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I come across this forum occasionally when I get stumped. I own a watch retail and repair store in Wilmington, NC called Times @ Hand. I work on quartz watches of all types. Movt swaps, battery changes, xtals, band repair, crowns, stems and things along that line. After 28 years I still run across a stumper at least once a week. Good to have a resource for these times.

Yes, I am new to horology but I have already spent a fair whack at cousinsuk, and I suspect I will spend a bit more before I finish. Watch repair is such a gentle, harmless occupation, saving things from being thrown away. So please, please stop using polystyrene "peanut" packing, which just adds to pkastic waste. There is much better paper-based alternatives. I will write to you, but you don't have an email address! xx

That looks right. As I recall, it is just a little hard. Once you get it part way, grab it with pliers and pull.

There were many other problems along the way. I had problems with the balance jewels, the hairspring was all sticky, then I kept having issues with the watch stopping when I put the face on. Turns out there's a friction ring that holds the date ring in place, and it was slightly interfering with the dial feet, causing the dial to put pressure on the hour wheel, stopping the movement. Drove me bananas for days tracking that down. I learned a lot, and I think I'm a better repairer for it, though. And I've got a lovely Christmas gift for a young man to show for it. I'm smitten by the pinstriped dial, and the new crystal really makes it pop.

I have a Certina quartz dress watch I would like to change the battery on but I can't figure out how to get the back off. I guess it's a snap on type but I can't see or find any groove for a case knife and the back is very tight. The watche used to belong to my father so I thought I'd check with you guys before wrecking any havoc.

There are pliers with shaped ends to do this job but as LWS said push it far enough to grip it with the pliers and pull it out. Use a stout tool to push, as you found out they are tight.

There is no reason why not but it’s not the correct way. The correct way is a new spring, the point at which the spring is folded will always be a weak point and may break again, requiring you to dismantle the watch and fit new. Best to do it now and save a little pain later.

Seiko braclet ? Yes mate correct the pin removal direction is to follow the arrow. You just have to get the round lip past the end of link. Push against the round lip from the inside of the link, not usually tight.

Hi It looks as if at some point the bridle broke away from the spring and the repair was to fold the end of the spring and slip the bridle into the fold. This would provide some friction to hold the spring but only as a temporary fix whilst awaiting the correct spring. not a permanent fix/

Individual hair springs are normally matched to individual balances since there will always be slight variations from one H/S to the next, and one balance wheel to the next. These variances can combine to either cancel each other out or to produce a significant error in the rate. This is probably why they are sold as "balance complete" which is a balance and H/S which are matched to each other. You may be able to slow things down by adding weight but I'm not sure how that would impact amplitude. My gut feeling says it won't be good but it would be good to hear from someone with a more solid understanding than I have.

My understanding is that the oscillation frequency of the balance is dependent on the combination of balance wheel and hair spring parameters, although I'm happy to be corrected if I have this wrong. If all else is in order then my guess would be that the H/S is too strong (or possibly too short) resulting in lower amplitude and a high enough rate for the TG to put it in the 19,800 range. The TG thinks it is a 19,800 because it is hearing 5.5 ticks per second, however the train is set up for only 5 ticks per second (18,000bph) so when it gets 19,800 beats in an hour the hands will have moved 66 minutes. This should result in a gain of 2 hours and 24 minutes in a 24 hour period so the numbers don't add to what you are seeing but I suspect that the TG is not getting particularly clean or consistent data to base its values on. Try manually setting the TG to 18,000bph and see if the trace corresponds more with what the hands are telling you. Did you vibrate the new H/S to the balance before you fitted it into the watch?

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum. We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. You live in a lovely part of the country.

Hello and welcome to the forum.. Have a look at the watch fix site. I still run by our administrator and contains an on line self paced course which takes you from starting out to advanced diagnostics and all things in be tween. Hi as you are about to start the Horological Journey I have attached a bit of reading for you/ TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf 263349340_TM9-1575WardepartmentTechnicalManual.pdf

Welcome to the WRT forum.

If I'm dismantling, just before cleaning, I don't bother as any marks will be removed in cleaning. On assembly, I wear them on one hand, so that I can handle larger parts (bridges) without leaving a mark. I find that cots which fit well, are much too tight at the top. So when I put them on, I cut through the top edge (the roll) with some scissors, which makes them more comfortable, and prevents "sausage finger"

Just in case you're viewing audience isn't familiar with your particular watch which were not pictures would be helpful so we can see what you're seeing.

Are there any numbers under the balance wheel that you can see? There is the symbol on the dial side that's helpful at times it put the movement number there but I'm not seeing it. Then there's something called a fingerprint system if we can clearly see the setting parts we can look at a book like a bestfit book and figure out what moment it is except one itsy-bitsy little thing. We need the diameter the movement pictures are so problematic as to we don't know what the diameter is and that means there's literally hundreds and hundreds of movements would have to look at because we don't have a size of the movement.

Lucky for you I believe Sellita dates its movements (at least mine for 2019, 2021, and 2022 are). Take a look next to the reference number to see what year your movement is from. Also, if the watch had been serviced at any point, there a slim chance that part got replaced with a bad part.

it is not a Rumour that Sellita modified the Weels, it is documented by Sellita look here https://www.google.ch/url?q=https://www.sellita.ch/scripts/calibres/images/IS%2005_Evolution%20calibre%20SW200%20vers%20SW200-1.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwig44XUqfX7AhVP4qQKHQw5DOwQFnoECAsQAg&usg=AOvVaw0QDdoNfkxEmBq3gOVDEgir hope this helps a bit, i like Facts..... regards, Ernst

I finally got round to replacing the crystal on this rather nifty sunburst blue dialled Orient 21 jewels "Crystal". I'm not sold on the strap, but it will do while I complete the testing of it.

I don't think finger cots were around in my day's certainly can't recall ever seeing them advertised in any of the leaflets I would get. I used Bergeon Rodico Cleaning Putty if my fingers touched parts.

https://blog.esslinger.com/stem-tap-mm-size-cross-reference-chart/

You need to acquire some female spring bars, but be warned, they are not easy to track down and when you do you need to make sure that they are the right size for the diameter for the male lugs. Cutting of the posts and drilling the lugs is not only challenging to do well, but will drastically devalue the watch.