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Finally, see below the fifth of five watches my brother sent me to be serviced. As usual, the details first: Elgin Hunter = Grade 241, Model 6, Class 33. (<<< Thanks guys for the tips on the correct grade) - Circa 1905, Size 16s, Jewels 17, adjusted. - Crown wind-crown set, 3-finger straight bridge. - Breguet hairspeing compensating balance, Moseley regulator, counterpoised anchor lever. - Straight-line escapement, quick train, going barrel. - Nickel-finish movement with damaskeening, gold jewel settings. - Fahys Montauk gold-filled case guaranteed 20 years. - Movement serial #11709941 The pics below are mostly what my brother sent. I have not cleaned it yet or begun repairs. I am waiting for parts. I can tell that it will be a beauty again when done. It's an extremely nice watch. The Montauk case is likely at least 14k gold-filled. But the real beauty is inside. Mirror polished parts. Damaskeened nickel-finish parts. Gold plated gear train. Solid gold bearing seats for the rubies. Mosely micrometric regulator on the balance index. And a mirror-polished counterpoised lever. This is about as far away from a Yankee Dollar Watch as San Francisco is from Bangor. I was feeling quite privileged as I opened the cuvette for initial inspection...until I smelled it: More Cosmoline. *sigh* Okay, I have already ranted about Cosmoline in the earlier post where I encountered the Gott verdammt stuff inside the Elgin #92. So I won't rant more about it here. But cleaning will be a chore again. I thought I was done with that stuff. Oh well, like before with the #92, the fork gets cleaned separately, due to the shellac. The balance is broken and being replaced, so the new one gets a separate cleaning, but all other parts get alcohol and/or acetone. Naphtha seems to take too long on Cosmoline for some reason. Pic 1 - Face is filthy, case needs polishing Pic 2 - Movement is just spectacular to look at. I never get tired of seeing this kind of thing. Pic 3 - The coating of Cosmoline is thinner back here, but in the right light you can see a goldish cast to the parts. Pic 4 - Under the dial it was crammed full of Cosmoline. Pic 5 - Even the protective band arount the movement was doused with that sticky stuff. Pic 6 - Moseley micrometric regulator! I like these even better than the Illinois whipspring & screw type. Pic 7 - And a mirror polished counterpoised anchor lever into the bargain.

I bought this old Yema out of love, because I really appreciate the dial and old look, as a non-working for 50€ didn't know it worth way more. Unfortunately I polished through the chrome, so had to re plate it. That was a cool process ? (here is a video about it) Now I'm just waiting for the postman to come with my oil, and then it's the insides I'm going to refurbish. I already got a new acrylic crystal for the watch. And then I hopefully have a cool watch for life.. Untitled_1080p.mp4

I find the timegrapher extremely useful but it is not essential at the beginning. You need to get good screwdrivers, oil, and a way of applying oil. I have a Horotec set of screwdrivers that has proved itself very useful. Don't skimp on the screwdrivers or tweezers especially! You also need some way of cleaning parts - a small jar of lighter fluid and a paintbrush should do it. pegwood would also be handy to get old oil out of jewel holes. One thing that is important to say is that the Timex may not be the best choice for the first one to work on. They are not designed to make service easy - in fact, I have heard they are quite difficult. I would strongly recommend getting a Chinese clone of the ETA 6497 / 6498, which can be found on eBay for less than $50. I don't recommend trying to fix something until you can get back together and working something that was working in the first place - if you have no idea why something isn't working then it will not be clear whether you have assembled it properly or not.

Cousins UK has an excellent database of PDF data and service sheets. Yes, we used to have a section here before and it was being maintained by a former member. It's gone now and I have no plans to re-instate it because of the time implications of maintaining such a database. Amazon Cloudfront.

whoa! lume shot!!

I also noticed that by default I put Vostok on my wrist more often than other watches. It just feels right, it's very accurate and also I am never concerned about humidity, freezing temperatures or extreme heat. I do not have to "be careful" while wearing it ? as this watch can take almost any unintentional abuse ? .

Absolutely love mine.

Even I know the correct way to say this in English, it 5nd time not 5rd.

I bought a slightly modded Seiko SKX007 off of eBay, about which in general a more experienced man than I here aptly quoted Obi Wan Kenobi: "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." LOL. To be fair, the watch was accurately described cosmetically, more or less, but I didn't take the time to read the description. One thing that wasn't entirely accurate was the representation that the watch "works well." Well, it did run, but not to expectations. The amplitude was low, the beat error high and the rotor felt sluggish. So what's a newby to do? Well, a full service of the 7S26 is still a bit beyond my skill set. So I replaced the movement with an NH36, which meant removing the hands and dial from the 7S26 and mounting them on the new movement. I also discovered (last to know) that the crown and stem were not a clean "switch over" between the two movements so I measured, cut, and filed the new stem that came with the NH36 movement and epoxied the crown on to it. Now I know that this hardly qualifies as watchmaking, but I have to admit feeling a bit proud that the watch is now better regulated, that I managed not to bend or lose the hands, that the epoxy is only on the intended part and that the thing is back together with no extra bits sitting in the tray. Or, more precisely, you have to celebrate your small triumphs along the way to some level of actual competence. Remember that feeling when you first got parts to play well together to resemble a functioning timepiece? Well it's been a pretty good morning so far. My family appears to be tolerating this with an air of bemusement, as in, "I wonder what crazy scheme Dad's up to now?" But you all will get it. Happy Wednesday . . .

Hi, Just wanted to share my experience of radial brushing on a Seiko 7005-8160P. I built a little jig using a block of wood, plastic case press, and Wood screw. I think the pictures are quite explanatory. The red tape was used just take up the slack. Using a junior Jigsaw blade with some 600 grit paper wrapped around it and short 5mm strokes back and forward as the case is rotated slowly. Using the long slot I made in the screw head as a guide. The height of the screw is adjusted so that the Jigsaw blade is flat against the case and not at an angle. It's working pretty well. Will post a picture of the finished case.

Before doing anything proper diagnostics is needed. People are often eager to change things without grasping why things need to be changed. Unfortunately sometimes we don't know why things have occurred because previous watch people have mutilated our watches. To make it easier to understand I'm attaching images snipped out again. Always good when people have decent pictures for diagnostic purposes. This is a bimetallic balance wheel one of the problems with this is if somebody squeezes it the arms are movable. Movable in the term of they get bent. So classically somebody squeezes it the arms are bent in the watch runs fast. Normally need true and calipers and very carefully spinning to look at that but you can usually I ball it and if you grasp what you're doing been the arms back out. You do need to make sure that the little gaps of the both the same size and the both symmetrical otherwise you will have different issues. I suspect the reason why the arm doesn't move is it's been pushed to an extreme and with the hairspring looking the way it does I not sure you want to push it back because your risk damaging the hairspring. The regulating arm is supposed to have friction is not supposed to move effortlessly otherwise it will move all by itself or if the watches bumped gently it may move. I suspect all you need to do is loosen the screws underneath rotated back into the middle tighten the screws back up and it should be fine. Only if it's not fine in the middle in other words it cannot move at all then you can worry about. Or if you want just take it all apart make sure everything is nice and clean no rust for instance but it should work fine without lubrication I think it's just been pushed to the extreme and it's catching on the edge of the bridge.

Rather surprisingly I did have the correct crystal in my stash. I think that looks a whole lot better don't you? One more item removed from the to do list.

Ordinary (no shock protection).

Worst case sensrio would be having to add some weight washers to screws. I would clean and lube like poljot first said since hairspring might be sticking intermitently. If that regulator arm doesn't wants to cooperate, its arm can be filed a bit which is not entirely honoring watchmaker code of ethics but works.

Well I guess I forgot to order a crystal for it, partly because it has one of the most ravenous arm hair eating band I've ever encountered, which kind of spoils the fun of wearing it. The monster hair puller is the original Seiko steel strap I might add. However it is a classic Sekio 5 design (from 1981), and it seems a waste to have it just sitting around unworn, so I put a leather strap on it and I'll measure the crystal this evening and order one... probably.. if I don't get distracted by something else. Who knows, I might even have a crystal in stock, and be able to strike another ancient item from the todo list.

Ordered the 0201075 as a substitute for the specified 0201024; will report back whether it works (cannot find this question resolved elsewhere on the web)

Hello Khan, depends what you mean by service. A general disassembly, clean and lubrication of the movement might bring the amplitude up and slow it down, but you still will not be able to regulate it. Judging by the circular scoring on the balance cock, and the fact that it does not move easily, the regulator seems to be clamped down hard. Maybe there is a spacer missing or something like that. I guess your next step is to separate the balance from the cock, and strip down the regulator / jewel assembly for cleaning, inspection and measurement. You'll also be able to get a better look at that kinked portion of the hairspring pointed out by John. From the overhead shot it looks twisted too. Good luck sorting it out!

For future work on eta movements, if you examine the hole the release botton is in, you notice the following; The oval hole the stem release button is in, bottoms at a recess in center of which the circular hole is and continues deeper, so if you insert a screwdriver of the widest blade the larger diameter of oval allows, your blade will plunge only as deep as the recess which is all thats needed for a perfect stem release. I hope you can understand my ingliski. ?

BTW if you are asking yourself "Should I be worried about radioactive potassium in bananas"...

All The best, have a successful hunt.

Apparently that's what I'll get if I answer an email that I received. I probably should, as according to them, it is the 5rd time they have tried to contact me. Aren't I slack.

Good to hear that you'll keep doing it as the skills need to be kept alive. It's also a good way of the keeping the brain ticking as well as watches!

Mark had the stuff hosted by Aliexpress, or was muhammad-ali-express, there are so many portals on the net nowadays, I am not sure which one it was. We have threads( unremoved) with more than four thousand post containing absolutely no technical information almost zilch to be exact, like watch of the day or watch of today, watch of anyday, lucky we don't have one titled watch of somedays yet, so perhaps the reason for relocation was not shortage of space more like modifying and cleaning up the place here and removing some sections which had long remianed unused. Link to datasheets of all calibers ever made wont add up to four thousand, but frankly even if all are embeded here there will always be such guestions and not just by newcomers. Regs Joe

Loads of artistic license. Even reproductions of this watch use electronics to reproduce the music. Clint is 6'4" tall, so the tip of his thumb to the first knuckle is likely to be just slightly more than an inch. The watch's diameter is smaller. About an inch; about a size 0. I have a Waltham that size. Most musical alarms and repeaters I've seen online and elsewhere have a bit more bulk to them, and they are mostly not very loud. And the song played is, of a necessity, quite short. I'm with you, Andy: the watch in the movie would be an awe-inspiring mechanical marvel for its time period, if it actually worked that way, and worth a few kings' ransoms.

This is a good candidate for side-by-side photos Before and After cleaning ? Good luck!

Timegrapher is cheap but good software that you can load on your iPhone app. Other than that I made a YouTube video on tools to give you an idea of what you may need in the future. Small Watchmaking Tools https://youtu.be/aMFVjq39y98

I like your black dial & bezel. And 31 jewels!

One of the interesting thing is that occurs on this discussion group is that people continuously re-ask the same questions over and over again because? For the newbies they fail to grasp in their excitement that conceivably we all went through whatever they're doing and more than likely the question has been asked before on the group. The problem with the resources out there is people have to remember that they exist otherwise they're not going to look they're going to make use the resources the message board like I need this tech sheet and it will appear. So why bother to remember were all these resources are or care what all you have to do is ask. Or even my amusement because it happened with a couple of questions lately I do a search to find an answer for someone's problem and I find the answer on this message board somebody's already had a similar problem With the same watch. Such an interesting problem with typically the easiest solution for everybody is to just ask here and it will materialize. The problem is for those of us that make things materialize it would be nice to have a central database somewhere of all the PDFs but you're looking at several gigabytes of data. Although looking at the properties of one of my main folders of data but not all the Datuk is it scattered across the computer 21 GB. That doesn't include any of the new stuff that I've downloaded within the last couple years. Then conceivably there's some duplicates because of various sources I we just copy the DVD and put it in the computer so I know there's some duplicates but it gives you a clue of how big the database could be if you start accumulating all the PDFs.

Truth be to told, I prefer the Komandirskies. They're lighter, mechanical, just as reliable, and a whole lot of fun! Those two dials belong to my favorites. Thanks for showing them!

A black dialled Swatch Irony today. This is another design classic, and also a bit of a Marmite watch. Either you love it or you hate it. I'm a big Marmite fan myself. The only thing that lets it down in my opinion is the lume. Yes, the hands are nice and bright, but there is absolutely nothing else on the dail or case that is lumed, so it may well be sitting glowing gently on the bedside table next to you as you stare at it bleary eyed, but unless you reach out and grab it to figure out which way up it is, you have absolutely no idea what time it is. Even with it in your hand, you only have a vague idea.. 3am, maybe, or is it four.. who cares, its too early I'm going back to sleep.

How do you open these? Just like the real one? I got two of them, wanted to give them to my almost 6 years old daughter who likes to play watchmaking game, but could not open them. She sits in my chair, I am the customer and she works on my watches for £1, IF she is open and not tired. What surprised me that i was also charged 50p for my coffee. ?

Audemars Piguet Ultra Thin 17j Bob

If the bush is sintered then it will hold lubricant inside the material.

? Been there done that!

Yes its confusing isn't it ive listed the omega part numbers then the cousins ones OMEGA COUSINS 088NS0416 seal O ring Product code X13098 Pendant tube gasket Omega 088.0416 D 1.5 D 2.3 ○0.4 No measurements given 088NB1142 Flat seal Product code X13211 Back gasket, rubber Omega 088.1142 D 25 D29.5 TH 0.1 No measurements given 088NS0824 Seal O ring Product code X13129 Back gasket rubber 088.0824 D 28 D 29.6 °0.4 No measurements given So a slight quandary here, the flat seal seems to be the same measurement as the Teflon one that I have but Cousins say it's Back gasket rubber seal?? So I guess I'll be calling cousins tomorrow before I order as these three alone are £33 less P&P I did find one other selected that came up when I put the case number in the cousins search and it's this one, Gasket hard plastic, Omega 098.21424 Product code X13310, I can't find and part number similar to this on the attached photo with the part numbers on my previous post, I don't know if this one might be the little white Teflon one. So anyone with any ideas before I give them a call?