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Featured on the cover of the May/June NAWCC bulletin, this horological engineering marvel includes 71 complications and is just a joy to look at! Details here: https://www.buchananclocks.com/no-6-astronomical-extraordinaire/ (if this has been previously discussed during its 16 year gestation period, I apologize)

phluxx.. put a bit on a mirror and let it dry off. If there is any oily residue then iys not really suitable. Anilv

Today I pulled my 37mm (years 80's design) Seiko 5 off the shelf. It houses the discontinued automatic 21,600bph 7S26C movement, the 3rd generation in the 7S26 movement family (A,B & C). Next to other features, what also is of interest to me is that it has an "Etachron" regulator. Pretty sure the Japanese wouldn't call it an "Etachron". The 7S26A was introduced in 1996 and had a normal regulator. The 7S26B version replaced the 7S26A in 2006 and had an "Etachron" regulator. One can not help but to see the identicality between the Swiss and the Japanese design. Did both producers came with the same idea at the same time or did one "borrowed" the idea of the other?? My father used to wear a Seiko 5 in the 1980's and therefor there are some sentimental reasons too why I bought this "tiny" but nice running, light weight and IMHO good looking watch

because the case back does not unscrew. so using that method using the ball would all be a waste of time because all you going to do is break the case back if you try to unscrew it. Then the conventional case wrenches is a mistake especially if you type net tight as you'll just damage the case back. You can use a conventional ranch if you grasp what you're doing but you're probably still do a scratch things up you really need a special case opening tool. By the way this back is actually quite common for Bulova it's the standard back found in most of their tuning fork watches and it comes in two separate sizes. I'll see if I have a picture lurking in the meantime I found a picture of the wrench found in the servicing manual for the tuning fork watch and a picture of the ring found in the parts list for that watch. You have to get the ring off if you want the back off. if not going to find this inside your case but the picture of on the left the wrong type of wrench to use the proper type on the right and why anything trying to remove the back is a waste of time because the back is a little notch and even if you could screw the back itself you still have to get that ring off. then everything am showing as for the normal size ring there is a different looking wrench for the smaller ring found in the ladies version of this watch. But this will give you an idea. Then in case you think this is unique ever buyout a watchmaker you might find old boxer drawer filled with peculiar wrenches like this because there are lots of peculiar case back set come off in peculiar ways. Then not just the case back casing can just get really interesting as there are so many variations.

Popcorn is on the stove. This will be fun.

For those who see my posts here in the clock section will know I have been working on two vintage ships clocks. One has been returned to the customer and the one remaining had a severely faded dial and the customer said I could do what I wanted with this movement so I thought I would experiment in re- furbing the dial. I did do a test re paint and it was poor to say the least so I originally decided to draw the dial using ‘Indesign” and use water slide decal film. It did take me a few hours to actually draw the dial but after following many YouTube vids I managed to achieve what you see in the pics. However it is not perfect but does give it an authentic look. I cleaned the old dial with mentholated spirits which removed some brown substance but still left it with a patina look.. I used “Safmat” self adhesive printing film as it is thicker than the water slide film which allowed greater control when positioning.. I coated with a clear acrylic coating.

While we're at it, yesterday I received this little gem back from the Soviet times. These days a pocket-watch may not be so useful anymore, but still being in NOS & in mint condition, for only €37 I could not let this opportunity pass. The outer casing shows the emblem of the "Empire of Russia" and the back "Saint George and the Dragon". When these watches left the factory they had a grey-coating which, when used (to start at the protruding points), wears quickly off. As can be seen, the coating is still fully intact. Inside an undisturbed SU stamped Molnija 3602 movement and a dial with CCCP. All-in-all a very nice souvenir of times gone by; For people interested in my 2018 Molnija walkthrough; https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/8074-molnija-3603-3602-anti-shock-rolex-1940s/

Sounds to me like both would wash your hands.

I just got this watch in the mail today. It's a Rado Emperor. I've never heard of a Rado Emperor before. The seller listed it as a 20 jewel, running watch which cannot wind or adjust time. That intrigued me. The photo looked like a 2824/2836, but I've never seen a 20 jewel version. So I bidded for it and won at USD $51. The movement inside turned out to be a 2836-1. My initial diagnosis was the infamous keyless works but it turn out to be something even simpler.... a broken winding stem. The watch case is rather corroded. I was thinking of re-casing it in an after market China made case. Something like this... SG$ 46.82 35%OFF | LARIMOKER 40mm Solid border Explorer 2 Look Watch Case sapphire glass fit NH35 ETA2824 2836 Miyota8205 8215 PT5000 DG2813 3804 Does anyone have experience with China made watch cases? Will the 2836 fit easily or will it require major rework? TIA

Good morning all. After having read about a new (Beginners) section being proposed and discussed, I began to consider other such things which a new section might accomplish. I arrived at the idea of addressing an obstacle which all who work on vintage watch must inevitably face: that of locating hard-to-find parts. For this reason, I would like to discuss with all of you the pros, cons, & improvements of putting forth an "In Search Of" section. The way I initially conceived it, the section would be for expressing that the person making a post is searching for a very hard-to-find part. The section would have a pinned header which stipulated that anyone posting in it should at least have tried such other sources first - Ebay, Ofrei, Cousins, Esslinger, Dave's, and any others that are open to all (not just licensed or registered watchmakers). The header should also reiterate the No-Sales policy and specify that if one of us has the part being sought, but it is valuable enough to require compensation, that matter should be handled by private message from that point onward. Anyone posting should make every effort to post all the details of the watch to which the necessary part belongs: make, model or calibre, year, any known variation thereof, and define the sought-after part in as much detail as possible, if the name for such a part is not widely known. In this way, a frustrated member having exhausted all his best leads and reaching many dead ends, might post in this section that he is "In Search Of" a dial for an Omega Seamaster cal. 470, or perhaps a two-piece split stem for a Longines 345, or maybe a helical mainspring for a Grasset pocket watch, who knows. And those on the forum who read that section from time-to-time would see it, and one among them might recall that "I have such a dial in my parts bin!" You get the idea. And then the person with the part could send a message to the person who is seeking it, and in private messages they could reach an arrangement. I know such matters are already being handled this way in this forum, but we have not yet had a *dedicated* section for it. What I am proposing is a sort of focal point for rare-parts searches. A place in the forum for exactly this. As you might imagine, my search for the Seamaster dial was part of what brought this idea to the forefront. I've located the stem, however. The Grasset mainspring is an attempt at a humorous analogy. But I do believe that having an "In Search Of" section will benefit a great many of us, from seasoned veteran watchmakers who have sought a part high and low, to the beginners who don't even know what a particular or unusual part is called, let alone how to search for it. And it would be aimed at connecting them with any other member who might know where to locate the part in question, might possess the part in question, or even be able to repair or re-create the part in question with the tools they have. So, tell me your thoughts. I am eager to hear. I would like to see such a section exist, but I would like it to be easy for all to use, so suggestions for improvements are extremely important. How can we make this work as well as possible? How many of the rest of you desire this?

Way late update,, this watch ended up having the wrong 3rd wheel from the center wheel the teeth count was off , i replaced it and it started running fine, i never could find out the info, anywhere but one day was going through EBAY and a guy had the wheel for sale stating the teeth count, it was different from the one i had, couldnt figure how it even fit in there and ran but when i changed out the watch straightened up,

Wikipedia's sometimes amusing this is not 100% accurate what lighter fluid is I was looking at another site for barbecue lighter fluid and it has all kinds of interesting things in it including oil which is not necessarily what you want to have when you're cleaning a watch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter_fluid so based on this you would be looking for Naphtha as opposed to lighter fluid. the problem is various countries have various restrictions on products that you can and cannot purchase for whatever reason. for instance if I want to purchase this I would just go to my local hardware store but I would look online first to see if they have any looks like they do. So rather than buying lighter fluid if you could I do to buy just the base product that's nice and clean it even in the description says it's for cleaning. then is a problem with the message board finding stuff like what alternatives you have in Ireland? You could do a search on the message board and ultimately it get to the discussion below 48 pages and it probably has ideas the point you in the right direction. https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/3552-cleaning-fluids/ so now you get stuck reading 48 pages of it would really be nice if they would keep a running consolidation of the recommendations rather than torturing people to read the whole thing. There are other solvents out there possibly automotive products designed the clean stuff hardware stores chemists may have which are seeking. If you can find a friendly watchmaker maybe they'll be nice and tell you where they purchase their fluids from. Of course the only problem with normal watch cleaning fluids are usually have to buy quantity like a gallon which may be way more than you desire.

I am old enough to remember the phrase “lies like a cheap Japanese watch” bit different now Tom

The clock is running on how long this lasts before deletion

I've used some Chinese cases and it varies. Some are brilliant, some are ok. But none of them that I tried were worse than what you've got now so it's certainly worth it to try. The ones I tried were for NH35 movements and fitment was ok, I haven't tried the 2836 types.

I'm starting to work my way through my 404 club purchases from the last few months. Today we have a Kienzle art deco style pocket watch. Probably from the 1950s, or 1960s, but it could be a little older. The seconds hand had fallen off, but was still sitting inside, so it didn't require much more than a clean and he hand re-fitting and now it is ticking away nicely, if somewhat loudly.

And here is me thinking that you did know what the inside of every watch in the universe looks like . Do you think that there are watches on the wrists of extra terrestrials , i like to think so.

Many Russian watches use this type of casebacks. Vostok Amphibias and Komandirskies are pprime examples. And yes, Bulova use this on all their tuning fork watches.

That sounds like a very interesting problem. Could you post some photos? That would sure help our clock experts in diagnosing the problem.

This is a 2 part caseback. The outer retaining ring has threads to engage the watchcase. The centre is a stainless steel plate that has a spur that sits in the notch you mentioned. Do not try the glued on nut trick. It won't work on this kind of caseback. If the retaining ring is gunked up with organic matter, WD40 doesn't work very well. Use a wet toothbrush to clean off as much gunk as you can and let the water soften up the gunk trapped in the screw threads. If you see any signs of rust, then a squirt of WD40 will help. Try to open it with your caseback opener again. Make sure the jaws sit fully into the notches. A watch case holder also helps. Hopefully you won't need the tool below. https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/universal-case-back-tool-bergeon-5700z-swiss

Welcome! Show us what you're working on.

Welcome to WRT forum and good luck with your forey into horology.

Regular lighter fluid is Naptha. BBQ lighter fluid can include mineral spirits, and I would think there's a much larger change of it leaving unwanted chemical on your movement

I really liked Alex's video on dressing your tweezers and screwdrivers and ordered a rolling screwdriver jig yesterday. I'm not that enthused about having him walk me through the mechanical disassembly/re-assembly of an ST36 where there is (or hasn't been yet) ANY mention of lubrication. To be fair he's only put up 7 videos so far and they've been well done. If nothing else, I'm planning to dress my (brand new) tweezers and screwdrivers and practice picking stuff up.

what I was looking at the pictures this morning I was thinking about the same thing but I didn't want it display a negative attitude. For those people that are really good at hairsprings I've seen them work miracles but at some point in time there's a limit of what you can do and I'm sure all the bending can disturb the hairspring at one time used to be firms that you could send it out to and they would vibrate a new hairspring for you. The days when people had all they hairspring is necessary to do that now those services are gone apparently the problem with sourcing a hairspring is it's an older watch sourcing hairsprings for older kids becomes very problematic especially depending upon how many were available in the first place. This means basically it have to buy a broken movement to steal a hairspring or better yet take the entire balance complete because they hairspring has been matched to the balance wheel or in this case the balance wheel matched of the hairspring. which means timing screws you have to play with the get the balance to match your new hairspring if you can find one at all.

Well I ended up finding a working watch that I bought for parts. It turned out it was indeed the stepper motor with the other components working fine. Not a big surprise but I sure like this watch!

It was Rich, we just can't get there from here. I admit that I vacillate on the whole: "stay-on-point" v. "chat-like-you-know-them". Initially I was all "keep this discussion on topic" and that still seems to be the best way forward while dealing with a specific question or problem BUT after a while you begin to feel like you know the people you're replying to and it's natural to make a joke, comment about the weather or your health (or lack thereof) and once that happens a thread can go into the weeds quickly. Indeed. It could have easily been LOCKED with a final message to the effect of: "OK, enough. I've heard you and choose to leave the board sub-forums the way they are at this time."

Yes, I used to have the Poljot "Antonov" which has the same bezel. It's a nice looking watch but as with yours, it has some, lets be polite; additional "decoration". If you like to check out the Strela's; be aware that the prices asked for the real (Poljot 3017) Strela's are climbing per day and it's a minefield out there. Even though the looks may be good, but you may not get were you are hoping & paying for !! After all those years I'm a bit done with worn-out, tinkered to dead chronographs. I much rather pay the extra for NOS or, if those options aren't available, a watch an alternative modern movement. Obviously I do prefer the NOS option ...... so much more pleasure to work on and the end result is as you were expecting !

I've been proudly wearing my recently serviced (and first chrono) Poljot 3133 "Blue Angels" Navitimer. I think it looks great. Although it resembles () another "Navitimer", there is one crucial difference. On this one the bezel does not rotate, so all the scales on the bezel and dial don't do anything - they're just for show. On the Breitling version they work as a circular slide rule for calculating speeds, distances, fuel burn etc. Still, it cost me about 1/15 of the price of an "real" one, so I'm happy. Now, what next? I need to check out those Strela's @Endeavor

Hermle 131-030 8 day movement. like all modern clocks brass is usually quite thin .. Regulating the floating balance can be tricky. Lubricat recomended by Hermle is Moebius 8000, check for worn holes and pivots.

Based on your advice I have put aside the hairspring that I need to work on, to practice. I had another hairspring, from a gents wristwatch, and I have spent hours on it. The pictures show a progression of my learning, which is actually more like circular attempts to fix, worsen, and remedy. The more I try, the worse it seems to get sometimes. So I now use a hard surface - a white ceramic tile. I had to purchase two new tweezers - Dumont, which made a huge difference. I still find doing this with a loupe difficult. The problem I am still not able to sort out is twisting. So still some more to work on.

Yes we all have our favourites the problem I have is lack of funds

I know this doesn't help the OP, but I had to sleeve one of these externally yesterday so I snapped some pics. You can see the post is super worn, and it made setting very hard. I turned the post down in a faceplate, turned up the sleeve in beryllium copper, pressed it on, and bingo!

When I was a kid Japan was viewed as an inferior manufacturer. I doubt the USA automobile industry thinks of them in that way these days. China will do the same.

The use of a separate stepper motor like this does give it a bit of character. In 1973 a watch with this Tissot calibre would have been relatively expensive. This Limit branded design may have been produced a little later, so perhaps more like 45 years old rather than nearer 50. I did find this picture of a very similar designed Tissot with the same movement. Ignore the fact that it is on an Omega display stand. Setting the movement is a little odd, and confused me at first. Here is a translation of an article I found about the how the setting mechanism works. Of course if I had taken the time to read the instruction leaflet that was with the watch, I could have saved myself the confusion, but who ever reads the instructions. A better description of the minute setting process is given here. Once set, things work as expected. Setting to the exact second is pretty trick though, as you need to set it slightly fast, then stop the mechanism with the crown and release again at the correct second. It didn't quite make the 404 club, but at six pounds plus shipping I am more than pleased with it. I suspect this is going to be on my wrist for a while. I just need to be very careful not to scratch it.

The tool mentioned I still own but don’t use it because it’s just too brutal.. I have been criticised many times but I use an vintage butter knife which I find has the strength and sharpness to get under the bezel. However for really tight bezels I suspect my method would not work.. The tools that look promising is the horotec tools see pics.

The 4 blade tool works great.... but not the way you think it would work. Initially I had problems with the 4 blade tool. It takes a lot of pressure on the knurled wheel to actually wedge under the beze and advance the bladesl. When having to use so much force, you lose tactile feedback. You can't tell when the blades are not engaged proper or when it has traveled so deep that it is touching the lip of the watch case. In any case, the risk of damaging the bezel, watch case or the tool is very real. The way I discovered to use the 4 blade tool safely is to use a small hammer to tap on the movable jaw of the tool. I first engage the blades of the tool into the gap between the bezel and the case and tighten it lightly. Then I use the small hammer to tap on the movable jaw. The small amount of backlash in the screw threads will allow the jaws to move forward. If there is any "give", you will feel the knurled screw loosen and will be able to tighten it a little more. Continue this tapping and tightening until the bezel pops off or the blades stop advancing anymore. If the blades stop advancing, it probable means that it has reached the lip of the watch case. In that case, you can wedge a thicker blade into the gap under the bezel and pry it off. I hope this helps.

We're now all rocketeers again! Probably a Russian influence operation on Putin's orders to get us to work with Raketa watches.

unfortunately in learning watch repair hairspring accidents happen a lot. technically we also need a picture looking straight down at the balance wheel in the watch so we can see if the hairspring is centered. Because it looks like you're over coil isn't quite where it's supposed to be at least the ones that I typically see. one of the problems you have with YouTube videos on lots of stuff is they make it look easy. This came up recently with someone having an issue with a mainspring they destroyed their mainspring while saying the videos made it look so simple. so unfortunately the videos that make it look so simple give the impression that you can just watch a video and fix your hairspring isn't going to happen. which you need to do is find something that's disposable and practice bending your hairspring. Practice bending it at the stud practice bending it up and down practice just bending it practice bending the stud out and then bending it back in just get a feel for what it feels like it takes time lots of time to be gutted hairsprings. Fixing over coils can take time lots of time I once spent hours of time fixing over coil because someone perceived that they were centering the hairspring and no they didn't do it right. then from casual observance as they hairspring is bent up invisibly it no longer looks straight from the stud outward it just needs to be bent or pushed downwards a little bit. But you also look at the overall hairspring and see if the entire hairspring is pulled up because they hairspring is up rubbing on the bridge. So basically the casual observance is its bent at the stud and it goes upwards doesn't look like you bent they hairspring itself in the peculiar bend hopefully. Then as I said it looks like the over coil in relationship the stud is in the wrong place know it's the stud is out too far I would draw you a picture of that but I really want to see the hairspring back in the watch. Then as far as fixing they hairspring at least the bending down that has to be done in the watch so you can see what you're doing providing you understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. The other of the over coil stud being out too far that will have to be done out of the watch at least that's the way I would typically do it. But no matter what your the eyes in the field you have to look at it you have to make the decision where you think the bend is because pictures sometimes can be misleading. Then if you do make abandon it doesn't fix anything make sure you put it back because we don't want to make things worse. But I was still practice on something first.

That was a much better video than what I was expecting. Then looking at the rest of the videos he has quite a few of them look interesting off to look at them when I have more time. Notice at the beginning he is a book and I stand corrected there are literally hundreds probably thousands of patterns of all requests. Which is why for this discussion we really need to know whether it's we can fix the existing hairspring because somebody had an accident or? Then the video does do a really good job of showing something and making it looks so simple where the skill set required to do that is a heck of a lot of skill set and that hairspring is of a very exacting nature anyway you can't just form one over coil on any old hairspring it has to be the right hairspring for the balance wheel.

To get an idea: https://youtu.be/ID2Ndl6igwM

You can also take a video on your phone and convert it to GIF.

It,s going to be a very difficult one. I have said this before but saying it again the only way to get to the large corporations is to engage them in the public forums. Once they are forced to answer questions to newspapers & MP,s etc. doubt by the general public will spread and this will cause sales to fall.