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Hi folks, I am working on my second restoration, a really beat up Waltham A-11 (6/0 '42 movement). I've gotten the easier stuff cleaned and assessed and now I find myself staring down the balance and hairspring for cleaning and realizing that I'm not sure if the hairspring is even viable. Here's the stuff I'm hoping wiser, more experienced hands can help me with. 1. I was reading about some hairsprings having a Breguet coil - looking at the parts list for this watch, part # 26218 is listed as Balance, Complete D. R. Breguet. Is that indicative that this watch should have one? 2. If it should have the Breguet coil, does this look like it's intact? I couldn't find any good reference images for what it should look like. 3. I circled two spots (labelled A and B) in the first image. Are these areas where bends should be? I'm thinking A is damage and B is part of what a Breguet coil would look like? Curious to hear what more experienced eyes think. 4. Looking at the balance staff, it looks like maybe the bottom pivot is slightly bent? If so, is it bent enough that it would cause issues? Can pivots be straightened and if so, what kind of tool is suggested? 5. How the heck does the block at the end of the hairspring attach to the balance cock? I unscrewed it fine, but I can't figure out how it would reattach. The first watch I fixed was an AS 1187, the hairspring nub(what is this block called?) just slotted in and tightened, but I don't see how the mechanism would work here. Final image is of the underside of the balance cock. 6. Last question - I have an ultrasonic cleaner, tons of 99% IPA and warm soapy water. My understanding on a watch this old was not to put the hairspring or pallet fork in IPA as it could dissolve the shellac on the jewels. I don't yet have access to OneDip yet, are there safe alternatives to use? I'm in Canada, if that matters. I've read a lot of threads with folks saying they use lighter fluid, is that actually safe? So far, this watch is getting the following replaced: Mainspring (old - blue steel with a decent amount of corrosion present) Barrel arbor (hook is gone) Hack (broken) Escape wheel (broken pinion) Click spring (was entirely missing when the watch arrived) Crystal (the original one is comically yellow and spiderwebbed with cracks) It's been a fun journey so far, I'm really enjoying the slow, intentional work and care needed to do this properly. Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can share.

Hi all, Longish time Swedish lurker here, who finally have joined this community for real. I am still in the beginning stages of learning watchmaking, meaning that I recently successfully disassembled and reassembled my first ETA 6497, primarily using tools inherited from my late father-in-law who was a professional in the Stockholm area back in the 50s and 60s. Here to learn more and hopefully share tips and tricks in the future as I hopefully get slowly better... Best regards, /Lesuedois

Hi, so love to be here. I recently got into watch repair. To be honest been few months of watching videos and I been interested in watches but never tried before. Now I decided to take the leap. Bought some basic tools and made my own watch. first time putting one together. Since then I been disassemble and assemble some older watches and love it. Love every process of it. For some reason love the challenge on making one work or cleaning it. It’s wow. I don’t know how to explain other than time flys by and I don’t notice. I can spend hours with these little guys. I drop one of the hands by mistake and kinda bend the seconds hand a bit. I just reorder the replacement lmfao. But I should get it this week. I didn’t even bother to order one before because well I got busy and watch works perfectly. . But as soon as the new gold hands set arrives I will change it because I like gold color and will go better with my dragon logo

Hi all. I'm in western Canada. A year ago I found myself unceremoniously semi-retired before I really planned to be. Thanks Covid. Semi-retired = unemployed in your early 60s. So I started watching Mark's videos, then Retro Mike's videos and got really interested in watchmaking. (I'm a tinkerer; IT systems, Electronics (tube, solid state and microcontrollers), I build and repair guitars (acoustic and electric), I brew beer, design typefaces, and probably do a few other things.) So, yeah, tinkerer. But now a job found me, so I'm no longer living the frugal life. I can probably even afford some Mobeus oils and some Bergeon screwdrivers. I have a few old watches from my youth that need attention. Only one is automatic, so that's where I'll focus my time. It's a 23 jewel 'Solar' brand watch from about 1970. These were sold by the large Canadian department store chain called Eatons back then. Solar was an Eatons house brand. The watch was Swiss made and has an AS movement. It runs but barely. It needs a service. Time to get at it (after I gear up).

Hi guys, Here comes the noob with a noob question.. today I was doing some research about my Orient cal. 20471. I found a video of a guy called Doctor Watches and Clocks. Long story (and video) short: the click of that caliber is a tiny spring that sits below the rachet wheel and you can't reach the click without removing the rachet wheel. In the Level 2 of Mike's course he talks about letting down the main spring before disassembly the movement, and how to do it with a "normal" swiss type click (can I refer to it that way?). But how am I suppose to do it with that kind of click? Thanks in advance

Hello, my name is Fraser and I’m new to the watch forum. I am relatively new to watch collecting and learning about them. Any help with questions simple as they may be will be much appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I am new to watch repair and have mainly been servicing simple eta movements for my own I have always wanted a chronograph watch and have found a watch based on a valjoux 7750 with a broken case. I want to put the movement into a new case but the dial is a day date and the movement is date only. I have sourced all the parts and have fitted them to the movement to add the day function. The donor watch didn't use a dial washer / foil, do I need to use one now I have added the day indicator? If I do need a foil, what size and where from? Thanks very much Stuart

Hey guys need some advice and a talk about my watch, actually it is my dad's and want to repair and gift him on his birthday,as I am falling a little short on money I hope I could fix this myself!

This will be more of a stumble-through than a walkthrough, since it's my first watch disassembly (and hopefully reassembly). I plan to do it as a series by replying to this post, so I can get feedback and help as I go (if anybody is interested). I hope that's OK (it will be slow going). I couldn't find any walkthroughs of a Venus 170, so at least I'll contribute some pictures with what I learned along the way. The watch: Purchased from goodwill online. Broken/yellowed crystal, hands bent, corrosion on the case and chrono buttons, dial very marred. Some power in it, as pressing the button moved the chrono second hand until it bumped against the main minute hand, which was bent. Main second hand bent to the dial as well. I did not wind the crown. Balance oscillates. Watch arrived with the back off. Crystal removed with tweezers, and hands removed with the movement still in the case so I wouldn't damage them by fumbling around. Once I had the case screws out I was expecting a movement ring, but there was none. I figured out the case has a bezel and the movement comes out the front. Couldn't find my bench knife but the bezel came off easy with some pressure from a screwdriver at a gap near the 2oc lug. Once the movement was out I was expecting dial screws on the side, but there were none, so I had to learn about dog screws and figured out their locations by studying the backs of cal. 170 dials for sale on ebay. Note the chrono bridge looks unlike any other pictures of a 170 I've found online (including the one other Empire 170 I found), and it's not stamped. Venus logo is not on the balance, but on the other side of the movement (see attached). Perhaps this will help date the movement? Here are the results of these first steps with additional pics attached.