Search the Community

Hello all, Wonder if anyone can help me out, I have a Longines Cal. 350 and after taking it apart I realised that both the winding pinion and clutch were missing, looking back at my photos I realised that they were never there. I have had a look on eBay, but I'm not sure what the part numbers are as the service manual I found does not list them. eBay has a few donor movements but they are very expensive. Are there any alternative calibers that I could use which would have a compatible clutch/winding pinion to expand my search? Pictures

Automatic not winding. Manual also goes rough. Rotor moves freely but it has difficulty pushing the spring. If wound runs normal 42 hours. Came back from Brazil (five years) , took all watches in airplane and many automatics now have difficulty? Can they have gotten covid? Never had watch issues so exploring . Others with issues. Dubey aerodyn X2 this is the GMT alarm. Dubey Worldtimer works fine. Citizens x2 bullheads, x2 8180 and the diver as well issues (not sure number is correct) issues, the Seiko 6139s x4 steady as they go....no issues Omega coaxial all good. ???? Very upsetting. Let's focus on this one first. As here the winding is rough, the others this seems fine and don't have the glass back to validate .

I got this Longines winding watch from my mother-in-law many years ago. She has since passed away, so I can't ask her if it ever worked for her. I'm sure I asked at the time, but that was a long while ago, I don't recall her response. The hands never budged from 12:00 (or whatever time you set it to). I took it to a jeweler twice, and paid $60+ each time to figure out what was wrong, but neither of them could fix it. I'm thinking that this one might be outside my scope (obviously...I'm a total novice at this and they were both professionals), but thought I'd go ahead & check with y'all and see what ideas you had that I might look for. Perhaps they were trying to keep their time down to spare me their cost. There is zero rush on this, I will probably keep picking it up and thinking about how to tackle it as I gain more experience repairing other watches. It's fun!!!

I am new to watch repair, but have successfully repaired, cleaned and oiled several pocket watches. This picture is from an Elgin pocket watch that I am currently working on. The piece indicated by the arrow, obviously assists in toggling between winding and setting via the clutch pinion but, as you can see, there is no screw in the hub to hold it in place. However, in the bridge, above the piece indicated, is a small screw in a threaded through-hole that is not retaining any other pieces and, at first glance, appeared to be doing nothing. I assume it is there to somehow retain the piece shown, and possibly adjust the resistance/tension of that piece. I've haven't seen one like this yet. What exactly is the mystery screw supposed to be doing, and how do I adjust it to do so?

I just serviced a 2804-2 which had the problem that when I wound the watch every once in awhile it "slipped". After some advice from a watchmaker it seemed it was a problem with the winding pinion (clutch) and the sliding pinion - their teeth were worn. So I changed them with a set from a 2842 (from a swatch auto). Under the 15x loupe they seemed identical. Also, it solved the problem, there is no more slippage. I presented the above because I want to ask your opinion for the problem that I have now: When I wind the watch the crown turns quite hard IMO. It happens in both directions (both when winding the mainspring and when turning the crown back - when the sliding pinion slips over the breguet teeth on the winding pinion). The problem is also present with the crown wheel off (the one that engages the ratchet wheel). I put silicone grease on the case tube - it didn't help. Do you think the crown is the problem - namely the rubber gasket in the crown - maybe it got old and hardened? Or do you think it's the pinions that I replaced? Thank you, Bogdan

I just purchased a Waltham Selfwinding watch marked B-251K on the inside of the case back. First of all, it is marked 25 Jewel on the face and 17 Jewel on the rotor, which I found odd but its nothing I haven't seen before, and that's where the trouble started. The watch runs, and runs very well. However, the rotor is wobbly and loose that it contacts the balance wheel at times in its travel. The rotor does not attach with a screw, but rather with a sort of sliding clip. I am no watch repairman, more of a tinkerer who has opened and successfully repaired and maintained a watch or two in my life. I'm beginning to think this might be the wrong rotor, but it appears to be a perfect match, even drops in perfectly, but it is so loose it practically falls out. Ideas anyone?