Michael1962

You are right. A compass needle does have its own inherent magnetism so an iron or steel object will affect the needle. If you were able to swap the ends of the item that you are testing so you would in effect be changing the magnetic polarity, the needle should reverse so its opposite pole is attracted to the item. Going to be extremely difficult with something like a circle. In essence your test of trying to pick something up (smallest screw as you said) is probably a far better indicator.

@oldhippy The question that I referred to in my previous post was to the seller. That is who did not reply. I wasn't about to just fork out money without having any real idea as to what I might be getting. I will just have to keep working on the clocks I have for now and keep looking.

Welcome to the forum Livy. Any other photos of the watch looking at the dial? Be nice to see.

Welcome to the forum. Another Seiko owner that started me looking into this as well.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum Jacky.

I asked whether any of the watch or clock parts were identified or marked etc and never got an answer. Didn't go any further with it all. I think it was $80 for the lot which maybe got two clocks which could have been used as learning and practice and maybe some watches for everyday use, but I am pretty sure that just about everything in the plastic containers could pretty safely be classified as junk.

Someone else on here mentioned Metal Rescue and how it cleaned up some rusted parts that he had. I was able to get some here in Australia and it does a pretty good job of removing rust but not removing metal. Clean up with wire will afterward if you need to.

Ahh. Another case of 'The part that went sproinggggg.'

Welcome to the forum. 'Sent 6 pocket watches.' How come that doesn't happen to me?

Welcome to the forum Andrew.

I would still pick some brains of the people on here as to what can be done. I would have thought soldering then shaping would be a fairly easy task? I would be looking at slightly 'V'ing out the crack, soldering and then reshaping. The pivot is a different issue, but a clockmaker should be able to do this I would have thought?

Does the crack go right across the arm or just part of the way?

Do you have a good known flat steel surface? If we ever had a plate or something like that which behaved oddly, we would put it on a surface table and measure or test for flatness. With the balance cock, it steps up after the screw hole before continuing on to where it holds the balance staff jewel. If you remove the cock and can place it on a flat surface, you can then work out a way to test the distance between the leg of the cock and the flat surface. from the end to the step and across the cock. If it is bent or twisted, you should be able to find it. You may need to measure seve

He may know his way around, but I am going with ’Familiarity breeds contempt.’