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Sounds like you've already tried the correct approach but humour me and, pull the stem/crown out to its outer (time changing position). Now applying constant moderate pulling pressure on the crown (perhaps with the thumb and third finger of your right hand) depress the stem release button with a suitable tool held in your left hand. If this doesn't work them remove the movement retaining ring (two screws hold it in place at 12 and just after 6 o'clock positions in your photo) as this will give the movement a little more freedom in case there is unexpected resistance on the stem that is causing an issue; repeat the above. Still no luck? You've little choice but to remove the barrel bridge so you can get an indication of what's going on underneath it and get a glimpse of the stem release button and keyless works. This is straightforward though. You should already have ensured the mainspring is wound down after which this is just a case of taking off the two wheels atop the bridge (crown and ratchet) and the three screws that hold the bridge in place. Now you can remove the bridge and see what's going on: Let us know how you get on!

I’m not sure so this is guess work. A case knife around the red arrow edge. Alternatively, what looks like a Rolex grid mark around the case green arrow, so you will need a case opener that would achieve it? I do not think it comes out from the front.

A little off topic but.. Not all solvents work the same way. Alcohol is what is known as a polar solvent, hydrocarbons (like naphtha) are nonpolar solvents. Polar solvents are great for dissolving ionic compounds (which is why they are good for drying water off components). Nonpolar solvents are great for dissolving oils and greases (which is why they are great for cleaning) Generally speaking things that are highly soluble in polar solvents are much less so in nonpolar solvents, which is why shellac is perfectly safe in (nonpolar) cleaning solutions but very much at risk in (polar) solvents like alcohol.

I don''t know about lacquer thinner, it has all kind of nasties in it . read the label... if you can't pronounce it you might not want to be breathing it.

Rotherham & Sons had the trademark of a snake on a crowned staff within a star . Some interesting information at http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/rotherham.php (where you can see the trademark if you scroll down). See also http://www.horologist.co.uk/rotherham.htm and picture 14 which has similarities to your movement.

Why don’t you use the proper cleaner and rinse? That is why they are available, using those you know very fell nothing will come to harm. All suppliers stock them.

The second hand in the subdial at 6 runs all the time. It is the real second hand. It and the hour and minute hand keep time. The center second hand is only for the chronograph and is otherwise stationary and at 12 during normal operation. When the top right button is pushed, that one should start ticking off the seconds, the one at 3 o’clock will remain still, and the one at 9 o’clock will register each minute that passes. When you hit the top button again, the center second hand will stop moving, the one at 3 will jump to show the 20th of a second that you hit the button. Together, the three chrono hands will tell you the seconds, 20th of a second and minutes that it ran. Then when you hit the bottom button, all three will reset to 12. The 3 hands that tell the time are independent of the 3 for the chronograph. Hope this helps. Steve Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

With all the talk of Long Arm Microscopes to add in watch repairing, I too have been looking into optical solutions to use. I find after many hours using a standard loupe my dominant eye gets a little strained ... not to mention having lack of depth perception whilst working. I was at my Dentist the other day, and she was using a pair of Carl Zeiss Stereo Optics to aid her, and I asked if I could have a look through them .... WOW OH WOW!! Simply stunning vision!! So clear, and with a huge "exit pupil" things were nice and bright to boot. The only issue was the focus length ... as they were set for dental work @ 500mm (19.68inches). But I definitely wanted to know more!! So I called Zeiss in Australia, and explained my needs. They were incredibly helpful and supportive to my inquires ... it's truly a shock to receive old style customer service these days, but that's what I got from Zeiss. So much so that they sent a rep to my house with a demo pair for me to loan for a week or two: like I said old style customer service at it's BEST! Here they are ... the Carl Zeiss EyeMag Pro F. These ones are 4x power, with a focal length (FL) of 300mm (11.81 inches), which is not from the end of lens, but from your forehead ... so you can take the length of the lens out of the equation. These are a little bit too far away from the work I think; and I mentioned this to their rep. He suggested to keep them for a week, and if he found a set with a close FL he would contact me. Not 2 hours later he called and said they had a pair of 5x with an FL of 235mm (9.25 inches). That sounds about perfect to me. They will be shipping them out to me, free of charge, to test for a few weeks. Just amazing service!! So I'll keep you all updated on the outcome.

Hi jason, Have you seen variety of" screw-in tube watch strap stem" on amazon and other portals starting at $1.99 Regards joe

Well I finally completed this project yesterday. There were a few challenges even after solving the bezel issue which took a bit of time to put to bed. First, I discovered the pipe on the running seconds hand was both too short and too wide (the extended pinion on the fourth wheel has a diameter of 0.18mm and the pipe on the hand was around 0.25mm). I had thought the fourth wheel was incorrect but that turned out to not be the case. Now I have two extra fourth wheels (I'm not a quick learner apparently) but I'm sure they'll come in handy down the road! To fix the pipe I used a bit of brass tubing I grabbed off eBay which had an ID of 0.18mm and OD of 0.50mm. A broach was run through the pipe on the hand to widen the inside diameter then the tubing I purchased was tapered and cut on the lathe to fit inside. Originally I was going to remove the pipe from the hand but settled on pushing a sleeve inside when I realized the tubing I had was too narrow to rivet to the hand. Next I needed to address the watch crown which was damaged and lost its rubber o-ring. The o-ring is secured place by a riveted cap but on my crown the cap was missing. Naturally, I first searched for a replacement crown but when one was not readily available I opted to fix the one in hand. A replacement o-ring was ordered and a new cap turned on the lathe. With the o-ring set in the crown, the cap was secured via a hammer and stake. It seems odd that these old Navitimers have rubber gaskets on the crown, pushers, and caseback but there's nothing to stop water from entering under the bezel. Lastly I noted the new chronograph pushers I ordered were too short. I turned a pair of boots on the lathe to increase the length of each pusher rod. Neither boot is fitted too tightly so removal should not be an issue down the road. Then it was time to assemble... It was certainly worth all the time and effort but I must say, I'm looking forward to some really straightforward services in the future.

Assembled,what do you think? Inviato dal mio WAS-LX1A utilizzando Tapatalk