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Problem: cheap spring bar tool which is very poor, tip seems to be made from pressed tuna cans. Hurdle: A proper Bergeon tool is £7.85 + VAT. Solution, buy Bergeon tip only 6767AF for £1.80, and replace on el cheapo handle. Fantastic! BTW forked tip is 1.2mm not 1 as even the Bergeon catalog says.

I've been buying far fewer watches in the latter half of this year than in previous years - using money for other pursuits - having decided to move away from the selected "cheapies but goodies" on eBay in favour of more considered purchases. The last watch I bought was a Christopher Ward C1000 auto, which I've worn virtually every day since getting it - and very nice it is too - and now I've picked up this very smart Le Coultre from 1956. [seller's] photos: Some info on Le Coultre for those interested: United States duty regulations made it more cost effective to import Jaeger LeCoultre movements, dials, crowns and hands into the USA from Switzerland and for the cases to be manufactured in the States. In the 1950’s the Longines Wittnauer group was the distributor of LeCoultre watches and Vacheron & Constantin watches sold in North America. The Longines Wittnauer group did not manufacture Jaeger LeCoultre watches as some people mistakenly believe, the movements were produced in the Swiss Jaeger LeCoultre factory at Le Sentier and were identical in every way to movements distributed within Europe other than the LeCoultre markings on the watch. The cases were manufactured under licence in the United States and were marked "Cased and Timed in the USA by LeCoultre". In approximately 1985 the brand name "Jaeger LeCoultre" was adopted worldwide. Some people believe that because LeCoultre movements are signed "VXN" on the bridge (denoting Vacheron & Constantin), they were manufactured by Vacheron & Constantin. This is incorrect. Jaeger LeCoultre supplied movements to Vacheron & Constantin, which were used in their watches but not vice versa. The only collaboration that ever took place between these two prestigious watchmakers was the "Galaxy" diamond dial model. The Galaxy was marketed by both companies; with the case marked "Vacheron & Constantin - LeCoultre Inc." and the dial signed "LeCoultre". Cheers, Will

Hi, I'm am a newbie in watch repair and have just completed some informal lessons about disassembly, assembly and lubrication of a couple of mechanical ETA movements. Hoping to begin lessons on regulating movements soon. Also, big thanks to Mark and his youtube instructional videos which helped me a ton in having an idea of how to handle a movement even before I started with the lessons. It gave me a sense of "preparedness" and confidence. I'm eager to learn from the experts here and glad to have a forum like this. Cheers! lastshotkid Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bob you have a rather interesting question that can have multiple of correct answers. A very very long time ago I was at a lecture on fun and profit of quartz watch repair. So the individuals explaining about cost breakdowns like what would be the cost to completely service of quartz watch? Or replacing a coil for instance what is that's cost versus an entire movement? If you purchase the entire movement for less than a complete servicing you can just swap the movement. Or even the coil sometimes it was cheaper to buy an entire movement than just the coil. At $15 you really can't afford to do anything at all with this watch if you're making money other than just replacing the movement. So at $15 obviously the watch was never meant to be serviced but I was going to recommend go ahead doing it anyway if the watch would come apart? After all were on a discussion group of people who like to disassemble things and you're not doing this for making a profit so for learning alone it's worth disassembling. Then we have something very interesting the watch company Ronda has technical documentation. So at the link below are two PDFs the first one the datasheet Which has an interesting feature listed which I just going to quote directly from it "Repairable metal watch movement". So what exactly does repairable mean to this company? For that you need the second PDF 29 pages of everything. So everything is interesting way more than what you find in a lot of technical literature today. Basically everything related to the watches listed mechanical specifications, user guide, tools and how to service this watch. So starting on page 25 complete disassembly lubrication parts list. Page 27 all the electrical checks you need to do. Basically everything you want to know about this watch in one PDF. http://www.ronda.ch/en/quartz-movements/quartz-essentials/ronda-powertech-500/caliber/515/

Many thanks for this! Have sent him an email.

I got it from Spencer Klein in Colorado but took aaaages.Try sending an email to Adrian over at VTA in Australia. Very nice guy and always helpful. I now buy my reproduction gaskets from him. Perfect match and very good prices. Only takes 5 days to UK.

Never touching radium dial might be tough to do if you're in watch repair. There may be a general perception that radium was discontinued a long time ago and is not really an issue today. I have some links below the talk about radium and when it was discontinued notice it wasn’t that long ago. Then watchmakers have a habit of accumulating things like hand assortments that look brand-new filled with radium. Or even things like the wax kits made for fixing the hands can be radioactive. Then for your watch I agree with everyone else there doesn't appear to be anything that looks like florescent material of any type.. https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/radioluminescent/radioluminescentinfo.htm http://www3.epa.gov/radtown/antiques.html http://elginwatches.org/help/luminous_dials.html

The Horotec turbo simplistically replaces the internal circuit and coil to apply the magnetic field from outside of the watch. It doesn't just supply the magnetic field it supplies it at a very fast rate to allow you to see the hands spinning. Sometimes are advertised as miracle cleaning devices although they don't use the word miracle I'm just putting it here because it doesn't really clean it just spins the train possibly freeing up lubrication for a short time. There is no substitution for real cleaning which is disassembly same as a mechanical watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3dzx7CZJYU Then a video on testing a watch without you do not necessarily have to have expensive test equipment like this.. Then he's testing a modern quartz watch and he's not familiar with older watches there are some differences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIypsvp9D64 Some PDFs on quartz watches testing theory. http://www.witschi.com/assets/files/sheets/Knowledge%20Quartz%20Watch.pdf http://www.witschi.com/assets/files/sheets/Witschi%20Training%20Course.pdf

When the stepping motor and the train is ok then the hands wil turn. While testing the magnetism comes then from the outside not from the coil. On calibers with an very low frequency, Omega 1353, the stepping motor get every second an inpuls. When you give an turning field from the outside then the gair train will be damaged!

Sorted see pics GOES HERE VIA MANIPULATING IT HERE job done

I got case from eBay , costed me 14$ Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

how did you make out with this watch? i'm anxious to hear. actually, i misstated my watch earlier. i DO have this exact same watch, but it's a lefty model. and still with a bent dial.

Seiko 7S26A Complete Service Background I have a good friend, a brother in Christ Jesus, who I've known for many years. He knows I've embarked on retraining myself for a new career in Watchmaking, and seen my first two restored watches. He told me that his old faithful Seiko 5, which he's worn everyday for 12 years, has recently had issues. Occasionally it will advance rapidly in time (up to an hour in a few seconds) and then just keep ticking away normally. I told him I'd be happy to take a look at it, and put it on my ACEtimer Timegrapher. The pattern on the screen looked like a B-52 drop in Nam (stupid me forgot to take a photo), and I told him that his watch definitely needed an inspection and service. So started my research on what the problem might be. After reading a "Practical Watchmaking", and the many forums that I've read, I was pretty sure it was the Pallet Fork ... either very dirty or damaged stones, or a broken/damaged fork pivot. So onward to the service... Disassembly One unusual aspect of this watch is the crown ... or lack there of, more to the point. I suppose since this is an automatic watch, they thought it didn't need to be wound. This watch also has a display back, so extra special care not to mark any of the plates, or damage screw heads! The first issue you'll face when working on a 7S26A Movement, is how to get the stem out! It isn't obvious at all, and there is a little trick. The crown needs to be pushed all the way in to expose the push plate (it is hidden in the other crown positions). I took this photo once the movement was out to best illustrate where to push. Remove the Hands, Dial and Oscillating Weight (2.0mm Screwdriver). Gently lever up one end of the circlip and carefully work your way around. You then should be able to raise the circlip up the length of the shaft without it pinging off. Remove the Day Wheel and the four screws holding the Date Dial Guard. (Use a 1.40mm Screwdriver, and this driver is good of all the screws from now on; bar one.) NOTE ORANGE ARROW: Seiko Special Tool needed for the 0.98mm Philipshead Screw (Part Number: S-921) I had to journey down to my nearest Seiko Distributor and grab one ... cost was AU$24.00 Here's a closer look at the troublesome screw. Remove Date Jumper, and note that the Date Drivewheel lips over the top of the plate. Remove all the motion work, and pull the Cannon Pinion Remove the tension from the Mainspring. Remove the Ratchet Wheel and the Second Reduction Wheel and Pinion. (remember the Reduction Wheel has a reverse thread) Unscrew the Balance Cock and remove the Balance. Also unscrew the Pellet Cock and remove the Pellet Fork. BINGO! Found the problem with my friends watch. The top pivot on the fork is broken. Easy fix with a replacement fork :) Remove the Barrel/Train Wheel Bridge Remove the Click, then the Barrel. Remove the Fourth Wheel, Third Wheel and Escapement. Unscrew the Centre Wheel Bridge and remove the Centre Wheel Now to the Keyless Work. Remove the Setting Lever Spring Remove the Yoke and the Setting Lever Pull the Stem out, and the Clutch and Intermediate Wheel will fall away. Lastly, pull the black plastic location ring off. ... and now it's bath time!!! I hope this has been of help to you guys. I'll post the Assembly steps in this thread tomorrow morning.

I completed it.

A bumper watch named Richard, that's really cool find Matt. :) What a name for a watch, the last thing you want to say when someone who asks if you've got the time is......."Just a second and I'll check my Dick". :D

Cleaned up and a new bezel....

To continue on atimegoneby's theme, heres another refugee from the Soviet Union I found recently in a flea market in Seremban, Malaysia. Cost me all of MYR15...this works out to around GBP2.25 at today's rate..! When found it wasnt working but I really liked the hands and figured I could transplant another movement if it was beyond fixing. The problem was much simpler in that the intermediate setting wheel was missing a few teeth and the set lever had came off its slot. Once I got the set lever back in place and gave it a few winds it started right up! Gotta love these tough russians! This watch is powered by a Raketa 2609H and I had a spare which yielded the damaged wheel. I didn't even bothered to service it as it was running well! I've heard this model referred to as 'Copernicus' and I think the name fits well...what do you think?

A bit more progress. Just the crown to make, put on some dial markings, and a clean up and tidy. Hands made out of a broken main spring. Hour wheel extended Fourth wheel ground down to remove sub seconds Crown will be made out of an old brass bolt and fitted to an extended stem Dial markings to be added Watch is keeping good time