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Hello, Here is a Sicura with windows for hour, minute and date. The little propeller keeps track of the seconds. I overhauled two of these so far....It is powered by BFG 866 with 17 jewels---not one on the pallet lever itself! Apparently they ran out of jewels at that point or something so they used little pins. Keeps decent time though, and reminds me of old-style parking meters we had all over NYC about 10 years ago. Check the Watch Repair Help & Advice forum to see the movement tear-down and rebuild of the bfg866. JC

I had this project to build a watch based on the ETA 6498-1 or UT 6498 (or the 97 variant)...It happened that I sourced a Chinese 6497 and had from a previous purchase a UT 6498...The logical outcome:

I spotted this nice Bernex on the Bay recently and sniped it sweetly last night. It's a nice, dependable make - must check out what the actual movement is inside it. Bernex cased movements with their own stamp on the them, but I'm not familiar with this particular model. Probably an FHF... More when it arrives.

I can see the bit you want out now so you may be ok. gently lift the the metal just behind the green bit and use fine point tweezers to pull out the broken bit of shaft. The loop of metal that finishes behind the green bit is the part that gets pressed down through the plate to allow stem removal - the "press here" bit Try not to dislodge the green bit or the crown that engages with the train (inter connected cogs). The new stem has to go back through them in an identical manner

I would hope that you would have found the bit we thought was missing off the end of the stem. In general a stem looks something like this: If you compare that to yours it seemed to us that a bit is missing off the end. It would be good to find that bit. If it is kicking round inside the movement it could be a problem. If it is still located then it will prevent you pushing the new stem in - my first impression is that it is not still located but heaven knows where it has gone if it has indeed gone. If you have had a look at Marks vids about stem removal then it will direct you to the place on your watch that says "push" and has a little arrow indicating what to push, this may need to be pushed gently to release any bit still lodged in or to push a new stem in, but to be more sure we would need a close up pic of the stem and crown out of the watch. The square bit on the end of the stem fits through some crowns or cogs that turn the pointers. The place on the stem in between the square bit and the screw thread is where the stem is held in and you gently push down where indicated to release the stem which normally comes out whole, in your case your stem is already loose lending creedence to the idea that the missing bit is still in there (unless it has dropped out already) if it has dropped out of the watch the next step would be a new stem. It may be that a new stem might fit in with no further work - if you are lucky. I regret that there are a few scenarios here but we will take them one at a time. If you find a new stem will not go in then you may have to remove the plate on the top hopefully it lifts straight off when the screws are undone but never having worked on one I honestly don't know. With that plate off you may get a clear view of the place the stem should go into. If you do have to remove the movement don't forget about the push buttons that will need to be eased back and of course the stem should be out, It may be possible to turn the watch movement around once it is out to see if anything drops out. Cheers, Vic

Had my birthday this week, got this cool present and the surprise birthday cake my girlfriend had made for me!

better than rolexes back in the day..! Anil

Happy birthday ! what a great present ! did you cut the cake into ten or fifteen minute intervals ? :stuff: :D

Just thought I would try to post the sound from Stefans amp it is an mp3 and should play ok on most things. It is a chinese mechanical movement in a watch I overhauled for a relative. Sound is pretty clear.watch sound.mp3 Cheers Vic

To be honest Robin for a first timer this is reasonably complicated. However, in stages it is possible. I am not familiar with the movement but to understand the problem have a look at marks video about removing stems from watches. Your stem has come out because the end looks like it has broken off and if you are lucky enough to get the remnant out without having to dismantle part of the movement then you would need to purchase a new stem then insert it perhaps having to cut it to the correct length (unless it is supplied at the correct length) before removing the crown from the old stem then affixing it to the new one and finishing off by reinserting the stem into your watch for the fix. All of this is possible in stages and the people on the forum would help with advice if you post a pic of each stage. A lot depends on taking your time and getting the right tools. Can I ask if you are interested in watch repair generally or do you really only want to fix this watch. Cheers, Vic

Just thought I'd get some feedback on my latest restoration. Before and after:

See pics of my very first watch and my present watch on my wrist. My first watch was a birthday present (age 11) from my parents after successful nagging for a divers watch. It a is a Adrem divers watch with a EB8800 movement. It was very rusty (achieved after trying it in the bath many times) All parts were available the hardest bit was getting a new dial as the old one the enamel had just peeled off. The new face I was lucky to find on ebay unfortunately not the correct divers design . I also re-lumed the hands. My present watch speaks for itself. I did have lots of problems with the pics as the dial face of the Adrem reflects light even with no flash. Any tips on Macro photography much appreciated .