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This is Elgin 18 from the late 19th century. I really like the watch, but it needs a lot - hands, balance staff, hairspring and crystal. Anyway, I just could not get the bezel to unscrew, impossible to get a grip. I found a video by tshackantiques on how to remove bezels (or backs) using a hot glue gun. I couldn't believe how well it worked! Run a bead of hot glue carefully around the bezel. The heat expands the bezel which helps. Stick the lid from an appropriately sized jar to the bezel. While the glue is still in a plastic state, it has a lot of holding power and the grip the lid gives makes it a piece of cake to unscrew the bezel. When cool, it does not stick to the metal and picks off very easily.

In order to establish who manufactured old movements it is almost essential (few manufactures had unique bridge layouts)to remove the hands and dial so that the setting parts of the watch can be seen they are unique to each individual manufacturer and can provide positive identification. Most part catalogues use pictures of these parts to identify movement maker, books such as Bestfit , Flume, Paulsons and Catalogue Official. In watches from the 1920's to around the 1940's most manufacturers used almost identical bridge layouts making it very hard to establish calibre and maker. Another useful thing to know would be the approx measurements of the movement.

Here is my cat "Lew" helping me adjust a pocket watch and adding a hair to places one should never be.

One of the great things about collecting and repairing is that feeling of taking a bunch of parts and making a working watch again. This restore begins with a scrap pile of cases from a former Timex repair center. I chose a late 1960's Marlin case that is missing the stem tube. So to the parts stash and one issue resolved. Off it than goes to get a bath in cleaning solution , polished, new crystal added along with correct case back. Next I service a used #24 movement also from the same lot the cases came with and the assembly begins. Since the hands are chromed, I just use an old eraser pencil to bring back their shine. The sweep comes from NOS stock. Grease the stem tube, set lever, insert a NOS stem\crown, snap on the case back and there ya go. Will give this one a wear to test its time keeping.

Hi Everyone, Recently I have become obsessed with ana digi watches from the 1980's! I really dig the style for some reason. I was looking on ebay in the low price ranges and I found this little nugget for the princely sum of $5.70 - the shipping from Peru was an inflated $20 AUD - so I got away with it for under $30. It came well packed in a little padded envelope. It was missing the back, had severe damage, but I didn't see any rust stains on the back. A view from the side It is a Seiko H127A-5000 - the year could be between 1979 and 1980 - there is a little bit of info around the internet. The case back will be an insanely rare part to find so I may have to CNC mill something or potentially 3d print a plastic back. That is if I can get it working. The Crystal is trash. I've tried sanding it, will wait till I have some crystal polish - I haven't had much luck polishing mineral crystals. A new crystal is around $35 - with OEM Seiko writing. I removed the movement and soaked it in WD40 to loosen all the bolts. It was too seized to attempt opening. The LCD panel/dial has a crack in it. The sub assembly appears clean, the zebra strips on the LCD were a bit gummed up but cleaned up. Happily the analogue movement was turning over freely, it wasn't ticking - but likely due to so much grit and much on the contacts. The only corrosion was on the rotor, and some of the non important chrome plated parts. I've soaked them in shellite. Cleaned with blutac and then inspected under microscope. Everything appears fine. It is a very high end movement with 8 jewels and all metal parts - it would have been top of the line back in the day. Very tiny parts. The main circuit board is out - my it looks complicated. Simple plain jane movement - nothing fancy: It's all inside: The bridge is off and the rotor is next to the movement: Cleaning the case: Tonight I have finished cleaning everything - I have put it into my movement parts tray - awaiting some time after work tommorow. If anyone knows how the LCD works please let me know - is the display in the top dial section? Or the next layer down? There is a white mirror presumably to reflect the light off the screen as this is the black model version (there were two models). Parts look pricey and rare - I've found a dial panel NOS - also crystals online. May have to look for circuit board if its fried - Can't find any bracelets - may have to go non OEM generic steel band. Goal is to get it running - if its not running - atleast to be a show piece in my cabinet. More soon

Just in from the 'Bay on a second chance offer! I had missed by a dollar before and fate has brought this little gem my way. This is an economy Standard Time Corp. movement and is cousins with the Hamilton 500 or 505(?). I think maybe it shares a balance assy. Loving the clear caseback as well and the offset crown is very comfy. Keeping good time so far but perhaps in need of a cleaning as the balance adjustment is pegged. Also sorting a huge part and tool lot I got in trade for some service work, will post some photos soon. C Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tips. Heat is on

Thanks for sharing... so, hot glue isn't just for cheesy art...

This is very bad here. I dread to think what it’s like on the inside of the other part. You need to replace it with a new one.

Cousins has it as obsolete, but there is a complete balance with hairspring for a Hamilton 770 on ebay US now as well as a complete movement which is listed as having a good balance

I'm sure many will take note of this. Thanks for sharing.

Same problem as this maybe? http://forums.watchuseek.com/f6/cerberus-revue-t56-problem-1015174.html. Not easy to tighten that kind if pinion. I have used an oiler and a nailclipper. Maybe easier to find revue 56 parts?

To add on Oldhippy's excellet advice... you need to inspect each parts function as you dismantle the watch. .. As an example...when removing the crown, check if the crown works as it should. Also set the hands to see if all is ok and that the cannon pinion has proper friction. If you skip this step you may find that when you refit the cannon pinion needs tightening or the watch doesn't set because the setting (keyless) mechanism is worn. I have kicked myself a few times over stuff I should've caught earlier... usually its due to overconfidence. Sometimes it may be because you already think you have identified the problem but there may still be others. I have several watches in my stash from which I have robbed parts, one Tissot 781 has sacrificed its barrel, balance and centre seconds pinion. The scavanged parts have been replaced by the faulty one because I felt it would be handy to have something to compare with if I need to rebuild this movement. The next guy to work on this (when I'm gone) will probably catch the barrel and balance but he may only notice the faulty seconds pinion only after the watch is fully assembled. Anilv

Welcome M Frias, Enjoy the forum

Hi M. Frias, I too am new to this forum. I have great respect for Mark and what he has contributed to novice and experienced watchmakers on his website here. Learning from others will be a huge boost to your growth. Time will be the best teacher as you learn how much of and what's just right regarding watch repair. This goes for pressure being applied, oil being applied, selecting the right tool at the right time, etc. The fact that you have an interest in a location where you describe as not being much of a market for watch repair, says alot about you and your desire and motivation! Good Best of luck to you, George

Hi and welcome from Cambridge UK. Regards Johnnie

Hello and welcome to this friendly forum.

The tool that has the drill-looking things of different numbered sizes is a balance screw undercutter. It's used for removing material from the underside of balance screws to lighten them while poising balance. The tools on the far right are crown reamers. They are used on the underside of pocket-watch crowns to open them up, by removing material, to fit over the case pendant. The tool on the right with the wooden handle and brass "wing" sticking out, is called a combination tool. And yes, it is used to hold roller-tables while you replace the impulse/roller jewel. Those two Longines crystal-wrenches are cool. I was trying to find one of those to remove and fit the crystal on a Wittnauer I was working on last week. I ended up using a Vigor crystal vise instead. It's nice to have the factory tool to work on such watches. Yours, marked "Admiral", are for that series of Longines watch. A lot of them, if not all, used the one-piece case, where you have to remove the movement from the front after removing the crystal. They may be marked with a 4 digit number like "1200" or 1260". My Wittnauer called for the 1260, which may be the biggest of that bunch. Cheers.

If you have any questions or need a couple of inside info let me know.

Thanks for the advice. I've got it sorted, I'm back on Windows7 I never carred for 10, to much spying included from Microsoft, did you know microsoft know everything you do on your P C right down to reading your emails, it has keyloggers installed so it knows every key you use, I know it gives you the option to turn stuff off but in many cases things are still on and unless you know what to do they still spy on you.. I have malwarebytes and addblock plus, I also have these. SpybotAntiBeacon AdwCleaner ComboFix Junkware removel tool There are all free

Still need help with that malware problem oldhippy? If you think you have some sort of malicious software on your PC, I recommend you to install an anti-virus software called malwarebytes anti-malware (its free) and run a full scan on your computer. Should find those viruses and allow you to remove them. I also recommend you to install an ad-blocking extension such as uBlock Origin to block any malicious advertisements on dodgy websites. Cheers!

Post any stupidly made object here.. I'll start... cheap tire pressure gauge from SE Asia... the Imperial scale is repeated on the four sides of the sticking part, but with the smart variation of being lb. or PSI. Asking for metric would have been too much?

The movement will run quite happily with the balance still merrily swinging away this morning. When I got the movement it had the hands problem but I thought a service and the 'swap-in' would suffice. I'm happy (!) to disassemble the movement again but I always assemble the drivetrain without the balance and fork and ensure it moves freely. I'll recheck everything just in case the mystery can be explained by something other than the cannon pinion!