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Aah - the slush poopie - not had one of those since last week's vindaloo... :D

Hopefully this was just a translation error. Assisi Italy

Excellent advice Dan, if all else fails...........have a beer! :)

But was it really a typo ???? :sick:

Oh-my, I just ran into this with a Jacques Lemans 1215. Felt like such a dope struggling to turn for 10 minutes :pulling-hair-out: got super frustrated. Had a lovely homebrewed saison after I realized the mistake and opened it with my case knife in 3 seconds! Dan B

Are you sure it twists to undo it could be a snap back just designed to look like a screw back style.

The Horotec screwdriver tool is indeed a little over kill, and will only give results of a cutout screwdriver tip, not exactly what most watchmakers want, or should I say need. Stick to the trusty roller sharpener, and get up close, and personal to each of your blades with a loupe, it becomes second nature over time, honestly.

And, now I'm starting to think some joker screwed on the back with red Locktite, the bolt and superglue method failed me too. I hate to do this, but I think I'm going to need to bring it into a shop just to have the back taken off.

Hi Scott, Are you working with a bare main-plate, train wheels and bridge? This is the best way to ensure the train is in order as you can view it from all sides to ensure that the pivots are not bent (which may be the case if the watch has had a hard knock). Everything else should be off the watch, calendar stuff, keyless works etc... just the main bridge, escapement and the bridges to hold them in place. Anil

In my opinion it ultimately depends the condition of the movement and what damaged parts you can replace/repair. The more you can, the better delta you will achieve. For example, balance staff, cap jewels, mainspring obviously, pallet fork jewels, wheels, just to put a few out there. If all can be replaced or repaired then then the original manufacture tolerances can be met and sometimes surpassed, temporarily. Simply put, vintage: 20 sec 0H 30 sec 24H, 6 positions, daily rate between +1 to +10 seconds. Modern watches stick to the tech docs and stay within spec but mostly under 10 second delta 6 positions at 0H and 24H and daily rate +2 to +6 seconds, that's acceptable to me! Through watchmaking I restore connections in people's lives!

Mostly good advice here and it's been a few days so maybe you've done something already but in my opinion the patina is valuable and shows parts of the history, love your story, thanks for sharing, if you have to do something start with the lightest cleaning method first and work up to the strongest because once u do it u can't go back Through watchmaking I restore connections in people's lives!

I know you might think I'm stupid but are you sure it's a screw on back and not one of those imitation looking ones when all it needs is a case knife.