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I mean using moderate force, a case back should never be that hard to remove. I would say definitely use a Jaxa or similar to do the final tighten/first loosen. There's no problem with using the jaxa and doing it a bit tighter than the rubber ball can do, the problem is some technicians out there seem to think it a strong-man competition and are completely reckless with how much they tighten it. Reasonable, moderate, controlled force (Which I get is a nebulous concept) is all you need, no grunting or panting or gauging the case back, no spraining your wrist, etc. I've taken notice that, when working on omega and tag watches that I knew were last worked on at a tag/omega workshop, that the technicians don't even tighten them as much as I would. but certainly, they don't come off with a rubber ball.

Very impressed. No issues releasing the pressure slowly either Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Just to update. Though the watches that I mentioned previously showed no visual signs of in letting water. Now I have a pressure tester Out of 4 of the watches tested just using the ball to fasten the case back, 3 failed a 3 atm pressure test ! They were fine once screwed fully home. An additional test on a Rotary 3 piece case with a snap back that at some point in it's life had been mullered. Also I have replaced the crystal, passed the test with flying colours . I expected this watch to fail. In conclusion I've changed my opinion as just using a ball to tighten, even on a watch used daily in dry conditions, as potentially moisture could still ingress. From the above, a watch that is of value, it's well worth having it tested and changing gaskets at the appropriate service interval Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Capacitors are not sold anymore, having been replaced by rechargeable batteries which are slower to recharge as described above. However the term is still (incorrectly) very used.

I was not hoping that it will turn out good but it did so no video of this only some bad pictures. Komandirskie crystal was mounted on the spindle chuck nut with hot glue. Sandpapers and diamond paste up to 10000 grit were used to polish the crystal. It was full of scratches, deep dents and there is also a crack. The latter is of course still there but this was my experimenting pice. The whole project took only 15 minutes !

Just polished this stainless steel bezel using 1 micron diamond paste. 5 minute job and has removed 90% of the surface scratches Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

This is a bit of a minefield. Some say it does some say it does not. There is a big difference in a repair and a restore. You should never restore something that does not need restoring. Very old brass is extremely hard and can be a sod just too even ream out, it can and will take the edge of a reamer/broach it also has tiny pockets of air which some say clock cleaning solutions can get into the pockets and the brass becomes inferior over time. I have yet to see such a thing, just how much time do they expect? A lot depends on the type of clock, how it looked when it was new. A restore should never be different in any way from when it was new. If parts were not polished then they should never be polished now. Any marks in the plates never should be removed or polished out, this is why you should never use any type of electric machine when it comes to polishing and everything should be undertaken by hand. Brasso is what I used to clean the plates and if parts were to be polished then a cloth would be used. All parts washed out in petrol and dried in sawdust, brushed clean to remove sawdust and French chalked, applied with a very clean brush, the chalk is taken to the brush. I had a hand soft bristle brush just for this work. French chalk stopes tarnish. If a dial is in a bad way and the customer agrees to a restore, the dial is restored to its original appearance, the same applies to the case. This is a very basic run through.

Hi, Just some news for those interested. The replacement movement is not here yet but since then, I let the watch run down and out of the winder. I had a week of vacations out of the country and when I came back, I decided to check it out again. I took the watch from my box and, still fully unwound, I have a swift and firm hit in the palm of my hand, making the rotor spin furiously. I shook it a few times and fully winded it. Strangely, the amplitude is now about 250 degrees and the watch runs about +3s/day....It has gained about 9 seconds since last Saturday, pretty much perfect for me. Something was definitely sticking inside and the watch gods removed it for me... I'll keep the spare movement close untils it starts acting again; I'm not a strong believer of self-healing mechanical entities! Thanks to all, Seb Envoyé de mon Nexus 5X en utilisant Tapatalk

Make sure the crystal does not get's too warm, otherwise it will come off the sticky tape.

We'll see, no promises, but it seems a fairly straight forward turning job (famous last words, right?) Its smaller than I'm used to, but I've lots of lathes and mills and time on them and its a lot larger than stuff like balance staff pivots. Any idea if this part comes apart?

This sounds like a h/spring problem. Sometimes it takes more than one run through with the demagnetiser.Run the whole movement through it. Make sure the h/spring is clean and no little hair or speck of dirt is on it. If you haven’t cleaned the h/Spring I would do so.