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I was telling my wife how the spring mysteriously appeared and she said, "I forgot to tell you that I found the spring on the floor this morning and put it on your mat. I didn't know if it was just a scrap piece of wire but picked it up just in case". My belief in watchmaking elves has now been destroyed.

Just a quick update. I’ve made some changes to one of the watches. I’d be interested to know whether it’s an improvement or not? My partner doesn’t like it at all!

Not so much an achievement, just a standard COA, but look at this movement, dial, and case combo! Elgin was, obviously, a mass producer of watches but this is their finest work, imo. From 1904, the fit and finish is as nice as any I’ve seen from anywhere. The pallet stones are even curved on top, reminiscent of Patek. Then the dial is an amazing “fancy” dial, too….gotta love it

It's a shame this answer was here otherwise I was going to go with there's a black market on Springs and once they're out of the watch their fair game. Kinda like if you leave your house for more than a week or two someone will come in and scrap all the copper. I don't know how prevailing that is in the US but I watch videos of people exploring in the UK and copper thefts are really big and so our little tiny springs you leave them out of the watch somebody will come and steal them and sell them for scrap metal. But as much as that would make an amusing story which it does the reality is is usually best not to clean certain things if you think they're going to escape from the basket you have them in. Then yes depending upon the cleaning machine baskets some of them are designed that they won't let Springs outlet. But not all of them and the little baskets it's usually the really expensive ones are good and the cheaper ones are not the good for everything else but they're not good for the Springs.

I never put them in the cleaning machine! If they are dirty, I clean them with one-dip.

Hello and welcome to the forum In answer to your question, it would be better to start a new post. The problem with tagging on to old posts is they get overlooked. attached is the parts sheet should you not have one. 2436_Oris 701,702,704,705.pdf

Curiously enough I have one of those too.... But.... the "strawberry" cutter (top) doesn't fit the carrier (bottom), and the reamer (bottom) doesn't fit the top carrier; they are not interchangeable. I also have only 1 cutter as well

I found another jewel which looks OK - it takes some searching through a pile of jewels to find one with the correct diameter and hole size. (Easier than searching a pile of stems for a match!) It will have to do, as Cousins don't stock the size I need - 0.10 x 0.90 mm (as best as I can measure). The hole jewels fitted have parallel hole sides, not the 'olive' shaped holes as in the Seitz jewels. That must have quite an effect on amplitude with the watch vertical.

Exactly that is it. B. also sells a 4.7mm broach with 3 small collets for small drills. Frank

To measure the hole you need to measure the pivot to measure the jewel a micrometer could work but the jewel must be absolutely straight when measured. This is the correct tool for the measurements of the old jewel and pivot. Jewels can be purchased from Cousins by size. To fit the new jewel you need a jeweling tool to set it to the correct height.

The cheaper baskets do have a larger mesh size than say bergeon baskets. Is it the screw apart brass baskets ? . Ive moved away from those, personally a think too heavy and the large amount of the chunky brass threaded section could cause some damage to delicate parts. The ones with lids on seem safer as long as the lids are a good fit. I have a tendency to clean the springs by hand, they dont take a lot of cleaning and then i always know where they are. Clean them and then i pop them in a contact lens case to keep safe, and the balance jewels and springs on the other side.

Replacing jewels requires accurate measurements of the old jewel the jewel hole and its setting. To fit and replace you need the correct tools because without them failure is highly likely.. Tools required: a bench top micrometer and a jeweling tool.

Those pins can bend when cleaned manually with short and stiff brush. I did this once. I was too used to cleaning a mainplate with a pallet bridge and no separate pins.

Sandoz, Camy, West end watch and Favre Leuba all of Swiss origin are still being made in India. To make it more confusing, Sandoz Singapore, Sandoz Hong kong and Sandoz spain all produced qualities inferior to Swiss. A joint production of good quality Cyma also Sandoz& files , Sandoz& Cie are all familiar brands. Rgds

Unlikely but it might left the factory that way. Always worth doing a escapement check just to see if there is a problem. Then I've often seen people talk about moving the banking pins to increase or decrease lock but as shown from the image it also screws up the horn clearance. Which is why you should adjust for the horn clearance and then move the jewels not the banking pins. Then as were discussing moving banking pins the Swiss actually make a tool for this.

I I have one. I have to be honest I can't remember where it came from and it is totally unmarked so I can't tell you much about it. It has a tapered hole that accepts the Seitz reamers, is 4.7mm diameter, and fits my MKS staking frame perfectly. So they do exist.

Hi, Levine: I could be wrong but my understanding is that there is a piece in the staking kit for punching out the balance staff as well as a piece for re-establishing the rivet once the new staff is in place. I have watched this same procedure done by a couple of different folks on YT and apparently the toughest part is getting the hairspring, et a,l dismounted to remove the broken balance staff. Time is a craftsman's finest tool, so use as much as you like. Best Wishes, Bruce