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I'm French. Yeah, I reckon I could get a new movement for $50 and swap it. But that's plan B. Plan A is to take the watch apart, **BLEEP** it up completely...and only then replace the movement :-D

My Beuchat Apnea has been a work horse for nearly 10 years (bought it the 11th Feb 2008)...up until a few month ago when condensation appeared inside after a shower (which isn't that great for a diver ). I let it to rest in a warm (not too hot) place with the crown unscrewed and the water disappeared. Worked for a few more weeks and that was it.Today, it only ticks when I wind it : the second hands moves while I manually wind it and stops as soon as I let the crown go. (That makes me think there's something wrong with the main spring...which makes me think it's unrelated to the shower incident).When I unscrew the back, I don't see anything obviously wrong (by that, I mean I didn't end up with a spring in my eye).For the price of a service, I can buy some tools and actually learn some skills. I know some will think it's a bad idea but I insist on doing it myself, hopefully with your guidance. Would you guys be able to guide me through that? I think it's a Miyota 8215 (Miyota, I'm sure, it's written on it )

I have a bag of assorted balance staffs. Was hoping to find a match - but I can't even start until I can measure it. I wouldn't know where to start with annealing unfortunately. Maybe I'd better park this one as well until I've a little (lot) more skill.

Yes unsure if it is radium or not, so will treat it as is it is radium lume. I'm guessing the watch was made around the time Radium was being phased out. Thanks for the tip on Noctilumina, I wasn't aware of that brand and it will now require some further investigation

Original most defiantly.

Drop it into a small container of naphtha (zippo lighter fluid) and put a lid on it. Leave it overnight, then give it a little shake. You should find that the two parts just fall apart. These settings often get glued together with gummy oil and when you find them like this it is a good indication that a good cleaning is required. The naphtha dissolves the oil freeing up the parts.

Sometimes a high concentration of alkali/acid can have less effect than a dilute solution. Extreme is magnesium which will just darken with some strong acids but fizz away like mad with very weak acids. I have a small U/S cleaner and I just put the parts in lighter fuel in a flat bottomed container which goes straight into the U/S without anything in the tank. Provided the container is heavy enough then it seems to U/S ok. I've also done this with water based U/S cleaner fluid. However I usually just rely on hand cleaning and use the U/S as belt & braces for dirty or troublesome parts as its only a hobby for me.

Sometimes i mixed the old lume with new lume. Have used Noctilumina aged pigment that has no glow. Even used some black marker pen to get the lume a little blackish. Or grey as they usually are if the have been around for many years. It's just how much black you use. Take care if they are radium. So you use the radium lume again. Yellow marker pen work great to. But it takes very little to color in the lume.

I would apply a drop of penetrating oil to the pipe/pivot and let it soak for a while.

Omega "Dirty Dozen ".......

7t42 timer today Recycled photo [emoji4]

Agree with John but considering the 2824 isn't, after all, a cheap mov.t I would recommend to use exactly what ETA recommends. I suppose that's 9010 on all jewels but pallet stones, where 941 should be used. And don't oil pallet fork pivots. That will maximize amplitude & durability, for a total of GBP 30 before VAT it won't break the bank.

Hi, I have just sorted a vintage Zenith chronograph with a similar problem. I gave the watch a clean and serviced it and whilst the balance was out I checked the hair spring. A deft re-alignment was all that was necessary as in the face up position the coil was touching the cock opposite the index pins (curb pins if you prefer). I wonder if this is your trouble. This cured my problem anyway. I hope this is of help. Check the escapement wheel for reliable rotation in steps as you move the lever across the banking pins. The lever should flick from one pin to the other under the influence of the escape wheel drive and the draw. Good wishes and best regards, Mike. PS. There are some highly skilled people on this forum who will help. I am not one of them !.

Lovely photo. One for the family album.

Thanks jdrichard,only just picked up on your reply cheers Phil. Also need to learn how to post pics on this forum lol