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Well after some consideration I finally shelled out for a beaten up old Bell-matic. It is probably the most complicated watch I have, up to now, that I willl have worked on. It is not too bad I suppose but after bidding on about five of these watches i was surprised by the price they command even in poor condition. This is the pic from the bay Now that I have it I find the dial is not in bad condition at all, I accepted that the plexiglass was bust and it would need a new one (from Cousins) and the case has some need for buffing. However, despite being described as being in working condition there are quite a few faults. I found the crown was decidedly non standard and when wound backwards simply wound off and it transpires that it is in need of replacement. I thought I was in luck when I found one for £2.88 in Cousins but my hopes were dashed when the crown supplied proved to be the wrong tap size being 10 or 11 and not Tap 9 (10/100 mm) which is needed to fit the 354805 stem. Here is a pic of the crown that came with the watch - it is patently wrong. Here is a pic of the crown from Cousins alongside the other crown and it is obviously a better match to the tube and the gasket comes with it. Unfortunately the tap size was wrong but to give Cousins their due they contacted Seiko who confirmed I needed a 55M22NS1 crown (now obsolete) and they had supplied the wrong part and Cousins gave an immediate refund but did not ask for return of the Crown which I consider to be good service though I have now got my fingers crossed for the Plexiglass and gaskets I bought. Well thats my latest project. I am minded to drill out and re-tap the crown as in every other aspect it seems a perfectly acceptable crown. I may have to get some different taps though as the ones I have are a bit problematic on their lead in for the depth of metal to the dead end I will be tapping. I am in no doubt that there will be a lot of work here, the pointers look grubby and I suspect the spring for the alarm is faulted, though I heard the alarm work for a brief couple of seconds - it will need a full service but there are a few teardowns on the net - Christian has done one I could follow and I have found some more - luckily it seems to be a popular watch. Spares are available some easier to get than others but i will have to open it up and find out as I go along. That leather strap is revolting but it is the least of my jobs, date does change with pusher and the alarm ring does move and finally it does tick. Buffing the case should make a difference. Here are a final two pics - that is the best pic of the face I could manage through the bust plexi. I joined a Bell-Matic forum in another place (SCWF) and have accessed a shedload of info and spec sheets (grateful thanks to JohnWN) that will be handy. Just as an after thought heres a pic of some of my current favourites. The little Gradus needs some work and has seen some knocks but I will get round to it one day. I have a couple of cases with other stuff in ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous that I may get round to posting "some day". Bye for now - Cheers, Vic

Parts are going o be real problem. A donor movement is your best bet & that will be difficult. This site is always a good source. http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com

I'll see what I can do the next. I'm always looking for something different but not to difficult to keep the clock section interesting.

Rolex, Cartier, Omega and Breitling all do courses, you need to do coar$e for each brand before they will supply you parts. Depending on your level of ability and presuming your Quality of work is to their standard they can accredit you to different levels. Rolex have an accreditation to be able to 1) dial exchanges and battery and reseals. 2) The above and service all watch's apart from sports models. 3) The above, including sports models apart from complicated models like the Daytona and Yahtmaster 2. There is also a Daytona coar$e you can go on once all the above accreditations are achieved. Cartier have an accreditation but is very limited, it basically shows you how to Refurb a case and do movement exchanges, once accredited you can only get seals and case parts and then send the movement in for exchange, they are in the process of introducing a coar$e in Switzerland for people that have the current movement exchange accreditation which I think will mean they can actually get movement parts once it's done. Omega do a one week accreditation coar$e which means you can get all parts including parts for the co axial watch's. This automatically gives you access to Rado, Longines and Tissot parts but only if you purchase the brand specific tools for each brand. Breitling also do an accreditation but again depends on your ability, Some people can only do Battery and Reseals, some people can only access Quartz and basic automatic parts and the full accreditation means you can do chronographs, nobody can get parts the the emergency watch. All of these accreditations are subject to a workshop inspection that meets certain criteria for each brand. A lot of the main big equipment can be used for multiple brands like polishing machines, timing machines(apart for co axial), cleaning machine, ultrasonic, dryer, ect, but all brands insist on lots of specialist case tools, movement holders and hand tools, not to mention oils, polishing compounds, etc, which are all very expensive and are mostly only available from them. Your workshop must be up to their spec and if you don't buy the tools they won't supply you parts even if you have past the course.

Agree I have serviced / repaired many of these movements and they are really well made. I just was expecting something better/unique.

welcome to the forum, if you like to use the camera, check out the "gallery". vinn

Back in my days one of the first things I did after serving my full apprenticeship was to write too many of the watch companies and ask for a price list of their full watch service. I took in to consideration low and top grade watches. It was very easy to work out prices, one thing I ditched was part repairs, never worth the time, it would be a full service or the customer could find another watchmaker. A watch glass would be replaced at the owner’s risk, if anything went wrong it would be a full service. I never ever looked for work but I found the clock side more interesting and concentrated on that, I still did watch making but I cut it down.

Greetings!

are there specialised courses for Rolex,Cartier, etc ?

The method I use is to trim a piece of pegwood to match the inner diam of the bit where the spring is. Then hollow out the end a bit so the arms of the spring will bend towards the jewel. Press vertically on the pegwood and slowly rotate until one of the arms comes out via the relief on the jewel holder, the rest will come out easily. This method can also be used for refitting the spring.

Welcome Nigel, Enjoy the forum.

Welcome to the forum, Nigel. From which part of ireland do you come? Have been to connemara some years ago - beautiful country, friendly people, great pubs, good beer!

Hi Nigel Welcome on the forum . Yes the horology is a big world but very fascinating . Here you have many connoisseurs who give excellent advice . So do not hesitate to ask for help .

To remove you turn the spring. Use a sharp tweezer to turn it with. A piece of rodico or something to catch with is recommended . II use a toothpick that i hold with my left hand. Place the toothpick in the hole. A little trickier to put it back though?

It looks like single malt Scotch wins the day. david