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I just finished completely taking apart this nice little Rockford 16s P/W Mod.#2 made in 1903. Mostly it was very dirty & the mainspring was broken. (and no hands)It only has 11jewels , but I really like Rockfords. It is also a private label "Chronometer Nacional" Has anyone heard of that. It is a pendent set & wind model. The guy who sold it broke or lost the winding return spring. So he made one out of a paper clip. Well, you can imagine how well that worked. So I took one from an old movement and its up and running and pretty as a picture. In fact here are some pictures.

As a complete novice I am somewhat nervous about offering tips to you experts. However I had occasion to remove the caseback from my GS Mk2 pocket watch. It is so well machined there is virtually no visible joint to put a blade in without scratching it plus I did not know if it was screw on or not. I was thinking I needed a suction device which I don't have. After a few vodkas I came up with the idea of using the suction windscreen mount off my Garmin sat nav. It worked a treat. I also used it on my stepdaughter's Rolex ''replica'' which is tiny and has the authentic style Rolex caseback. I'm sure you guys have tools for every occasion but this tip might just get a hobbyist like myself out of trouble.

We are thinking of moving as I am unable to sleep at night due to the constant ticking….It turns out it is the neighbourhood watch!

Hello! I’m assuming you mean facet or bevel along the lugs.... Those are made with a lapidary or lapping machine. It requires a precision holder that allows you to move the case only in one direction so that the bevel is precise or sharp. It also allows you to give it a brushing or black polish finish. The Swiss machines are running at around $9000 and up. If you’re refinishing a case with a bevel.... then gentle touches with the buffing wheel at high speed can clean them up but be very careful not to round the angles. I hope this helps. Cheers! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Three is a vid on youtube where the guy uses a small screw to open the split.Sorry could not find it.

Well here's a quick update on the Navitimer project. I tried to freehand cut the symmetrical notches in a piece of scrap brass and did not achieve stellar results. Going back to the drawing board I tried several different methods to get evenly spaced notches in a round piece of stock and each new method was found wanting. I returned to the original plan with some minor modifications and am now happy with the result. I did most of the work under a stereo microscope which allowed me to see the entire piece while I filed away. On the original test piece I tried cutting notches while the part was held in a vise- well this didn't work very well because I wasn't able to turn the piece over in my hand while I worked to ensure each cut was correct from all angles. It took about two days and I'm finished now but the muscles in my forearms are a bit sore as is my elbow. I wonder, does anyone else suffer from tendonitis as a result of this hobby? I'll send the bezel out tomorrow to be plated along with the case which needs some laser welding. In the meantime I have to revisit the movement. It runs fine but I've discovered the fourth wheel currently in there is from a Venus 175 movement. The correct wheel has a longer extended pivot for the small second hand. They are also hard to come by but I think I have secured a replacement. Hopefully I'll have a finished piece to show soon.

Get yourself a good quality variable brightness LED workbench lamp. Having a good and bright white light makes such a difference for me.

Montilier Watch Co. SA registered as a trademark June 1887 the following site is useful for tracing such trademarks http://www.mikrolisk.de/show.php