Leaderboard

Why unanswerable. When it comes to authenticity of vintage pieces you need to consider that at the time, fakes were crude affairs with ultra cheap pin pallet mov.ts, and only leading models were counterfeited, these are actually well known in the enthusiast communities. Back then as now, nobody was able to credibly realize the fine rhodium plating of Omega, actually they were not even trying. Concealing S/N is normally done by some sellers, I suppose they do that to avoid that the pictures of their genuine pieces are eventually used in scams, etc. Personally on this particular watch the damage on the dial is much more toward the "patina" that collectors find desirable, and I think is due to normal aging and reaction of the paints and metals. All that being said, if it's a good buy must be judged comparing the price asked to the ones similar watches, that is what market commands.

Looks genuine. Due to water damage, the movement no longer qualifies to join your collection. Its worth more as parts than a watch, yet it still can show accurate time for a life time.

I don't buy many clothes just enough to get by. I have never been a person who wants more then one pair of shoes or loads of shirts or jeans. I have clocks about my home all telling different times many I don't even wind up. I hardly ever go out, I don't like going out these days. I'm very happy with my two lovely cats. I don't have a TV nothing but crap on and I object having to pay for crap that I'll never watch beside I can watch what I like when I like on my computer. Now is there any more you would like to know about me?

You may find you have dueling limiting factors. Plating one offs is not something most commercial outfits are going to be keen on, and when you find someone who will, it'll be sub par quality or cost an arm and a leg. The other factor is this black rhodium stuff. Nickelsilver nailed it, rhodium ain't cheap. Whatever is added to make it [i]black[/i] rhodium undoubtedly dilutes the amount of rhodium involved, but I didn't see much about what's actually in it to make it black. Granted, I didn't look too hard, but it doesn't seem like something everyone and their mom is doing (yet). What is it about black rhodium that you're after? If the goal is a high contrast engraving aesthetic, are there viable alternatives? Are there any chemical treatments for nickel silver (can't seem to type that as two words, nickelsilver...) that will color/discolor the surface in even and aesthetically pleasing ways?

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum. We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. You might find this helpful. 1033305402_TZIllustratedGlossary(1).pdf

Normally Franken watches are cheap stuff cobbled up in India, having little to do with big brands. However in 2022 it's easy to quickly learn about what is what using the Internet. You enter the reference number or whatever you know on chrono24 or Google, look at the pictures, read the history and all that stuff. That enables you not only to make an informed buy/not buy decision, but to become more knowledgeable about your favorite brands and model. That is how many people that write on the Internet have done, as those that actually have handled this kind of pieces for decades may not be able or interested in hanging out on forums or social networks.

Here is the final product. The arbor and pins were turned to fit the original knurled knob.

Hi @JulianK I can see that no-one has answered your query yet; let's see if I can at least help with some observations. Firstly you've stated this is an Enicar 120; even including the Ranfft link. I just wonder how you've arrived at this conclusion? I can't see how the keyless works on your movement looks anything like the 120 used in the Ranfft example. If anything this is closer to an Enicar 4. Let me try and illustrate: If we're in agreement it is an Enicar (because of the A-R marking in a pentagon) it might be worth doing a google image search around "Enicar" to see if you can pinpoint yours.

I believe it is. You can compare to others on chrono24.com. In the end the best place to discuss this kind of subject is a specialized owners/collectors forum of which there are various.

Hi Just looking at it it looks rough, dial is a mess the balance spring looks a though its caught up on the regulator boot, although the movement looks ok, why has the serial number been scuffed off. To bring this back to life will not be a cheap option. So if interested fix a price in your mind adding the restoration costs then work out the re sale value and dont get carried away. best to loose the watch than waste you money

There are a bunch of those. Watch Repair Channel, The Nekkid Watchmaker, Steffen Pahlow, Wristwatch Revival. Some of my faves right there.

Don't forget Guns, unexploded ordnance etc, magnet fishing can be fun, it's when the fun ends in a bang that you wish you had a different pastime

Maybe try jewellery manufacturers (London, Birmingham) or contact the BHI, or reach out to one of the jewellery or watchmaking schools.

No, but have thought about it. Maybe this year on my annual canoe trip to the Boundary Waters...there are lots of stuff under water...knives, lures, gps units. Fished a few out with a fishing hook. Magnet would be easier.

Good show, the movements are miyota 5Y20's On some you have to pull the stem to setting position and a small tab pops out press the tab to release the stem on others there is a small hole in the plate if you peer though the hole and pull the stem you will see the release lever move. there is also a legend with arrow pointing to a hole saying push. all are common methods,

When drilling through round stock I always use the poor man's hole jig. Take a bit of round stock the same diameter as the item to be drilled, or turn a bit to the correct size, place the cutoff Inthe lathe and drill a hole the correct size through the cutoff, then place the workpiece in a vice on the drill press with the drilled cutoff forming a T with the hole in line with were the hole is supposed to be then drill through the cutoff into the workpiece., I find it gives good results and keeps the drill straight as it passed through the workpiece. Quicker to do than wright about.

I do it on a "as need" basis, and have no solutions for black rhodium. Given the price of the last batch of regular rhodium (like triple from a year or two before- thousands) I won't be buying any. There has to be platers who do one-offs though.

Here is another article that might be handy https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrIAX.nGg5ippMAUwh3Bwx.;_ylu=Y29sbwMEcG9zAzIEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1645120296/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwatchmaking.weebly.com%2fgeneva-stop-work.html/RK=2/RS=Ip3Jz_kdPHU90VoH.ovuxWEerGs-

This is 99.9% the case for amplitude problems- in my experience it's rarely the mainspring. From the pic, the balance could be very much out of beat- the balance arms are supposed to be perpendicular to the line along the fork and escape wheel when at rest; it could be in beat, and someone installed the roller table without aligning it. That's one possible source of amplitude loss. Some others: -hairspring rubbing -excessive or insufficient endshakes -wear (in general), in particular at the bearing points of the center wheel and barrel -escapement out of adjustment -damaged or worn pivots -wear in the fork slot, fork pivot holes not perfectly clean (must peg them), debris on the roller jewel, roller jewel not vertical, chipped pallet stone(s) and probably a dozen other possible things With the balance and fork out (let down the power first!) put a few clicks of wind on it and see how the train moves. It should spin freely, and when it stops, ideally the escape wheel will reverse direction at least a little bit, or even a couple of turns. Now put the fork in, few clicks of wind, and see if it snaps from banking to banking cleanly with a slight nudge. That's a basic check, if it looks good, you can concentrate in the balance area.

Hi Dave the bridge is bent probably punced on a soft surface (wood) not a steel block.

I'm strange. I've worked on a very wide and eclectic variety of watch makes, from very cheap - to so extremely expensive that I was quite nervous when stripping them. But my own collection is rather small. Maybe 12 pocket watches and 8 wrist watches. But I like to wear or carry each one. Partly I wear them because, at my insurance job, it's a data-secure environment so we can't have a smart phone at our desk (because it can record information) so we tell time with our watches. But mostly, I just like them. I prefer them. I have one which is an old key wind/set Vacheron & Constantin (made before they dropped the "&") which could be worth a great deal. I cannot afford to have it appraised yet. But I'm in no hurry; I'm not selling it. I adore it just as it is, and carry it now and then. Maybe someday, I will learn how much some stranger would try to pay me for it. I have an Elgin in an 18k case too. And a gorgeous silver Longines from 1919. In all, they are likely worth far more to me than to anyone else. All mine are serviced and are as accurate as they are capable of being. So I figure, why not use them, and show them off a bit now and again?

Yes, I think it does exactly what I want.

Unitas Calibre 6325 Service Walkthrough Pictures - Disassembly (Please sort the pictures by name in ascending order) For the disassembly sequence to make sense it is very important that the pictures are sorted by name in ascending order. Generally, the sequence of pictures first shows the part to be removed in its position on the movement and the following picture shows the removed part separately. Unitas Calibre 6325 Service Walkthrough Pictures - Assembly (Please sort the pictures by name in ascending order) For the assembly sequence to make sense it is very important that the pictures are sorted by name in ascending order. Generally, the sequence of pictures first shows the part to be assembled along with any screws holding it in place. The following picture shows the section of the movement where that part is to be assembled along with my lubrication suggestion, and the picture after that shows the part when assembled on the movement. The Unitas calibre 6325 is very similar to the Unitas calibre 6498 which is the course movement on watchrepairlessons.com. Unfortunately, due to its increasing popularity, the Unitas calibre 6498 is becoming more and more expensive, although there are inexpensive Chinese clones. So, in my opinion, Unitas calibre 6325 is an excellent and inexpensive option for the course. As a matter of fact, there is a version of the Unitas calibre 6325 having a bridge configuration that looks to be identical to the Unitas calibre 6498. You’ll find plenty of watches housing the Unitas calibre 6325 on eBay. Unitas Calibre 6325 links: bidfun-db Archive: Watch Movements: Unitas 6325 - mtr-Ranfft Unitas 6325 - 17jewels.info „Wehrmachtswerk“; Unitas 6325 - Junghans Vintage