wls1971

Yes I really miss the watch, but I was far more gutted at the police response to the theft, the person who took the watch was caught through c.c.t.v evidence, I had to give a statement about the theft, the thief was apprehended and then given a official police caution which amounts to nothing its a get out of jail free card that the police chose to use in this country which allows them to record the crime as a solved crime and not have to do anything else, it is just used to make the crime figures look good, leaves the victim with nothing and the criminal free to carry on as before. all the thief has to do is admit the theft and agree not to break the law for a year. I then decided to pursue a civil claim against the thief but the police would not release their name and address for me to do that, saying that they had a right to anonymity and it would be a breach of data protection, both these are just excuses by the police, they did not have the right to withhold the information from me, so I had to threaten the police with legal action, they then released the name and address. The standard of justice in this country has gone to the dogs I would emigrate if I was 20 years younger than I am, I fear we will soon be on Donald trumps Sh@7H@le list. End of rant !

I've never used the Longines archive extract but it has to be applauded for offering this as a free service, I have however used the Omega extract service which has a charge attached to it, that service was also good and included the Model number and Name year of manufacture and which retailer originally sold the watch and in which country. I have also had good experiences with a company called Eberhard many years ago, I needed some parts for a old chronograph I bought at a local auction I needed a full set of hands a winding crown, and oval pushers, on the off chance they may still have these I wrote to them with the serial number and received a very nice letter back from them telling me that my watch had been manufactured in 1938 and was a two button 18ct rose gold chronograph and that they did have the parts and would be happy to supply them for 65 Swiss francs. Try doing that with any of the large manufactures, their response was a pleasant surprise. I had the watch for many years but sadly I had it stolen about 5 years ago.

The warm water has worked, 3 days of waiting sorted in 30 seconds in warm water should have thought of it earlier

No I'm sure these are mercury its a very good quality french clock I dont think they are replacement mercury vials I may put them in some slightly warm water and see if that helps. Thats the problem they only seem to be readily available in America and I think it would be illegal to try and import mercury via the postal service into England and they are also very expensive.

No its stubbornly stuck at the top of the tubes although a few blobs have started running down the tubes

I have a french four glass clock that has a mercury pendulum, I have noticed that the tubes where placed upside down I have placed them the right way up, how long does it take for the mercury to run to the bottom of the tubes because its not exactly free running stuff, I think it would be pointless trying to regulate the clock until it has is this correct ?

There are many designs of watches for the blind most of the old mechanical watches where already using the method you describe a glass and bezel that lifted out of the way and allowed the user to feel the position of the hands in relation to the raised numerals on the dial they where fitted with hands that where far more robust than on a normal watch. I do however have a pocket watch from around 1880 that uses a different method in that it has a pin at each hour this pin is either raised or lowered so at 10' o'clock the pin at that hour is raised at eleven o'clock the pin drops and the 11 o'clock pin raises via means of a spring loaded disc under the dial, the raising and lowering of pins is instantaneous on each hour, this means that only one hand is needed for the minutes. I think that most Blind people now would have a quartz talking watch which of course would not use hands. There are plenty of examples of watches for the blind on the web, good luck with your project.

Spring steel is available off ebay it comes in various size rolls and thicknesses, when I've made them in the past i have used the original as a template I cut the basic shape and size using a piercing saw from the stock then file to a neat finish any 90 degree angle bends can be put in by clamping in a jewellers vice heating and tapping into shape with a hammer, I drill holes using a sensitive bench drill but you can use a dremel, you would heat the steel to blue it. I have made both steel and brass springs for various clocks. Spring steel can be bent when heated to a cherry red and keep the shape you bend it into. You should be able to get a near match from Cousins the only ones that are impossible to find on fairly modern clocks are the circular ones used on Elliott clocks that loop round from the right to hold the click on the left, for some reason every supplier sells one's that are looped from the left.

Cousins sell click springs, but they are easy to make with basic tools if you cant get the right one, the ratchet wheel on the clock you have shown looks worn you can get those from Cousins as well.

Most would suggest that like the clock you serviced not all are so can this be judged a error or simply a quirk of the movement design ?

No baskets are not a universal size and vary from maker to maker as do glass jars, I would walk away from those if they do not come with baskets or jars you could probably get a full set up of ebay at only slightly more than that purchasing every thing seperatley can soon add up. https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-L-R-MASTER-WATCH-JEWELRY-PRECISION-CLEANING-MACHINE-JARS-BASKETS/273729671733?hash=item3fbb8f5235:g:ORoAAOSwJItcdFAu https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-L-amp-R-Master-Watch-Cleaning-Machine-/123667948632?hash=item1ccb2f2458%3Ag%3ASpMAAOSwdC5cdxac&nma=true&si=S8xUIy7ISRYEcR4YgSuN4Ith6kA%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

It seem's it's not unusual for this maker for the key holes to be out of alignment with one another, it must be to do with the basic geometry of the movements, a good deal of the ones on the web exhibit similar characteristic some to a more alarming degree than this clock.

5 adjustments is not the same as adjusted to five positions it is thought to mean that the watch is adjusted to heat, cold and three positions on these Elgin grade 573. A watch stating 8 adjustments would be a watch that is adjusted to 5 postions, heat, cold, and isochronism.