also has the added effect of stopping me from working too close to the edge as I have been in the habit of doing - as it is foam it doesn't hurt if you catch it with an elbow either. Another thing is it certainly doesn't look out of place, in fact it looks quite good - from a distance at least. Hopefully this information may be of some use to others. Stephen

I dug out this Retro Lucian Piccard Automatique....Oh La La...... Kinda fancy ,...I like the raised block index's...

I recently upgraded screwdrivers and tweezers, since I don't do a lot of screwturning, I started with some cheepos and they served me well, tweezers, well new ones are from CHA-ina, while not high grade, they serve the purpose, just had to learn not to pry plates or anything else with them, They should last a while even with dressing. (<$25 on Amazon) I got a BIN off the bay for <$100 USD for the Bergeons, new in box, and man what a difference! and when the missus saw them, she only said, "new screwdrivers eh?", she didn't ask how much and I didn't tell her!

Great idea for the rim......as for the adjustable table, I was looking for that but was a bit shocked about the price, $350 on sale and an amazing amount for the Bergeon https://shop.bergeon.ch/Catalogue/PDF/6005 S T.pdf ...So when I had the opportunity to buy a watchmaker's workingstation, I took it as it was on the correct heigt(93 cm) and I adjust my chair a little when needed.

Interested to hear, and see your height adjustable work space

I must admit when I watched the vid I did cringe. I think Mark has a vid on front loaders & he just pulls it straight out with what looks like an old hand lifter. The key I think is a straight pull & of course being absolutely sure it is a front loader.

I am an ex mechanic by trade, so i know the value of quality tools and the pitfalls of cheap tools. That being said, for whatever reason I tried a cheap set of Indian screwdrivers (and I knew better). I cursed the day I got them. The plating was so thin you could see through it and every time you picked one up the tips would fall out. The set screws became all chewed to pieces trying to keep the tips tight. After a while you couldn't tighten them any more. The tops were held on by a pounded over brass rivet that was badly split. The stand did not rotate at all and the colour code did not conform for most of the (ahem) drivers,or should I say pointy things. I was embarrassed to even admit I bought them. Enter the Bergeon 5970 set...What a pleasure to work with...excellent fit and finish. I have yet had to tighten the set screws. The stand however had some issues, I had to grease and oil the base to get it to rotate properly and the rubber base had to be re glued. Minor issues and I have never looked back. I knew to buy quality Dumont tweezers, yet for some reason I chose to torment myself with Indian Junk... lesson learned...

Well done Alexander! Your photography turned out just as good as your watch-skills ......

Hi Watchmaker, Rado had an unique 'feature' on their automatic watches where the anchor emblem was mounted on a ruby via a central pin which allowed the anchor to rotate...similar to the automatic weight. This additional jewel also meant they could add another jewel to the jewel count. I think I have a 1700 movement somewhere.. will try to post some pictures of the holes for the dial feet...dial should be there as well. Looks like the Marvin 580 is a likelier candidate but not much info on the web about this movement so good luck finding one! Anil

Awesome watch! I've decided that I really like porthole date windows. And Hamilton mesh bracelets. And ....... all the rest of the watch

Greetings and Salutations! I like the Illinois, but then I'm biased

Hi Andy, welcome here at this amazing knowledge database. Very nice vintage Rolex, needs some tlc but it is a wonderful watch. Enjoy.

Bit more information about your watch for you. https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/illinois/5519010/movement

Today's watch was a Seiko 7T3-6A90 that I just serviced, received not working and with rust on the main crown stem. Took care of that, gave it a much needed clean, and took it for a spin on my wrist. Here it is, with my evening coffee and cake.