Leaderboard

Another fan of Smiths watches here. Nice to have an English made watch. I'm currently working on a 19J cal 0104. I fitted a new crown. Just a generic one from Cousins Parts are usually quite easy to find should you have a mishap. I was making a final tweak to the hairspring on mine yesterday, when it snapped at the stud I looked in my drawer of Smiths parts. There was only one part in the drawer - a complete balance for an 0104 ! Couldn't believe my luck.

OK, there are different reasons for differences in rate in horizontal versus vertical position. But the main reason which is the base of the all this reasons is decrease in amplitude in vertical versus hiruzontal positions. One of the basic reasons has it's roots in the formula for the real balance-hairspring system own resonant frequency, which is long and complicated formula that shows that free oscillations actually are not isochronic. Here is a page copy from old book for watch regulation theory, which shows different cases of ange beginning/end of the hairspring and the way this angle affects the rate. Well, this is in Russian, but the vertical axis is 'gain/delay' in seconds per day and horizontal axis is the amplitude in degr. So, what is imortant here is that if the hairspring shape is chosen correctly, it will be able to compensate the escapement effect on the rate when low amplitude and thus relatively isochronical work will be acieved. And if the hairspring is simply 'vibrated', with no idea of what angle beginning/end will receive in the end, then easily a difference of entire minute per day in vertical/horizontal positions can be achieved. But, this is the designer's duty. If it is regular balance-hairspring couple from the manufacturer, then such problem would not exist. The most probable reason in You case would be that the hairspring touches something and thus gets shorter when big amplitude. This 'something' well can be the collet, if the hairsprinfg is not centered there. To see if it is the case, we will need picture of the hairspring where the collet is seen. So, remove balance from the cock, put it hairspring up and make a photo of the hairspeing

Ali Baba's movement fits and works - I managed to successfully disassemble and reassemble the watch (thanks to some youtube tutorials). The date numerals are oriented sideways (90 degrees rotated from the correct orientation) on the replacement movement, but I can ignore that. They were almost impossible to see anyway, so that "feature" doesn't really affect the appearance. I was afraid I might mangle the hands or damage the dial face, but I managed to avoid that. Thanks for your replies, everyone. I don't know if I'll end up fixing any more quartz watches, but it's nice to know I probably can if I need to. Peace to you all.

One thing to note Ross when ordering a crown. I have a Smiths Everest and Imperial - neither have pendant tubes, so I needed 'dustproof crowns' https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/dustproof-watch-crowns The section around the threaded tube is sprung loaded to form a seal against the case. I cannot see from the pics whether yours has a pendant tube. This is what I fitted to my gold plated case I wasn't aware of the other expedition watches. But I'm on the look out now More watches to look out for. BTW there's a 25J Everest AUTOMATIC for sale on ebay.

Hello. I've been asked if I could replace a crown on a watch. It is to large. Any one any idea of the movement please? Unfortunately the photograph of the movement is blurred. New phone today and I'm not used to the camera. Make Smiths. 15 jewel. Markings 606 and 12 underneath. Any help would be appreciated. Special watch given to a member of the 1960 Duke of Edinburgh Greenland expedition. Thank you

I have a homework for You. As You have 2 Flukes, find a resistor 1,2K, then use the one Fluke to measure the resistance of the resistor while with the other Fluke measure the current thru the resistor or the voltage on it. You will be surprised then what questiod did You ask in the first post.

…another Anglophile. I quite enjoy the brass movements. They age quite well…

That's battered, a lot of the plating has worn away . When the Cyma is serviced and lug straightened out, it will be getting a good tan leather strap.

For details of how to adjust centring the collett - see the attachment I added above - I'll add it again here. chicago lesson 19.PDF It gives detailed info how to adjust.

Smiths fan also. The crown should be more like this.

The grail of Smiths watch collectors imo and I'm sure in anyone else's would be Hillary's watch now in a museum never to be owned by anyone. Next in line would be any of the other 13 that were issued to the first Everest climbers whose party reached the summit. Unlikely these would come up for sale, i dont know if their whereabouts are known. Then we have the 27 Greenland issues, o e of which is on your bench ( I'mstill extremely jealous ). Take a moment to read the link i posted earlier. Ps. The crown does not match the crown issued. Who was it originally given to if you dont mind me asking.

Use a razor blade. SAKs not thin enough

Hi Gus can you show people the readings you are seeing. We all have different ideas what is good, bad , high , low ,running nicely, running freely etc. Those new to the hobby can have very different ideas, ideas that have been plucked from the crazy world YouTube . Watchmaking is very much a science a multitude of sciences in fact that requires accurate data to be able to understand any of it. So when we say something runs nice or free then its good to back that up with some extra information, like the balance oscillated for 15 seconds or one minute after releasing it from an angular rotation of 180 ° or 270 ° . It doesn't need to be technical in anyway, layman's words can describe what is happening just as well. Folk just need that extra bit of information fella ,as our interpretation might be different from your interpretation. Everyone is very helpful and friendly here so dont be affraid to sound silly if you think it does, nobody here judges, we all had to start somewhere matey Yup, i took the long way round to ask that

How long does the balance run for when blown?

Maybe the oversized crown is a feature of the Greenland expedition, so that the watch could be would while wearing thick gloves?

Ross, the crown has nothing to do with the movement, it has to be with the proper shape and have thread as te stem thread. So, You need to unscrew the existing crown and measure the stem thread, e.g. 0.9 or 1.2 mm. Then see if the case has tube or not, so You will know what type of crown is needed.

12.15 is the movement. Stem W2019

These as well

There's a section in "The Chicago School of Watchmaking" on centring the collett. chicago lesson 19.PDF

Do you think we as beginners and new to the hobby use the baseline of all the good readings we see from other watches and then wonder why one in particular causes us a problem. With the attitude that If most watches restore fine and run well then they must all do with a little help from us. There will always be a few that slip through the manufacturer's checks and quality control, the ones that take extra effort to make them work like they should have when they first left the factory. This watch that watchie is working on may have always produced the same readings since it was made. I would say thats to do with accessibility. With mecanical devices, you can often see the problem while its running but cant get to fix it, when you can get to it to fix you can't see exactly where the problem is so you have to guess.

The hairspring does have 2 mounting points. At the stud and at the collet, how the spring also leaves the collet has an effect on the hairspring's shape. Bent or twisted hs at the collet can be seen when collet is on a broach or balance complete in truing calipers .

Yes i bought it this afternoon at an antiques market, lots of great watches and many dial names i didn't recognise. I got myself a felatio as well.

Wheels are generally rivetted to the pinions, and disassembly would ruin them. Some are friction fit, but again, disassembly would likely lead to a weaker union after reassembly. Best to clean them assembled.

The linked 1940 military version is without an anti-shock setting. Your shock proof model is likely from the 50th. https://www.boldtimepieces.co.uk/product-page/1940s-ww2-ebel-atp-military-watch-british-military-issue-cal-99-originali

The 99 cal was in the Ebel ATP and a black face dial model was made though the one you have isn't recognised. The case is not of the usual military style which would look heavier,nor the hands but these may have been changed at some time in its life and there are always exceptions to expected designs. The caseback may shed more light with markings and militaries are generally of a screwback with good water resistance of the time.

nice watch, have not seen an Ebel that old in some time, could be worth more than we all think.....probably and older AS movement like a 1158, need to open..

I use this slow motion app, its free and can slow to 1 tenth of normal speed.

yours is working but mine still is not. I did receive an email from the message board notifying me that I changed my email address but that was it no more notifications at all.