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The Patek Philippe pocket watch arrived with a number of problems. The most serious was that the escape wheel arbour was snapped off. General view of the movement The broken escape wheel arbor The biggest problem was that the arbour had broken off flush with the escape wheel pinion, a worse case scenario, leaving me no arbor stub to use as a alignment guide for drilling. So in order to install a new arbor I had to drill freehand with no guide. Here's the escape wheel mounted in the lathe, where I used a grave to cut a center v-notch to guide the drill. Next up was the drilling, the drill measures 0.25mm in diameter and standard practices is that the hole is 3X the diameter, so I drilled down 0.75mm deep. Holding onto and drilling a hole with a 1/4 of a mm drill is a big challenge, it's only 4 times thicker than a hair, so not much pressure is needed to snap it in two. Here's a better view of the 0.25mm hole I drilled. Next up was fabricating a new replacement arbor, I did this using silver steel, and made it oversize so that I could adjust it for a perfect fit. The diameter of the arbor is 0.35mm and the pivot is 0.11mm. Checking the pivot diameter. Replacement arbor on top, old broken one on bottom. A small dab of Loctite was applied to the part of the arbor that would be press fitted into the escape wheel, then the new arbour was carefully tapped in place and seated and aligned. With that taken care of, the escape wheel was installed in the movement and I measured how much of the tip of the pivot I needed to remove for a perfect fit with the required end shake. Here's the pivot sticking out of the jewel with the cap jewel removed. And here's the view with the pivot trimmed in length and sitting just below the jewel. There were a number of other issues with the movement, but I always start with the most challenging. With the new arbor in place and the escape wheel fixed, I went on to the other defects, which will have to wait till another day.

This is a bit of a departure for me as I usually like to play with stuff a little more vintage and a little more Swiss. That being said I have done a few vintage Russians in the past and this is a watch that I had been curious about for some time. I picked this one up at a car boot sale last summer for just £3 in a less than wonderful state. As you can see, the seconds hand was off and it was described a not running. It turned out that it did run, just not too well and the hour and minute hands didn't move. Canon pinion anyone? First impression with the back off is pretty encouraging. Still looking good with the rotor off. This is a 31 jewel movement, 10 of the jewels are inside those reverser wheels. Somewhat minimalist under the dial. With the calendar wheel retaining plate off you can access the motion works, the calendar works, and the keyless works. Flipped back over and with the auto-wind bridge out of the way. This is an indirect driven centre seconds hand which has a tension spring to hold the seconds hand pinion in place. This has to be supported when installing the seconds hand otherwise the hand simply pushes the pinion against the spring and won't install. Balance cock removed with the shim that the soviets are so fond of for adjusting end shake. Hair spring is in good shape. With the train and barrel bridges out of the way the going train is revealed in all its glory. Flipped over again to strip out the bottom plate and a problem comes to light. There is some damage to the minute wheel (marked in red ink). Maybe the canon pinion isn't the problem after all? In close up you can see the damaged minute wheel tooth. This I didn't think would be a problem, just replace it..... I thought. Not so easy as it turned out as I couldn't find anyone that could supply a new wheel, and a donor movement proved elusive unless I wanted to spend a fortune on a complete, working watch, which I didn't, so I had to wait for eBay to come up with a spares or repair victim at the right price, which it eventually did. The stripped out main plate with the balance and cock, minus jewels, ready for the cleaning machine. The bottom plate back together again after a good wash cycle in the Elma. At this point I did check the canon pinion anyway and it was as well that I did. There was virtually no transfer of power through to the hands at all so a suitable adjustment was made and a tighter fit achieved. Back in the case and ticking like a champ. The rotor and massive case back gasket back in place. And a much improved trace on the timer. This is with the original mainspring which turned out to be in very good shape requiring just a clean and relube. The trace isn't perfect by any means, but compared with other Russian watches that I have played with (and with it's starting trace), it's pretty good. There is still a hint of a periodic variation that I may investigate at some point but for now I shall just wear it and enjoy it. And here it is on the wrist after a bit of a cosmetic brush up. These are available with many different dial designs, apparently this one is referred to as a "SCUBA Dude". I have worn it for two days now and it has gained about 5 seconds a day so there is a little fine tuning to do to get it right "on the wrist". All in all I'm very pleased with this one. I had been curious about the Amphibia for some time having read a couple of articles detailing its history and design. It also has quite a large following of avid enthusiasts who rate it for both value and robustness. On the value front I can't complain with this one as the total cost to me was just £11 (including the donor). As for ruggedness only time will tell, but the performance so far is very impressive.

Just finished refurbing a tired Smiths TY believed to be from 1965: Before: After: Case, dial & hands cleaned. Crystal polished. Movement serviced & broken click spring replaced (thanks to John at Obsolete Clock & Watch Parts). New strap. The timegrapher readings were a little variable, however it kept good time all weekend. I am getting a bit of a thing for Smiths (the watches, not the designer-misery band from the 1980's) and have got myself a 1960 Astral to do after the next Seiko.

One up from the LY & 2 up from the RY as used in the Smiths Empire & Ingersol Triumph watches, made by the Anglo-Celtic Watch Co. (later called the Empire factory) in Wales - hence the 'Made in Great Britain' on the dial. The TY was produced in 1,5,7 or 21 jewel variants. The higher quality movements were produced in the Cheltenham factory & normally have 'Made in England' on the dial.

Thanks Geo, here is the secret to my lighting; eBay item #121337832210 It was a birthday present to myself at the beginning of March to use on my microscope. However a quick cobbling together of a suitable adapter and it now also fits my camera, providing enough light to permit hand held macro shots, so no more tripod on the bench. The wifey bought me cycling gear as she says that I spend far too much time sat on my fat backside fiddling with watches and I ought to do something to keep my circulation going!! I will spare you the photos of high vis lycra :thumbsd:

Another way to look at it if it winds away from the centre arbour anti-clockwise it is a left hander.

Well, no. Definitely not scrap. The mainspring is an inexpensive repair. Springs are readily available. It's also possible that the spring is not broken but one end is slipping off the barrel arbor or the hook on the barrel itself. Have to open the barrel to check. Not sure what the meant by "winder shaft" but if its the threads inside the stem tube that the sleeve threads onto than I supposed it would have to be re-threaded or switched with a donor case.

You would use a left hand winder for that one Stephen.

It's the way the spring is wound into the watch barrel. Most swiss watches are right handed and a lot of asian watches are left handed. On the Bergeon the notches that pick up on the spring are in the different directions & also there are different winding units for the left & right. For this reason I broke the bank & purchased the half set & I am hoping to add the extra winders as and when I need them.

The only real open source that I know of is Cousins, but I'll have a dig around!

Hi Icius! As you can see, if you look to the left, my avatar is an almost identical Sea Chief. With the all-lume numerals it's a nice looking watch and I wouldn't be surprised if yours and mine came from the same seller. I'm definitely a fan of Favre-Leubas and am forming quite a collection of them. As Anilv says, they wind beautifully and the gold tone of the movements is very attractive. They are definitely very cheap to buy for what is a quality watch but the cases are often in poor condition. Good luck with any repairs. John

Just to add my two-pennorth: some watches can stand restoration, either partial or complete. As far as watches of this type are concerned, my own inclination would be to get the movement carefully cleaned - but, in spite of damage and wear and tear, don't do anything to the face or case. It's a piece of history and, I believe, should stand just as it is.

Yes, please, I can't wait to see the picture of a naked watch! :)