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I always used a pair of watchmakers nippers. They get right behind the button and with a good pull it did the trick. Left no marks.

You've said it all . The chase or the hunt is half the adventure . Part of the equation of a self fulling prophesy that culminates with the prize on your wrist,……….as you begin the next chase . It's amazing how many times I have decided to look for a particular watch or item when they start to pop up .

In a previous life I worked as an optician. During that time I would use a special set of pliers for adjusting spectacle nose-pads. I ended up buying a pair of my own. Then, a couple of years ago, I had to deal with removing a stubborn stem/crown assembly from an early E. Howard pocket watch. As I rubbed my head to wake up the idea genie, I reached for those pliers. They worked perfectly, and since they have smooth jaws they didn't harm the crown. Fast-forward to last week when I had to pull the two-piece crown/stem assembly on a Wittnauer wrist watch. I grabbed those pliers and they popped it right off. If you come across a pair, you might consider it. Mine were made by Sadler. Cheers.

Hello from Croatia everyone! I've started tinkering with a vintage Darwil 7066 /FHF821/ few weeks ago and I'm hooked. Looking forward to learn new tricks.

Indeed it does. My video.

de Carles' book on watch repair shows how to make this bend, I can post the page number?

OP mentioned barrel ID to be 14.4. This MS will not transfer straight from the holding washer.

To start with, the dog leg is not formed enough, so it pulls the entire HS off-center starting at the first coil. Compare with pics at http://www.thepurists.com/watch/features/8ohms/7s26/ Note, is very difficult for a beginner to correct a Seiko hairspring. Ask me how do I know.

Hi Roland, It can be difficult to measuspring height from the barrel parts. According to the GR catalogue, the range of Omega 18 ligne movements has spring heights between 1.9 and 2.6, and typically there would be 0.1 to 0.2 clearance. Does the barrel lid have a recess which would add to the available space? You could try refitting the original spring then holding the barrel between finger and thumb and the arbour with a pin vice to see if it winds and unwinds freely. This would tell you if you have sufficient space for it. You should also be able to see if there's enough space for a 2.5 which would seem unlikely - I usually work on the basis that whoever worked on a watch before me had some good reason for doing what they did and probably more experience. For what it’s worth I repaired a 19ligne Omega last year which had a standard spring fitted in a DBH barrel. The spring had broken so I had no choice but to replace it and I managed to find an appropriate DBH spring, but have no doubt that it must have worked fine for some significant time until the spring broke. The barrel size of my watch didn’t appear in the GR catalogue. The barrel diameter is easier to measure and with that and the height using the calculator on David Boetcher’s watch stap site you should be able to find a good fit. I spent hours searching on line for details of the different variants of 19 ligne Omegas and concluded that there were many more variants than were apparent from many parts catalogues. I decided I was better off working from analysis of the parts in front of me than expecting to find the answer served up on a plate for me...

Thank You ramrod . Good question about dating these watches . I don't really know how to date either but i did go searching for info o the history of Avia watches and came away with more questions than answers . It seems that a lot of places [ countries and cities ] , brand and sub-brand watches , manufacturers and importers , and finally change of ownership are associated with Avia,…quite a list . I hope the link I nave inserted below opens up as it contains a lot of assorted information on the watch . If not , then you may want to search for the article in The Watch Forum webarchive or search the 'Net for the discussion . Avia: Forgotten but not Gone - Watch Discussion Forum - The Watch Forum.webarchive

Hi Lc130, It is hard to tell from just the one picture but It looks like you most likely have a broken balance staff. I would suggest checking that there is not any movement vertically and horizontally of the balance. The cracked jewel could also be a big factor that could stop the watch as it could cause the wheel tooth engagement to not be correct. I suggest taking the balance out and being extremely mindful of the very delicate pivots while doing so. Check that they are not bent, mushroomed, or broken off completely! Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions, I would be happy to help. And don't forget that stuff gets broken along the way. Good thing this isn't a hugely valuable or rare piece! Cheers, -Emil