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Ok here's the follow up of re-sizing a mainspring. I could not get the correct length vs. the strength so I purchased a longer spring.To double check i was cutting the new spring to the correct size I measured the old one with a piece of string. I then marked the new spring and cut with a diamond wheel. However when I tried to drill the end hole the drill just would not cut so I softened the metal with heat. After drilling the holes I finished with some filling. However I got a unwanted bend just before where it hooks and I suppose because the metal was now soft I could not remedy this so I had to cut off another inch and do the same process again and this time it worked treat. In future if possible I will see if I can purchase a diamond drill to make the hole. See some pics of the procedure. Spring marked ready for cutting Diamond wheel used for the cutting After cut Holes drilled Almost ready just a little more filing.

Another Seiko from about the same time as the one above - Skyliner 6220 - 7970. First watch I took apart, keeper that do not get that much wrist-time.

I don't have the special tool but I was able to remove the cannon pinion fairly easily by gripping it with a pair of diagonal wire cutters. Rodabod - I'm not quite sure what you mean by "correct way around". The bottom part of the jewel has a metal cap that can only go in one way. I made sure that when reassembling the jewel that the round end of the jewel cap was facing outward. I had read somewhere that the upper and lower balance jewel assemblies are not always identical so I was careful not to swap the two.

Ill just add that Timex watches are not the best to learn on as they were not really made to be dismantled to be worked on. You can do it, but there are better brands to learn on. Any Swiss manual wind would be better to learn on.

I found you a tech sheet that might help. Tissot 2030.pdf

It will be gold plate. And so is the battery tab and the rotor cover. Copper is the colour of the plate underneath the rotor.

WRT to the golden screw I dont think its gold. While Gold is a good conductor of electricity, I dont thing having a gold screw would help. It would be better to have the parts the screw is holding together to be gold-plate or gold.In this case they seem to have been left in bare copper. Anilv

I always take the collet off the staff as I find it easier. The downside is having to set the beat from scratch, and other risks to the hairspring Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have finally found time to post the pictures of the lot that I bought. There are more that I have bought one by one, however, these came all in one package (with batteries!). I have fixed most with just a battery change. Any other Mickey Mouse Watch fans out there? I have turned into a MM watch collector and I LOVE IT!

Its been tough finding good watches at the right prices on ebay the last few years with even crap watches asking silly money. The shipping costs have also escalated sharply, I particularly dislike the added customs charge fee. I have never been charged anything for used watches I have received thru the post and would definitely prefer paying if and when I am charged. Anyway, if you are careful and know what you're bidding for there are some bargains to be had. I recently bought this Certina Bristol for not much money and I would like to share some hints about what to look for. This is a 25-66 movement and it built inhouse by Certina and while they are not really cheap when fully working, I believe they are undervalued and are really good value for money, This is the sellers picture about the watch, a bit of patina and the seconds hand is missing. While the seconds hand alone is not a problem, you need to ask yourself why was it not replaced as someone obviously had the back off to get the seconds hand out? One possibility is the tip of the seconds hand may have broken off. While parts for Certina are available this will add unnecessary problems. Looking at the photo again I can see the remnants of the centre-pinion (whitish dot in the middle). Another pic from the seller. My guess is that the pinion is good. Moving on to the backside of the watch. Not much to see here except that the previous watch maker was a bit clumsy opening the caseback. It still has its original crown which is always nice to see! The movement looks pretty clean, sometimes the damage patina on the dial can indicate water damage but since the stem is pretty rust free I would say its just the lacquer breaking down. Nice regulator, sign of a quality watch! I bought the watch about a month back, it has arrived at my friends shop .. I need to collect it. Finally the description. The most important is that balance wheel is good. This does not mean there isn't a problem elsewhere.. It could be a broken mainspring or messed up hairspring. Straightforward and to the point. No mention of being rare or collectible , just needs servicing yadda yadda.. Finally check the seller, In this case its YDL Worldstore.. all good! So I made a bid and won it for USD31+USD15 shipping.. Total USD46. What I get will be an interesting watch with a good quality movement that hopefully a COA will bring back to life. I should have a seconds needle in my box of parts but I might need to change the seconds pinion, we'll see about that. Of course there may be other problems like broken train pivots, cracked jewels etc but that's part of the gamble! I will probably get the watch back this weekend and will post further here. Stay tuned. Anilv

some of my watches, mosty from Ebay