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Hello guys I've been renovating quite a few 1960s Seikos recently and a couple have shown very scattered traces on the timegrapher and generally ratty running after cleaning. All three responded to a new escape wheel very well. Being unable to see the wear using normal magnification I decided to try one of the £15 USB microscopes available on fleabay. They are too light, the software is hit and miss but glue it onto a heavy base and they will do the job. The difference between a good and bad wheel became obvious. The square corners get rounded off by the fork pallet jewels and precision is lost. The first two shots are from a worn 6602B and a 7625A Auto. Note the rough finish but 50 years ain't bad - neither watch back showed any servicing marks and were bone dry. The third shot is also a 6602 but it's a good performer - note square edges. The last is from my new baby - King Seiko 4402. Very different quality. Three lessons. 1. These devices are fine for simple close examination. 2. Don't neglect oiling the escape pallets - it's tricky but worth the effort 3. Once you've handled a part with your fingers it needs cleaning again - it's horrifying how many skin particles appear.

Looking up the serial number of your waltham Vanguard Is a model 1892. The problem with waltham and the model numbers are there way too many variations. As I'm not finding a nice picture of the setting parts to explain what's going on we will look at the parts catalog which you should find quite confusing. So the stem goes into part number 1629 Winding arbor the larger end Then impossible to see in the drawing the middle section is square. Then part number 1634 Winding setting clutch for lever set slides on the square part. Then this part engages 1632 the winding pinion. This is underneath a crown wheel part number 1619 missing from this image. So this would all be relatively simple except this is a waltham. So the key part is 1634 It has to slide smoothly on the square part that rides on. So for instance if this watch hasn't been serviced in 1 million years the grease gets sticky it doesn't move. So on one end it's used for setting the watch the other end winding the watch. Then I've attached another image with text we also need something called a Shipper and the proper associated shipper spring. So if you look at the images the shipper has a protruding part that goes into the groove found on 1634. Then lever doesn't control this directly it uses the shipping spring. Then the shipper spring is also used when the watches in winding position to hold the parts 1634 with 1632 and the spring part allows you to wind the watch backwards in the parts slide because they give here thanks to the spring. So it's really understand any of this the dial has to come off. Then additional images unhelpful as it's not lever setting newer setting talking about the parts. Then crown wheel with winding pinion See how they go together. But you can also see the teeth on the end that engage with the winding setting clutch wheel 1634. This is where you can see that turning in one direction wind the watch turning the other direction they slip. Then other than guessing like the watch hasn't been serviced in a long time or the shipper spring is broken or damaged or not in the right place basically now the dial has to come off. Then as you new to watch repair I would find something else to practice on as the deeper into the watch you go as a newbie more like Undesirable things will occur. The Vanguard is usually considered a nicer watch so I wouldn't consider it a beginner's learning watch. Then hopefully this makes sense I would do so much better if I had a picture. https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/waltham/18130706

Me neither Have to post some better pictures. And if it doesn't run with a new battery something is probably broken.

From my perspective -- working on a watch repair branch -- I try and get a fair price per job but I make no attempt to make consistent money per hour for the branch, if for no other reason than it's futile to try. Sometimes you spend a couple of quiet hours doing one complicated thing for the same amount of money you spent 20 minutes earning when the customers are rolling in with loads of simple work. You kind of concern yourself more with your revenue per week than stressing out about the micro of minutes and hours. If i worked in a more private controlled setting, i don't know how much my attitude would change to that, Id still make how long a job was likely to take me a fundamental part of the equation as to how much id charge, but I'd still end up with some jobs being far more or less profitable than others, im sure. For one, you just can't ever reliably predict how much trouble something's going to give you.