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Oly593, I assume from your username you are an aviation enthusiast. So to put this subject into perspective, the Olympus 593 engine was controlled by a mechanical computer. This technology has essentially disappeared on modern engines and has been supplanted by digital electronics and software. The reasons for this range through cost, quality, performance, reliability, maintainability and of course accuracy. So why did we love to see the Vulcan fly, and what drove so many people to work on doing that? Passion, emotions, pride, inspiration? Pick your own reasons. With advances in manufacturing and measuring capability, the last few of those old mechanical computers which are still being made have been improved significantly, but mechanisms will always suffer from friction, wear, thermal expansion, etc., so there is a limit. And so it is with mechanical watches. The quartz watch is a much more accurate timepiece, so why do we love our mechanical watches? Passion, emotions, pride, inspiration? Or is it just like the Vulcan - they make a great noise? Unless you aspire to be a master watchmaker, as long as you don't have to keep resetting your watch, stop worrying about accuracy and enjoy it for what it means to you. Then as Bob says, buy an old watch, get your screwdrivers out, take apart, rebuild it, and you'll discover that you have a greater tolerance for inaccuracy! S

I've posted new versions of Kendrick & Davis's "Staking Tools and How To Use Them" (1910) and "Book of Tools" (ca. 1908). These new versions are full text searchable. They are improved from the previous searchable versions via use of professional OCR tools and manual verification of the OCR on every page. (The previous searchable versions created with Acrobat were just too full of junk to be useful...and there was no way to edit the OCR text!?!) The previous high resolution version of Staking Tools and How To Use Them is also still available for those primarily interested in the illustrations. Enjoy!

I have this Seiko Automatic. I don’t have any information about service history and purchase date. Works fine and keep accurate time. There are couple of issues, crystal has little crack at 12 and all three hands are not in perfect shape, looks crushed. I took this to my known watch maker here in Bangalore, India. He quoted unrealistic figure 1700 INR and may be little more after work done depends on how he got replacement parts. I have agreed with him that getting replacement parts is on me, and he will do only fix. I planning to order it in cousinsuk , it will be delivered to my colleagues residence currently lives in Northampton ,he will bring down here in couple of weeks’ time. I need to help to figure out the exact items in cousinsuk.com. Please suggest me the parts number

Hi guys, I'm currently servicing a eta 2784. I would like to change the mainspring but i can't find a new mainspring with barrel. So i was wondering can i drop in the eta 2824 mainspring with barrel inside? I have one 2824 mainspring with barrel lying around and i compared, they both looks the same, have the same diameter but the thickness is different. Apparently, the 2784 is thicker while the 2824 is thinner. This explains why the 2784 has additional 6 more hours. Thank you very much :)

Good response perpetual "accuracy is how constant a watch is". Rolex used to be +/- 3 secs a day, if excellent timekeeping is your real thing then quartz is the movement you require.

The GR spec for these springs is as follows. 2784: H1.45 S 0.13 L420 Dia. 11 2824: H1.25 S 0.125 L420 Dia. 12 The big difference is the height which might cause fitting issues with the barrel arbour & also there is a reduction in the real force given. A GR 4011 or GR 4013-1 would be far better matches or the one Cousins suggests GR3149X. Personally I only go away from the correct spec spring if I have no other option. For a cost of £7 odd I don,t think it,s really worth the risk.

Seiko crystal is 300T20ANS0 which is domed with a steel tension ring. Doubt you will find original but Cousins have Sternkreus XAC301.598 as replacement (Cosuins Ref S15486). I have used these crystals before in Seiko watches and they seem to fit fine. The hand hole diams are 1.5mm (H), 0.9mm (M) and 0.2m. Again doubt you will find Seiko replacements but close matches are available, you will also need lengths. Maybe easier for the watchrepairer to source these locally.

Actually, for the crystal, I came up with this part number: S15486 in cousins. Boley lists it as: 300T20AN and the other option with a gold "ring" is 300T20ANG. As for the hands these are kind of similar: H41371 and H41379 from cousins (individually hour and minute) and this for seconds: H41262. Not guaranteed but probably it! Cheers, Bob

The numbers that I see in your picture 7006-7007 are the numbers for the correct glass. I always mentioned the colour of the case just to make sure so ask for chrome to be on the safe side.

Hi sendikumar, I believe you only need the hands and the crystal if everything else is working fine. Since you don't know much about this watch history (i.e. last service if ever, etc) I would be a good idea to do the complete servicing of the movement. With that said, it is an old watch probably much cheaper than what a full service by a professional will charge you for the job. Then, buying the parts (hands and crystal which I would buy aftermarket, allow me you choose price vs. quality) and the job of replacing them. If I'm not mistaken, .90/1.50/.20 would do for a full set of hands. The crystal is more complicated since you have to check if it is domed (or not: type), diameter and fit (usually pressed with a ring but it could be glued, etc) The picture, as seeing it in my computer, is not telling me much details. Have a great day, cheers, Bob