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My favorite USSR era Sekonda enjoying a little tropical sunshine. It still manages +/-5 sec/day or better. Not bad for more than 40 years of neglect, and probably only one service (the one I gave it).

Maybe this helps

Did a lot of work this weekend on a Citizen Eco Drive. Needed a new battery and a new bezel. It looked very worn out. Here are some shots. The double bezel needed replacement and I did a lot of work to recover the crystal. I also got all the scratches off the case with a drumel tool. The end result was amazing. Basically a new watch. When I pushed on the second bezel ring, it would not turn. I put it in my case opener to grab the bezel and then grabbed the movement and forced to rotate. The wire inside the bezel fell into the slot and the bezel now works great. I also made a video on YouTube of some of the action. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hi all, has any one tried this method of adjusting the hairspring so that it is concentric. I think it's pretty nifty.

I also heard it makes the hairspring antimagnetic, temperature insensitive, oil-repellent and indestructible.

Does this help... Please excuse the fibres and other grubbiness, I have just grabbed this from the spares bin (needs new balance wheel and pallet) to illustrate the set up. You appear to be missing the set lever on yours.

If they are high dome then a crystal lift will have no trouble in fitting and removal.

Another jeweled westclox. Snap back cheapo case .Jeambrun 26d movement. Any easy to work on caliber that regulates nicely.

Years ago, back in 2014, I bought this Orient Union (Model no. EV0S004B) housing an Orient calibre 46E40, automatic, non-hacking and non-winding. I think I got for less than $100. I was going to travel around in south east Asia for over a month and I didn’t want to lose too much money should I get rob. Well, I never got rob and it served me well. Anyway, I felt it was time to give it an overhaul. This is my very first Japanese movement service, and so far, I must say it differs quite a bit from the Russian and Swiss movements that I’ve serviced before. It’s interesting to see how the Japanese have found their own ways to build movements; for example, the automatic works. I wonder what lurks as I get deeper into the movement. It’s pretty exciting, even though it’s a low budget Japanese movement. Anyway, I wonder if anyone of you have experience of this type of "tuning fork shaped" cap jewel spring? It looks as if it’s designed to fly to the moon if only just touched. So, I feel pretty nervous to continue the tear down without some advice. Please share your experience or your guesses about how to handle these springs! There are two of them.

Here are my watches. My favorite one is the 1954 gold capped Omega automatic seamaster cal 354, case 2767-1sc. It has been recently restored.It s a family heirloom. The Hamilton Khaki field 42mm is the watch that I wear daily. The Seiko Chronograph is the watch I put on when I am messing around. The new member of the family is the Wolbrook skindiver 34mm. it needs a new click spring but it looks good! I fell in love with the watch when I came across this new kickstarter project:

You are correct but the term has become common between enthousiasts, to indicate anything of value. And that before considering that haute horlogerie is actually another segment yet.

I can't believe that garbage is still on YouTube. What makes it worse is that there's no effort made to declare it as some kind of 'joke'. It ranks alongside the idiots who told people that microwaving your phone charges the battery. Yes. Common sense tells you it simply wouldn't work but there are many who would take it at face value. Ones things for certain. Try this and you'll never have to worry about that particular hairspring again.

Look for mainspring that has metric size on package but most should have both Dennison and metric like Samson springs.

Hi. The hairspring is supposed to be like that. Google breguet overcook hairspring. Please don’t try to straighten it - it look great! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Out come the hairspring spares, that's a technique that can be very useful if mastered. Never know I might even end up with enough scrap metal to cash in and buy some new hairsprings

I work on a lot of old JLC movements, tending toward the smaller and thinner but also up to small clock size. They tend to have a very good finish inside the fork slot, even if the beveling on the non-functional areas is rudimentary. However, it's not uncommon to see (with microscope) a faint or even significant "dent" where the roller jewel smacks the slot, and touching this up does usually help. Seems worse with the old triangular roller jewels. Mainspring as a burnishing tool is good technique. Even with thin spring though there can be very little clearance for the spring/burnisher with the guard pin so be careful! Some of those old JLCs also have very high lift angles, like 56, 58, even 60.

We all have at least one novelty watch. What is your favorite? Can you beat my Nixon watch with eyes that shift back and forth?

I must be a natural at this!! Got it fixed already. Joking, but I let down the main spring again. Swung the balance wheel back and forth a few times, noticed that it just started engaging the pallet fork for the first time. Winded it up and it’s alive again! well now that I know I got a working pocket watch to practice on I think I’ll use this opportunity for my first service and clean. I’m going to use a camera to film the tear down and take lots of pictures. That way I can re-trace my steps

If you are going to research further you will sooner or later come across Kif's Duofix system, which looks similar, opens and closes the same, and is just as fiddly. They come in different sizes too. I have no idea if the springs are interchangeable, but I doubt it.KIF-ID Tabelle.pdf

Russian movements are way under rated.

There’s not a lot out there that I’ve come across, but a bit of data here: https://17jewels.info/movements/s/smiths/smiths-ry-empire/ John Senior seems to have most parts for it (and may have parts lists), but I doubt there's much more to be had: http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com/Smiths-RY-13-parts.htm

Just to give this topic some closure, I believe my watch is a Bel-Air, the same as below, except the case on my watch is 20 micron gold plated and not stainless steel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It takes a bit of practise but once you get the technique it's a real time saver. It also sorts out out of parallel, out of beat, and out of poise issues as well. It is a little trickier on overcoil springs but it just takes a bit of practise.

Broadly speaking yes. Power reserve comes down to how many turns of the arbor you can get before the spring becomes tight wound. This is a function of how much free space there is between the arbor and the unwound spring, which comes down to the diameter of the barrel and how many coils the spring makes against the barrel wall, as determined by how long it is. As you say the strength is primarily down to the cross section area, but since the height is determined by the height of the barrel, thickness becomes a direct descriptor of strength.

Whatever floats your boat, personally far too much 'bling' for me, $2000, seriously? It might well be 'real' from Oris, but it's a fake representation of mid 1960's watches.....I'll stick with the JD diver chrono, that I've had for the last 50 years.....

The only apple I own I ate it this morning

I do own an Apple Watch and it is just fine but compared to my mechanical watches, it is just soulless and when I'm all done, my apple watch will be long gone but my other watches will tick-tock on.

No way of telling from poor photos.

Avoid solvents at all costs. Just rinsing under the tap will get dust and fluff off. A very useful tool I agree.

Here Adrian from VTA shows how to deal with diafix, same as the above tutorial from Mike, but Adrian is also showing how to reinstall the spring in case it pops off.

soak in warm, soapy water. Use a cotton swab to remove any debris or discolouration after they’ve had time to soak and leave them out to dry overnight .I let them soak because the silicon is so soft .No chemicals. Get a couple of spares .

FLwatchguy73, that is one incredibly beautiful dial!

Or 1980

Don’t use alcohol on pallets and balance if you do just dip then dry, but it’s good for a final rinse. A dry cleaner which is used for electrical is best for balance and fork it’s safe on shellac. For cleaning I like naphtha just make sure you dry it quickly preferably with heated air like a blow dryer it will leave less residue. Get some pegwood and nylon brushes to do some hand cleaning. Also rodico is a must have for cleaning pinions wheels and sopping up excess oil.

I built a custom watch using nearly identical parts but my problem was different. My dial wasn't meant for wristwatches and was significantly thicker. The case back wouldn't close all the way. I had to remove tons of material from the overall thickness of the spacer ring.

I’d inspect the running of the train without the escapement fitted first. Then add pallets and move through the phases, and finally add the balance. The usual stuff.

Lots of info here about Seiko Diafix. Also a pic speaks a thousand words.... This not my own but stolen from here If you haven't come acros Martins' blog before then you're in for a treat if you like seiko.

Just put this Omega Constellation quartz on layaway. Ive had my eye on it at a local pawn shop since October. They finally brought down to a reasonable price. I was able to spin it that it was broken because the minute hand didn't turn when I turned the crown, only the hour hand turned. Fortunately for me, they didn't know the minutes hand sets with a hidden button in the crown. So, a legit Omega quartz for less than $100

that is true... this caliber had a version with 2 cap jewels for the escape, which is why i think someone must have had their hands in it before replacing the wrong escape wheel. Which would explain why this would be happening before the OP touched it. You can find these AS movements all over the bay. Same parts are interchangeable from one caliber to the next. i would try sourcing a parts movement before messing with jewels and pivots. The ranfft link below will list similar calibers. After doing an ebay search there plenty of 1187 watches, movements, and parts available since it happened to be a very popular movement during the time. http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&AS_1187

Probably since 1890:) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

fantastic haul.

Thank you so much for your patience and reading this long post.

I have a few more but these are the “keepers” that are in regular rotation Might make a separate projects post but the blue dialed one with no brand name is one I made from parts from eBay after getting inspired to do so by mark’s project.

Great post. Thanks as I need to do this in a couple of weeks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I actually found this watch in a rosary bead satchel in a 30 yard dumpster from a house demo.

Your advice was of great help. I pulled out the crown and the stem split in two. Now I can look at the whole movement. Thank you for helping me out.

That's the hard way... The trick with these is to free the middle tab from the retaining slot and then hinge the clip up with the two end tabs still located. The jewel can then be removed, cleaned, and replaced without the clip ever leaving the plate. I probably haven't described this very well but if you google Seiko Diafix, or have a look here; https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/hidden-depths-a-seikomatic-r-from-1966/ you will see what I mean. Incidentally Martin's blog is an excellent read, especially if you have an interest in vintage Seiko.

Just off the topic of watches for a bit, I have to tell you about the time I closed a door in the school classroom. On the back it said this... If you notice this notice you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing.... I will always remember

The Apple Watch outsold the entire Swiss watch industry last year, according to new analysis. What the