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hello sorry my bad english, I have been passionate about watchmaking for years, and I want to expand, as an international experience. My name is Mario and I write from Italy

The claw tool can work on non-round crystals as well. You can use the crystal press on all types of glasses except those that are glued onto the case (makes sense of course...). That includes both tensioned an non-tensioned acrylic crystals. The claw tool is more of a crystal removal tool since in the case of front loaders you can't push the crystal out. But you will be able to use it to put back the crystal as well... Just that it doesn't work on sapphire glass, mineral glass, tensioned ring crystals, etc. Only on simple acrylic crystals.

As mentioned above with vintage watches (and others) it's very possible that no tool is needed to remove a crystal. When using a press use nylon dies and/or a clear bag to avoid marks.

Hello All; When the servicing of a pocket watch with a cylindrical escapement came to an end, I was left with the question what about the silver case? The case had 0.800 stamps & silver-hallmarks all over the place, meaning that it consisted of an alloy with at least a 80% silver content. With the movement removed, I tried one of those silver polishing hand-gloves. Indeed, I managed to clean the case up a bit, but to my horror I discovered polish-dust everywhere under every edge and in every seam ....... no good ! Cleaned to case thoroughly. A kind of silver-dip was required. Instead of buying (expensive) silver-dip, I searched for the internet for DIY and came across a method which worked very well for me. The requirements are: - Glass bowl - 1x spoon (tea of table spoon, depending on the amount you mix) Baking Soda. (Warning !!; ask the wife's permission first !! ) - Some salt - Aluminum foil - Hot-water The method goes as follows; - Cover the bottom of the bowl with the aluminum foil Add the Baking Soda, add some salt and add warm (tap) water, or better, if you want the do it the official "chemistry way", first the water, then the chemicals followed by stirring. Make sure that for a silver object with glass in it, the water isn't too hot. Also make sure that the object is made out of silver ! By Sliver-plated objects, or where the silver-plating is worn through, undesirable results may happen !! Submerge the object in the fluid and let it rest on the bottom. Best is to check regularly to see if things go the desired way. It seems that if you leave the object in for too long, the silver color can become "dull"..... I first tried another silver object to see the working if this DIY brew, and it worked perfectly. The same odor arises as when using the "official" silver-dips. I used hot-water out of a water-kettle and by the time I was done with my dummy-run, the water had cooled down sufficiently to safely submerge the watch-case. After I was happy with the results, I rinsed the case with tap water and to avoid any water stains, I rinsed to case in demineralized water and had it dried overnight on the radiator.

Okay after all of that Youtube still copyright checks unlisted videos, so it got blocked. Try my dropbox upload: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q9okt2p3k51rv05/Luxerevue.com - The Parmigiani Art of Watchmaking.mp4?dl=0 By the way welcome to the forum, sorry i didn't catch your comment earlier.

The best advice I can give you. When taking apart anything with end stones always make sure you do not mix them up as some can be different in many ways.

From this same forum, searching "hairsping regulator": These parts look like a pin and a boot, don't they?

I believe that some watchmakers do oil the escape wheel teeth rather than the pallet stones. At least they did with pocket-watches. I know that Mark oils the pallets. For that reason I have started doing the same. Admittedly, I oil them before putting the fork back in the watch. While this may pose some risk of losing the oil during installation, I find it's much easier to hit the ends of the pallets while I hold the fork in tweezers. Maybe it's a bad way, but that's what I've been doing lately. Good luck.

I hate to disappoint you, but I don't think that he crystal vise will work on that Poljot, as it has a cushion-shaped crystal. I believe the vises like your Bergeon only work on round crystals. I don't see how it would be any other way by the design. Not that you wont' be able to change the crystal. You just won't be able to use your new tool to do it. Good luck.

You are correct that crystal lift tools CAN be used for acrylic crystals without a tension ring and a press for the others however people usually use a crystal lift tool mostly for watches that are front loaders (they have no case back and you HAVE to remove the crystal first so that you can reach the other components; sometimes you can remove the crown as well if it's a 2 piece, sometimes you have to remove the hands and then the dial and then you can start disassembling it). Unfortunately the photos aren't helping me in some ways but I do have some suggestions. Normally you could just use a crystal press however you have not removed the chapter ring (which I can't tell how is to be removed) and this means that you would have to use a very small dye and this can cause the crystal to crack and break since you would be pushing it out from the center where it's more prone to crack and not from the sides. You probably understand what I'm trying to say. Then again, it depends on how tight the crystal is in there. Perhaps try just a bit of force and see if it comes out... If the chapter ring doesn't come out from the back then it obviously comes out from the front. Have you checked the side of the case ? Some watches have a metallic bezel that either covers the edges of the crystal or is attached/glued to the crystal and you can just pry it off with a case knife. After that the chapter ring can be removed.

How can I get angry at a cute guy like him!