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Thought it may be worth to share; I received a pretty beaten up, none-running 1890-1900 cylinder-escapement pocket-watch. It had all sorts of problems, a list too long to go into details. Among those problems was a bend/broken minute hand. It inevitably broke off when trying to straighten it. The center-hole diameter of the minute-hand was 0.5mm and the length was 15mm. The hour-hand had a hole diameter of 2.0mm and the length was 10mm. Searching the internet to find an identical set proofed futile. The watch is a heirloom so originality was a priority. The hands turned out the be made of bronze, a copper-tin alloy. Therefor it made sense to attempt soldering but the part that had to be soldered had a thickness of only 0.3mm. Both parts had to be fixed in place with a sort of clamp capable to fixing both parts, being heat resistant and "none-sticking". A soldering iron, even with the smallest tip, would be far too big for the job and to avoid touching the parts, I choose to use a hot-air gun used in electronics for soldering SMD-components to a circuit-board. A few test were made which tin to use and at which temperatures. 300 degrees C with tin used in electronics seemed to work fast and made the tin to flow nicely. I used a soldering flux-paste. The clamp consisted of two metal rails, slightly diverting from each other to give many clamping options, bolted on a plate of gypsum. Pulling over a #1000 grid sand paper, I made two 45 degrees chamfered edges on either end of both parts; The two parts were clamped in; Applied some soldering flux, heated it all up to 300 deg.C and applied a tiny bit of tin. Once cooled down, I removed some excess tin with a small diamond file. Here a picture of the back side of the minute-hand; And here the front; the tin didn't flow further away from the soldered joint or around the edges Most likely not the strongest repair in the world, but when not touched it should be strong enough to do the job. On the picture the hand color looks black, but that's due to the lighting. In reality the hand hasn't lost any of its shiny patina at the front ...... Anyway, I thought to share this repair as one of the many different possibilities

Hi all, I recently got interested in vintage pocket watches after doing family tree research and finding out many of my ancestors were watch makers in Coventry. I met an elderly family member who carries on his family tradition and helps restore pocket watches and clocks for friends and acquaintances. He showed me the intricacy and beauty of these devices and taught me a great deal of history. It is fascinating how the Coventry watch legacy produced so many talented engineers and metal workers, when watch making went on the decline, these talented people used their knowledge to get a head start in the bicycle and then automotive industries, etc etc the stories go on Anyway, my wonderful family member gave me a lovely Coventry Astral watch, my first vintage pocket watch, I feel very lucky. It works but most likely requires some cleaning and lubrication after 100 years as the second hand struggles after a while. So I've joined this forum to read, learn and absorb as much as I can so that I may be able to service these lovely old time pieces just like my ancestors did back in Victorian times. Thanks and nice to be here

Hi again @Gra. Ah right ... I hope you can see why I asked as the obvious uppermost visible parts look nothing like your part! Mmm. Information on 837 seems sparse. Here's the information from Bestfit which you may already have but at least is in this forum thread for the record: It can be really frustrating trying to find an elusive part. Finding parts from movements from the same family is usually a good course of action i.e. not specifically looking for a match to an 837 in this case but also 830 and 838. A good spot from @Nucejoetoo on that this is equivalent to the Dugena so looking out for 996, 1021 and 1022 may be useful. And note that in Bestfit they refer to General in the same context as Helvetia. On this matter of family interchangeability that's perhaps where things get interesting. Go to Cousins UK and do a watch parts search against Helvetia and an 837 and there are no parts that describe yours. Now look against an 830 instead and tantalisingly there is a part called a 'Barrel & Train Wheel Bridge' which kind of fits to your part description. If nothing else seeing if Cousins could send you a pic might at least allow you to see and make a decision. As a final consideration ... whilst none of us on the forum are going to go around liberally suggesting applications of superglue there can be a time and a place; especially for the hobbyist who has a nice watch that would otherwise loiter in a drawer. Since you have the accidentally sheared part it is at least worth considering this approach if this is only aspect not getting you to a working watch! What's the worse that could happen? Even if it gets the watch working whilst you keep your eagle eye out on ebay for a replacement Helvetia (or General ... or Dugena) part.

So, in conclusion to the CousinsUK/EU/Brexit debacle I have found an extremely efficient way to get my stuff from CousinsUK to my home address in the EU vassal state of Sweden in 24 hours. I now always use the "UPS International Express Saver" shipping option. Expensive yes, so I always, if possible, wait to place my order until the order value is at least £100 but usually more. So, no more single mainsprings, etc. which is really sad. The way this works is that UPS sends me a text message telling me exactly what to pay to get my package delivered, and they have the option to pay these fees (tax, VAT, handling, etc.) via "Swish" which is a mobile app used in Sweden. When its time for the delivery the UPS guy calls me and asks me if I'm at home. If I am he simply knocks on the door, I hold up my phone to show the Swish receipt and he hands me the package. I've tried this three times now and on all three occasions the package has been in my hands within approx. 24 hours. Fantastic! If I know ahead of time that I'm not going to be at home for the delivery I print out the Swish receipt, tape it up on the front door, and when the UPS guy calls me I simply tell him to leave the package outside of my front door.

I love these boxes and their content, got them today:

It seems that one of my new 404 toy has an issue or two. Balance pivots bent, one slightly the other one badly. One of the pivot was a busy bee and dug a trench both in the jewel and the cap jewel:

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&2&2uswk&Timex_M64 From your pictures, it looks like you have a M64 movement.

Don't parts of Helvetia-Dugena 1021 and Helvetia 837 interchange? Compare datasheets of all variants for Dugena & Helvetia. Good luck

What does the shock spring on the other side look like? The side you show, appears to be a three leaf KIF spring.

Thanks joe seems to run with no issues and be wearing it for a few years hopfully its amazing to how all the people know so much about movments parts ect on this forum and thanks for comments i know little to nothing so helps a great deal thank you

Oh ST96 is a work horse, judging by just the looks Indian made hairspring seem modern compared to old Swiss ones and are easier to work on. Taken good care of and serviced regularely, this piece last a lifetime, good thing about it is that parts to it are abundently availbale. I must have about 20 ST 96 movements and watches powered by it in my collection, plan to start selling them. I am not sure if only one grade ST96 were made, you see them with variaty of shock systems though. Enjoy your watch. Regs Joe

Cheers adam tbh it keeps very good time and i like the look so it dosnt bother me but would of lol3d to matbe put a name to it thanks again

Thank everyone who responded to my question about cleaning a watch dial. better What a treasure trove of useful information! I was doubly surprised to get so much good information, especially since the picture I attached was so miserable that it looked as if an incompetent had attached it. The kind and helpful reception I got here was especially welcomed when it was contrasted to my reception to another watch repair forum that I posted one, and only one, question to. On that forum I was flamed for posting a "stupid" question and for not researched the question in advance in books that I had never heard of. I signed off that forum quickly, never to return. I will search around for threads about how to make photos, but for now I have tried again to make a more decent picture of the watch dial in question.