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Today.... My 1940's Heuer Ref 347. Rugged looking watch with its battle scared dial. It has a Valjoux 22 under the hood. It's quite a large case for the time which gives it more of a contemporary flair. I were this one quite often.

In my experience power problems are almost never due to a fatigued mainspring. This includes steel springs. There is certainly no way to assess a spring that is in its barrel; with steel springs the old rule of thumb is that it expands to about 3x barrel diameter when removed. With alloy springs, depending on the type, they will expand further and for most have the "reversed S curve" towards the outer hook. I do a fair bit of work for one of the older and bigger Swiss high end companies, on their vintage pieces (like 1960s and older). These often have quite hard to find mainsprings, either because their height is very low, or special T ends, or whatever. The standard practice, from them, is to not change the spring. Exceptions would be a spring that had been changed in the past and is obviously wrong; usually a thicker spring to compensate other problems, with a shortened running reserve as a result, or a spring that is damaged i.e. kinked or showing signs of cracking at the hooking points. In several years of doing these I think only one has come back- it it did have its spring changed for a new GR at the time of service. That's not to say that it's silly to change the spring when servicing- for modern pieces with ready replacements it's good practice. Just want to point out that the mainspring is really rarely the reason a watch (or clock) is running poorly. In the above example of a watch having an oversize spring installed, typically I find that the escapement is poorly adjusted, pivots might have wear, unjeweled holes in the plate (barrel, center wheel) are worn, the barrel itself is worn and sloppy on its arbor, etc.

Thanks guys. On closer inspection, while the grain is going in the proper direction for gluing, it looks like this isn't the first split. There seem to be at least 4 other glue joints. I'm not sure it's feasible to keep gluing. Here's the first round of cleanup.

Good evening everyone, hope we are all managing quarantine fever reasonably well. Today I'm going to briefly cover my 1938 Westfield Art Deco watch I recently completed. It began with an urge to acquire a nice Deco watch. I won a handsome Hamilton, but sadly the seller had lost the watch. Thankfully they refunded my money and the hunt continued. I finally came across this Westfield powered by a Bulova 10aw. The price was perfect because it was sold without a crown. I tracked down a donor movement with a crown that didn't look too ratty and purchased it as well to serve as a parts donor, wise choice as you'll see. The parts donor arrived first. It only needed a clean and lube to get it ticking away Parts donor... After a delay, the watch arrived. It looked thousand times better in hand than it did online, thankfully. It was fitted with a truly pristine Crystal that surely must be a recent replacement. The case doesn't seem to have any base metal showing through. I promptly opened the watch and lifted the dial and movement from the case. The Westfield as it arrived... A close-up of the barrel bridge showing the little crescent moon date code signifying the watch was made in 1938... Looking closely, I found that the crown and stem weren't just missing, it was broken, snapped off at the winding pinion. I removed some of the keyless works to get at the stem remnant. After fishing the piece out, I pulled the crown and stem from the donor. Winding stem switcheroo... I then attempted to give the mainspring a wind and see how the watch performed. After barely 2 turns I heard a crunching noise indicative of a broken mainspring. Thankfully the donor's was perfect. I swapped out the barrels put it back together and gave it another wind. Off the balance went and the mainspring wound smoothly and stopped at the end. Sprung spring... I put the dial and hands back on, gave the dial a light wash down to remove any excess grime. I put it all back together, added a new leather strap and here she is. Very excited to be wearing an 82 year old watch that looks this good!

Whatever you do, don't drop that on your foot !

My Sector 450 : Brand : Sector No Limits Model : 450 Movement : Automatic Case material : Steel Bracelet material : Steel Year : 2001 Now the pictures ! Usually I dont like the big watches ! But I love this one (and others you will see in the future, as I will show you my collection), the dial have beautiful reflection ! And the movement in it ! A beauty ! Some back story : The Sector No Limits watch brand was founded in 1973 by the Giardiello family from Naples. A Research and Development sector is active in producing watches for professionals. Unlimited professionals as the brand suggests. The Sector No Limits brand automatic chronographs carrying a Valjoux 7750 come from all the know-how of the brand when it was at its peak in 2001, and offered high-end tool watches. And that's all that remains of this brand that has chosen to offer entry-level and mid-range consumer watches since its acquisition in 2001 by the group "Bvlgari's Opera Group". If you want anymore infos, picture (not of the movement of this one I'm sorry, I'm not experimented enough so I will not take the risk to break something, but I have a 7750 that I can show you). A. Nogues, watchmaking student.

Lower pivot is broke off the escape arbour you show.

Only 132g Andy? This weighs in at 150g!

I can only think of one guy who could possibly wear this watch and not look like a fool (and it 'aint me). At 132g it is four times the weight of the Lorus I've been wearing to do the gardening. In fact it is so huge I can wear it OVER the Lorus I've been wearing to do the gardening. Here is a side by side comparison. The Lorus isn't a small watch I hasten to add. On the plus side it does have an exhibition case back port hole on the back. Sadly the bling is fake, otherwise it would be worth a fortune. It was going to go in the 404 collection, but I may just hang it on the kitchen wall and use it as a clock instead.

£12.50 eBay auction. Beat .2 + 8 seconds a day, screw crown, ceramic bezel, 316 steel, mineral crystal

What do you think. Being delivered in 2 weeks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Long story short, I am in possession of an old staking set in need of a whole lot of love. I am currently and carefully removing the rust from everything to see what is salvageable and what is beyond usability. It is my hope to get a good deal of it restored. For the record, I want a usable tool, not an antique for resale. The one place that i am indecisive is the box ... specifically the tray in the box. As you can see from the attached pictures, it's in a sorry state. One one hand, to keep it as original as possible, I can glue up the existing breaks and fashion a 'dutchman' for the missing bits, or I could re-fabricate it out of a nice piece of clear maple or fruit wood. Or, (and no eye-rolling please) I could 3-D print a replacement tray. Suggestions?

One of my Timex "Big Q" British Rail watches got a fresh battery and some wrist time today. This has a relatively early Timex quartz movement, and therefore it is a little more battery hungry than its modern counterparts.

I haven't watched this video yet, but I've been watching watchmaking videos with my infant daughter while giving her bottles (a prolonged affair for reasons not worth discussing here) and putting her down for naps. It's hard to get shouty while working on or lecturing about watches, so it's good for her to chill down while also being interesting for me. Your videos are the current flavor, and we're thoroughly enjoying/sleeping through them.

Hello and welcome Adrian to the forum

Hello A., whichever is most convenient for you!

Bonjour Adrian, Of course we'd love to see your collection. Post them Please.

Hi Adrian and welcome to the forum, I am sure members would like to see your watch collection

I would get a hold of a running scrap movement. I’ve checked eBay, and they seem to sell for around £60. Then find a more reasonable watchmaker with a good reputation.

Hi Joe. Keep a recorder going while you're working so you can share the words you'll say when you send your first screw or spring flying across the room to that place where tiny watch parts and missing socks go. Personally I think there's a colony of ants building an ETA 2824-2 from the parts they've taken off my floor. Good luck and remember we've all made the same mistakes, so there will be no laughing, except, maybe, from your wife.

I don’t think that’s a fair way to assess a spring as it may be annealed towards the end to aid the hole punch and forming of the section which holds against the arbor. Plus there are other variables such as the strength of the spring. In my experience, white alloy springs do not tend to lose much of their power storage. Sometimes I’ll gain ten degrees of amplitude when swapping old for new, for example. For this reason, I do not always swap out springs. That’s down to personal opinion. I’ll almost always bin it if it’s blue steel.

Hello and welcome. Did you take a look at Mark's courses? As good as anything you'll find online. The first movement I completely stripped was a Seagull 2824 clone. In the process I broke the yoke for the keyless works, stripped the intermediate wheel and lost a spring and a screw. Luckily the parts are readily available and the practice was invaluable. I recommend you get yourself a couple of practice watches/movements, a decent set of screwdrivers, good tweezers, a 5X magnifier and a camera to photograph everything as you take it apart. Reading is fine, but there's no substitute for hands-on.

The only thing I’d avoid is anything obscure. Most parts aren’t too hard to get a hold of - I usually break down watches for spares rather than buy individual parts.

Today I have my 1938 Westfield on display. It's powered by 7 jewel Bulova 10aw. It needed a bit of attention to alleviate a few issues, but it's totally worth the wait.

You can usually get it in adjustment by moving the gathering pallet. If you left it on during disassembly and reassembly there's still no guarantee that things are aligned. You can just pull the plates apart enough to shift the wheels around and hope that things get better, but easiest is really to remove the gathering pallet and place it in a good position. To remove you want large levers, if you don't have that you can use screwdrivers turned so the side so they make almost parallel contact, and protect the plate with thin cardboard. Grabbing and twisting it off can work (with tape on your pliers), but I have seen well stuck ones twist the pivot right off.

A few things to check. On some chrono movements the hole in the mainplate for the lower pivot of the minute counter wheel is very close to the stem pivot, and a shock on the crown can distort the metal closing the hole slightly or allowing the stem to touch the counter pivot. Check that the minute counter wheel is very very free with the jumper spring removed. The hole in the mainplate can also simply be dirty, and as it is sort of buried in there is often overlooked for pegging. When the finger on the chrono runner wheel comes in contact with a tooth on the sliding gear, it has to touch the flank of the tooth. If it touches tip to tip or even on the ogive, it can jam (if it's far enough along the ogive it's OK). You may need to adjust the depthing of the sliding gear, and/or shift the jumper to get the alignment right. With the chrono engaged a tooth on the sliding gear should be pointing at the center of the chrono runner. If you move the jumper you'll need to double check that the hammer is in full contact with the chrono runner heart cam and has a little play on the minute cam, while not pulling the minute wheel teeth to one side or the other of the jumper. Don't oil the minute counter pivots.

HI, Can help me identify what year this was produced? AS cal 1702/03 Case numbers - 11726 343942 Any help on this would be appreciated. Cant seem to find much on the Deluxe models

Hi they are responding to treatment looking good dont forget to wipe them all with a cloth impregnated with oil just to leave a light film to deter any rustspots, a great job

Very very happy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Like JG I would be at it with the glue and keep it as original as possible, It looks like it will make a good set, try soakong one or two of the rusty bits in coke or vinegar to kill off the rust then polish with wire wool and finish with wire wool and oil good luck you have the makings of a good set, Cheers

Inertia is the tendency of a mass body to resist change in its motion, it is an inherent property of mass but function of mass distribution throughout the spatial geomerty of a body and remains conatant for a given wheel. As balance wheel is lifted to a high amplitude hairspring exerts torque against inertia through longer distance, therefor the wheel reaches higher angular velocity, lower angular velocity is developed by lower amplitude. So the wheel dose low and high amplitudes is same time period. High amplitude is to enhance percision, accuracy can be achieved at low amplitudes too. High end watches deliver percision.

If the original tray has exposed side-grain it should be possible to glue it. If there's only end-grain then it is unsuitable for gluing.. that might help to narrow down your options. Many of the PVA glues available (and especially the resin PVA) are stronger than most wood. Making a new piece is likely to be no more difficult than re-gluing, but it will require a bit more arty thought if you start to consider whether to keep the same number of holes or layout. I'd be tempted to repair that broken piece - provided there's side-grain, and that it will join neatly, with little damaged / disturbed wood not sitting right. Regards,

Well if you think about it high end watches use a variable inertia balance, they don't have any regulator pins.. just micro regulator screws the balance is the main regulator in a watch.

Excellent shape! are you happy with the price you paid? Looks like it was worth every penny.

Welcome to WRT.

Hi this might fire your imagination. TZIllustratedGlossary (1).pdf

Hello and welcome to the forum , enjoy

Welcome aboard, you have chosen the best forum for learning

A very scruffy looking 1970s Lucern BG 866 based pin lever got a bit of a clean and polish today. This was actually purchased as a parts watch, but I guess I'll need to look for another parts movement, as I haven't the heart to consign it to the parts pile. It may be crusty, with its all aluminium case. It may also be somewhat jewel starved (just the one rock in this one), and it have a tick like a grandfather clock, but it has a certain pin lever charm about it. In to the 404 club it goes.

I adjusted for the time difference from the 1960's to present....

I love it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

here is my 1962 - notice the time that it stopped on.... compare to the one worn by the astronaut.

You might like to explore the world of surface mount electronic component assembly too. For example if you need to dispense tiny amounts of solder to fix dial feet in the traditional manner, you could borrow some tricks from SMD assembly. Solder paste in syringes. This comes as leaded and lead free. I would suggest using the stuff with lead in as it flows better, and melts at a lower temperature, this minimising the heat that will transfer to the dial face, but ROHS stuff is available if you prefer to avoid lead. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solder-BGA-SMD-Tin-Welding-Paste-Flux-XG-Z40-10CC-Needle-Soldering-Glue-25-45um/132416227698?hash=item1ed49f4972:g:pTQAAOSwCcZaHQXn Just grab the keywords from that example and look for similar stuff. There are also several different types of glue. For example single part "red glue". https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FUJI-Seal-glo-NE8800T-SMT-SMD-Red-Glue-Adhensive-for-BGA-Chipset-Solder-RoHS/171643196779?hash=item27f6bb556b:g:g-0AAOSw6sRa3bSt UV cure glues, like LOCA Liquid Optical Clear Adhesive, often used for cellphone glass https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TP-2500-UV-Glue-LOCA-Liquid-Optical-Clear-Adhesive-For-Cellphone-Glass-Lens-cu/283626728293?hash=item4209786b65:g:v2wAAOSwBChbXcWg You would need a UV cure lamp for this, but there are lots of UV LED torches and UV cure nail polish devices to be had for a few dollars which will do the trick. There are also specialist hand tools to "pick and place" various tiny electronic component items that might prove useful with watch components.

There is a less expensive single-use version of this cement called the 3M ESPE RELYX UNICEM APPLICAP. But it needs two tools, the first to crimp and mix the components and the second to extrude the cement. If you have a friendly dentist who would lend the tools this could be a low-cost solution.

Hi that's an excellent solution to the problem, and quite a strong cement at that. Its amazing where these soloutions come from, never thought of that one.

You are very welcome Glad to have been some help. Two more articles regarding lu.brication Moebius Oil_Chart.pdf Horological TIMES On lubricatuin.pdf

It was for the Citizen rotor screw . How would have know that ? This is how i did before. You can hold a little closer to the screw with your fingers.

I use an old bronze tweezer . Hold it over and use the left hand to press around when unscrewing . have worked for me so far. But as i saw the picture of the tool. I wonder if i don't have a screwdriver here that is for that . Always wonder what it was for. I will go and have a look.

My cousin is a gunsmith. He uses all kinds of small tweezers; there's lots of small parts in a gun. I was was telling him about having problems with watch springs flying across the room and he said, "You too!?"