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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/27/20 in all areas

  1. Brought out my Timex Q that I dated to 1978. Runs perfect. Checking time almost dead on according to the app.
    3 points
  2. I adjusted for the time difference from the 1960's to present....
    2 points
  3. Today, My 1969 Hamilton 600 Super Compressor on a vintage Tropic Swiss Divers band. There is no shortage of the Hamilton SC, however what makes this one different and slightly more rare than the others is the 'Cape Horn' script. Here for more info. The dial literally looks NOS on this example. The double crowns gives this 36mm case a more commanding presence. Just a great watch.
    2 points
  4. This one should go in the 'intresting caseback thread. Very intresting!'
    2 points
  5. Hey everyone! So I thought I would follow up on the progress of this project. I got the case back from being refinished and it turned out really well! I gave the movement a once over and a service as it obviously has had a fairly rough life. There were a number of broken wheels, particularly the chronograph runner and drive wheel, 4th wheel pivot was bent and the hairspring was torn and the balance pivots where both broken. Topped it all off with a new crystal and this is the finished product.
    2 points
  6. yes, 1962. Nice bit of history to add to the Timex legacy.
    2 points
  7. Marks videos are always a joy to watch.
    2 points
  8. Fresh from the healing bench, this little French Ebauches FE 4611A (Cupillard 4611A) Automatic. When I spotted the listing, I assumed there was a reasonable chance it was fairly modern and Chinese, but I was wrong on both counts. French and ca. 1980, so around 40 years old. It arrived in running condition, but filthy, with a badly corroded case and lots of dust on the dial. The case is vastly better than it was, but could do with re-plating. The crystal is almost perfect but for a couple of tiny pock marks, and the dial cleaned up very nicely.
    2 points
  9. OK, I found that peice on ebay and ordered it. I'm pretty sure it's a Caliber 550 Part No.1451, thanks for all your help. It wasn't too expensive (just over CA$20) so I'm happy to take a punt on it being the right thing. Whenever the stores open again, I'll get a quote from the Omega service and a independant watchmaker. See if they can put it all back together again. Seriously thanks for all your help. I'll be sure to leave it alone till I can get it properly looked at.
    1 point
  10. Outstanding? You've learned an important lesson. It is commonly believed by so many people that watch repair is easy and maybe for a few people it is easy. But like any subject some prior studying knowledge access to tools etc.prior practicing really helpful to have for a successful outcome. Then technically you lost two parts as the screw that held the played in his now missing also You can look on the Omega website for who they recommend but some parts of the world are shut down due to the virus. Then the part that you lost is called a gib and is currently for sale on eBay at a variety of prices. Including one seller that has it and the screw but according to the tech sheet it's not the correct screw? Then it looks like I'm too slow to give an answer haven't even finished amd everyone else's answered the question except? I'm attaching a section out of the parts list this is a 2020 parts list and looks like they revised the Gib screw?
    1 point
  11. I’ve swapped the cap jewel / keeper plate with two other identical assembles from an eta and es. It seems they are bog standard in geometry. Neither rectified the darn problem. I’m 100% certain I need to shorten the dial side pivot, or ... try another escapement for this movement. However, for now, I’m in no hurry to do anything irrational- it will have to wear itself down before wears me down [emoji120] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  12. I love it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  13. here is my 1962 - notice the time that it stopped on.... compare to the one worn by the astronaut.
    1 point
  14. Hmm, you'll have to figure out which end is easier to disassemble then, top or bottom, and get the rod out. But try some silicone first, it might get you up to 3 bars.
    1 point
  15. yes 1961 was first year made and that case back has got to go - I should have one available to replace it with. Here is the chrome version of the watch.
    1 point
  16. 1 point
  17. SNAP! I dated mine to early 1962, so very much one of the first of these electric Timex watches......
    1 point
  18. It appears that the jewel is "rubbed in", although in a more modern way, i.e. it looks like the steel was crimped around the jewel likely in a very automated process. That would mean the hole at the top side of the jewel is smaller than the jewel diameter- thus no chance of adjustment, although a good chance of cracking the jewel. This method if securing jewels in steel parts persisted quite some time after friction jewels became the norm, as the interference fit between steel and a jewel needs to be something like 0.002-3mm, rather than ~0.01mm for brass. With this method the opening for the jewel is made for a free fit, then the metal moved to hold the jewel, less chance of breaking the jewel and less precision needed in manufacturing.
    1 point
  19. From the underside, if you take the hook for the watch off (one screw) and the circlip, you can slide the rod out the top. There is, as I recall, a, O ring in the hole. It may be very hard and tricky to get out. In the meantime try some silicone grease and see if that helps. Much more annoying on these is when they start to leak water around the base under pressure!
    1 point
  20. With a generous amount of HS manipulation! Loved it, thanks Mark!
    1 point
  21. A lot of text here that I just skimmed through. Usually the simple one of why watch slows down as amplitude decreases is the regulator pins are too far apart. Which is why better grade watches don't have regulator pins and have free sprung balance wheels. Then it might have been set up above but I like to think about lift angle as the angle at which the escapement screws up timekeeping. It's why the watch companies are always working on different escapement's that have a much smaller lift angle less screwup of timekeeping.. The two separate of things occur with the escapement. The balance wheel has to push on things and those things do not necessarily move at the same rate as the balance wheel so the balance wheel is slowed down rate wise and then it receives an impulse at a different rate. All of which operates at a rate loss. Then there is the other thing that I find interesting? Some witschi timing machines have a time plot feature. That is they will plot the amplitude and timekeeping over a period of time like around 15 minutes. This is where you can see the effect of unequal power in the gear train for instance and what that effect has on balance wheel rate. Then the interesting thing of this is having time to variety of watches some of them like the Rolex I timed and I can't attach an image if you want. It very clearly has a wheel defect you can see that in the amplitude but almost no effect on timekeeping. Other usually cheaper watches the effect is dramatic. The normal timing machine doesn't show this because it kind of averages this all out.
    1 point
  22. That case looks to be what is called a monocoque case, aka one-piece. As Nucejoe says, it's probably simple. However, for a newbie the case will present a difficulty. The crystal has to be removed by using with the right sized clamping tool or blown out through the pendant/pipe, where the stem goes in. It looks like a very nice quality, and quite striking looking, dress watch. Any jeweler/watchmaker that does anything other than replace batteries and sell earrings should know that it's a once-piece case that takes special treatment, but is not daunting. Sorry about your losing your brother. Mark Lovick, the guy who runs this forum, has videos on youtube under thewatchrepairchannel. He shows how to improvise to blow the crystal out. That said, once it's out, you do need a special tool to get it back in. Good luck.
    1 point
  23. This picture does the dial much more justice........ I also have this one, a couple of years older (1975) but not quite as nice.....
    1 point
  24. A new "Daily Diver"...Picked up yesterday from a new local Micro Brand. G.B.
    1 point
  25. Today I'm wearing my newly acquired 21 jewel Timex. I believe it is a 1961 vintage and I also think its the first year they were made, but @JerseyMo should be able to confirm it. Just needed a touch of lube and a good polish on the Crystal. I'm not sure the case back is original to this watch as it has Pierre Cardin stamped on it. I thought they only every made their own watches, lol.
    1 point
  26. It looks to me like your pivot is tapered, that's a no go in the world of watches. The pivots must be perfectly straight otherwise they can drive themselves in and lock. I'm only going by your photos, I'm not able to measure your pivot vs the jewel hole clearance. Also, the length plays a major role. If it's too long it puts pressure on the cap jewel, if it's too short it rides on the shoulder. All of that has already been mentioned above by others though.
    1 point
  27. It doesn't come out very often but I'm wearing my Burke today. I bought this in Plymouth back in 1985/6 when they first came out. All original and still keeps almost perfect time, loses about 2 seconds a month. I just wish I still had the box, but that probably got dumped by my parents when they moved house and I was away in the navy.
    1 point
  28. TOday will be the Heuer 73473. One of Heuer's lesser known models but no less important in my opinion. It's a great chronograph that has all of the funk of the 70's. I believe this one is from 1973. Great condition and is virtually untouched. My preference has always been'for the most part' about having the watch on a period band. I think this one looks exceptionally nice on a vintage beads of rice bracelet.
    1 point
  29. Every pivot straightening can potentially end with a broken pivot. For one like that, I like to stick the pivot out of a lantern in a Jacot tool, then use stout nickel (or brass) tweezers that have been warmed in an alcohol lamp flame until almost to hot to handle. Turn the wheel by hand and locate the direction the pivot need to go and coax it with the hot tweezers. Keep going until it's straight. The hot tweezers really really help; they aren't hot enough to affect the temper (not even close) but the heat is key.
    1 point
  30. Hi Staightening pivots is not for the faint hearted , They can be straightened using a pulling /stroking action along the length of the pivot. It all depends on the hardness of the pivot in question some are pot hard and brittle aka french clocks and others not so bad. There is a tool by Seitz for doing the job bt they are expensive.
    1 point
  31. It might be possible to straighten the pivot. To straighten the pivot it must be supported such as staking tool hole and gently gently try and bend it. If it brakes it could be re-pivoted if you have a lathe. Cousins sell hands so that might be possible to replace too. The bottom line is repairing vintage watches is difficult due to parts not being available.
    1 point
  32. Through the night I left most parts submerged in Zippo lighter-fluid. This should give the decades old oil a chance to dissolve. All the pivot holes and jewels were separately cleaned with peg-wood. All the pivots, teeth and balance cylinder were inspected with a 10x eye-loupe. Remarkably, after 70 years in storage, everything was 100% ! First up was to re-wind the main-spring back in the barrel, oil the spring, grease the arbor and assemble the barrel. I always hand-wind the main-springs. The top of the balance had some surface discoloring (see picture at the beginning). I remove this by gently stroking the surface with a glass-fiber brush, while the the balance was suspended from a balance-holder. I didn't take any pictures as I didn't want to get distracted during this very delicate operation..... sorry ...... It took however only a few stroke to remove the discoloring. Next up was another delicate operation, the oiling of the balance cap-stone. Two screws on the underside of the balance cock had to be removed without damaging the hairspring nor the very delicate balance-staff pivots. On the left the already cleaned capstone, ready to be oiled. For oiling capstones I used to use a very fine dip watch-oiler, but now I'm using a 0.1mm Rotring pen. This works very well for me, very precise and controlled. With all parts cleaned, inspected and both cap-stones oiled, it was time to demagnetize. I made demagnetizing, after some hard lessons learned, a standard procedure. Of course, a German watch runs best on German oils .... Dr. Tillwich is the name; (BTW; the Swiss- and Russian-watches also seem to like this stuff ....... ) Time to assemble the ratchet wheel underneath the barrel, the wheel-train and a part of the keyless. Don't forget to insert the little screw (or sometimes a push-pin) which goes underneath the barrel-bridge: see the arrow. Won't be the fist time that you line everything nicely up only to discover that you have to undo your hard work again ..... Barrel-, and in this case also the wheel-train bridge back in place, all pivots engaged and lubricated. Here a close up of the back-side of the yoke including the setting wheel; Assembled the keyless works and ratchet "click". Tested functionality ..... Time to install the more delicate parts; the escape wheel and the balance ........ Lo and behold, after a little tension on the main-spring the movement started to run ...... It seemed happy so I decided to go ahead with the dial and hands. There was no work to be done on the dial, so it went straight back on. Replacing the hands was no problem either. I don't expect to get a COSC certificate with this movement, but I hope that, within the next few days, I'll to get it run within a minute per 24 hrs ....... or so ...... As a side-line remark; I found it difficult to get a descent grip on this movement using the Bergeon 4039 movement holder. But it is also the first time I'm working on a tonneau shape movement of this size, so it may well be me ........ Anyway, I managed to get this little gem serviced without doing any damage. Better be, because there is nowhere on this planet a shelf full of spare-parts to be found Now, it's to hope that I can find a lady who is willing to give it wrist time and can appreciate this little 1940's "time capsule". Obviously it needs a new leather strap, but that will be to the new owners taste .... I'll hope that somebody will have some benefit of this write-up, at some point in time .....
    1 point
  33. OK, so me and Mrs H did Christmas day with the family, and then we did Boxing day with the family, and then we were granted a day off so got to relax, and for me that meant I had the chance to tackle a little project that I had acquired as part of a job lot from a long retired watchmaker that had been sitting around in a shed for about 35 years (the job lot, not the watchmaker). Pocket watches are not usually my thing although I do own and use a couple. Orphaned pocket watch movements are even less my thing; but this little baby was in such a state that I couldn't resist the challenge. I don't think I have ever attempted to resurrect anything in quite such a sorry state as this before but it wasn't all bad. The balance was free and with sufficiently little end shake to hint that the pivots were not broken. However, the accumulation of dirt and dried grease obscured just about everything else. The inner coils of the hair spring also looked to be completely filled in with rust/gunk. With the balance cock and balance removed things got a little more interesting. Underneath the grime is a rather nice English Lever escapement with cap jewels on both the pallet and escape wheel pivots. A good sign, but I need to let down any power in the mainspring before I go any further, which means flipping it over and removing the dial as the keyless works are dial side. Not quite so bad under here as the dial has kept the worst of the dirt away. You can see too that both ends of the pallet and escape wheel pivots are capped, and the click spring is a proper cut steel affair, not wire. There is worrying evidence of rust on the steel work though. With the power let down the pallet and escape wheel cock is removed and you can now see the English Lever escapement in all its (rather grubby) glory. What a mess, but through the gunge there are just little hints of quality watchmaking peeping through; the thickness of the 3/4 top plate, and the cut and form of the teeth on the wheels. The top plate comes off taking the entire train and barrel with it as the pivots are seized in their bearings. The main plate is a mess. The under side of the top plate with the train still in place. The barrel has vacated its bearing revealing rust. Not a good sign but it could be worse. The train now removed from the top plate and dropped back into the main plate for a reference shot. The set lever and stem retaining bridge do not look healthy. Again though the set lever spring is cut steel, not wire. Oh yuk!!! The main plate now stripped. The barrel lid, with another nice touch; Geneva stop work, designed to only allow the central portion of the springs torque curve to be utilised thus reducing isochronism. Main plate, top plate, and escapement cock ready for cleaning. Ok, so whilst I was stripping all of this down, the hair spring, removed from the balance has been sitting in some Cola. The result is that the rust has softened and with a little careful tweezer work with a pair of Dumont #5's, most of it has been dislodged. The terminal curve of the Breguet over coil is badly out of shape due to a mishap when trying to unpin it from the rusted steel stud. I'll sort that out later. For now it's back into the pop to see if I can get those coils a little cleaner. Everything cleaned and ready for reassembly. I have a couple of spare jars for my cleaning machine and when I renew the cleaning solutions, the old stuff is kept in the spare jars. Any really heavily soiled movements get a "pre-wash" in the old chemistry so as to prolong the life of the new. With this watch everything was washed in the old gear and then very carefully gone over with peg wood, a G/F scratch brush, and tooth paste on a cotton bud in order to remove all of the staining that the bath didn't touch. All the jewels, bearings, and pinion leaves were also pegged out. Then it all went for another cycle through the old stuff before going through a normal cycle through the fresh chemistry. Main plate dial side prior to reassembly. And train side. Scrubbed up quite well I think. Stem, winding pinion, clutch, and stem retaining bridge reinstalled. Set lever and spring back in place. I haven't removed all of the rust pitting from the stem bridge and the set lever as it was too deep and to take it out would alter the shape too much, but it has been stabilised. The reassembled barrel and Geneva Stop work. I have reused the old main spring for now but made a note of its dimensions in case I choose to replace it. Another (gratuitous) shot of the Stop work as I just love it :-) Barrel and train back in place and things are starting to look fairly healthy. The top plate goes on. Quite a difference compared to the strip down shot from the same angle. The keyless works back in place dial side. And the balance, with reshaped and re-pinned hair spring goes back into place. After about half a dozen attempts to adjust the beat, removing the balance from the cock and turning the hair spring collet each time, and she comes to life!! Everything back in place dial side. And the cleaned up dial goes back on, complete with (broken) hands. And if you ignore the rate error for now (I need to re-pin the hair spring a little shorter), it's actually not a bad performance. As I said at the outset this was a challenge for challenge sake. I really enjoyed doing it and have learned a little bit about quality English watchmaking from the days when we were really rather good at it. I have absolutely no idea what to do with it now though although I want to try and find a bit more about it. Here is what I know; The name on the dial is T Donkin. There was a T Donkin watchmaker in Scarborough but I have no dates (yet) I'm guessing somewhere between about 1890 and 1910. It is a 19 ligne, 19 jewel English Lever escapement movement with capped balance, pallet, and escape wheel pivots (diamond on at least the balance top pivot). It has a screwed, split bi-metalic compensating balance, Breguet over coil hair spring, and Geneva Stop work on the barrel, and a 16200 train. A technical spec that suggests that it was of a reasonably high grade for its day. I still have a couple of issues to address though, the most problematic of which is that it has a slightly bent balance staff pivot. I decided not to tackle this on this occasion as the risk of breaking it whilst trying to straighten it was too great and I desperately wanted to see it running, but I may have a go in the future. I will re-pin the hair spring at the same time to get the rate up to where I can regulate it properly; it is currently about 25 minutes a day slow which is way beyond the range of the regulator. I also need to re-attach one of the dial feet and source some new hands. Then of course there is the question of recasing it. If you have made it this far then thank you for indulging me :-) I hope you have enjoyed it. If anyone can shed any more light on this little old lady I would be very grateful.
    1 point
  34. A few weeks ago I purchased off the Bay a non working/for spares Bulova with 6CL movement. However I encountered a couple of gremlins with this watch and thought I would share. On the strip down the first gremlin I noticed that a previous repairer had screwed the train bridge without aligning one of the wheels & left this nice divot. Luckily no damage to the wheel pivot. The second gremlin was the mainspring had some kinks in it However when I measured for a replacement I found that the wrong size spring had been fitted. The height should be 1.40 with a strength of .08 but the spring fitted was 1.25H & strength of .06. This movement was dirty but is quite a simple in design so I have added not to many pics of the assembly. Also apologies re- the pic quality but they were taken with my mobile. Gear train Gear train with bridge fitted it was a bit fiddly to fit Barrel bridge & assembly fitted Keyless side assembled Dial up reading on the Timographer Watch finish just needs a nice strap to make it look really nice Job Done
    1 point
  35. Ahhh that moment when you have the pivot almost at the right size so you go to polish it up so that it glides into the jewel hole and..................
    0 points
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