Jump to content

Greatings from Santa Rosa, CA


Recommended Posts

Hello,

I am new to watchmaking/restoring, but not new to old or special watches in general.

I started to get into collecting watches in the late 60tes when I was in my late 20tes. Started in 1968 with an original Junghans Flieger Uhr, issued to German F104 pilots by the German Government. Lost that one in Brasil in 1969, when going for a swim at the Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro. Came back from my swim, PanAm flight bag, wallet and watch gone. Next was an Omega Moonwatch in 1972 but lost it in Russia while working there in 1976. (worked in the Machine Tool Business). Owned and sold several other very special watches over the years. Still have my original 1973 Pulsar II, the first of the digital watches, a Junghans chronograph from the 50tes and a Russian Poljot Flieger Chronograph from the 90tes. (Replica of the Junghans Flieger Uhr). Still, wear it daily.

I always liked Chronographs. Bought another Omega Moonwatch in the 80tes, but sold it again later on. Had another Junghans Flieger Uhr, but sold it again. Was too fragile to wear... I like to wear my watches  It seems I to buy and sell them... Not a good thing....

I also have a 1959/1960 Tyssot Seamaster Chronograph with Lemania movement, from my father. But it's not running, trying to get it restored. Needs a new crystal and I think a new mainspring. 

I am new to the watch repair/restoring hobby. I was more into classic car restoration as a hobby. But have sold all my old cars and drive a Tesla M3.

Recently, I got interested in classic watches again, not to own to collect them, but to work on them and wear them... Also, still working on cars, but on other people's cars.

So, now I am here on this forum to learn how to work on old watches... Already fixed a few, getting my hopes up to be able to restore my fathers Tyssot... Just need better and more tools to do it right..

May need your help soon...

 

Rainer

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, welcome. At the time I started becoming less than comfortable working on cars, I started to work on watches. Big machines and little machines, right? What I like about watches is that they are such incredible machines, like classic cars, but without the grease and knuckle-busters. Plus, you can store many without having to own a barn.

Are you familiar with the NAWCC (Nat'l Association of Watch and Clock Collectors)? You can usually find a good selection of tools being sold at there various Marts, etc. That's how I got most of my tools. And while not an extensive selection, I have enough to mess up a lot of watches with them. (Half kidding.) Good luck with your watch-work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Yeah ive watched that a few times before,  i couldnt find my old school dividers to scribe it up 😅 Yep thats the guy i bought a roll from .
    • Yes, "Sold out" is difficult to understand. There doesn't seem to be a lot going on. It's been nine months since any new video was published on the Watch Repair Channel. The Level 4 course on watchfix.com has been in progress for what feels like forever (several years!?). Maybe Mark's enterprises aren't doing well or perhaps already so profitable there's nothing much to motivate him for more material. Or, perhaps these days he's more into crochet. The real reason is probably something entirely different but it would be nice/interesting to know. I don't mean to sound gloomy or pessimistic, but I wouldn't be surprised to be met by an HTTP 404. Every day feels like a gift. Speaking of watchfix.com I've been postponing the "Level 5: Servicing Chronograph Watches" course for a very, very long time. Anyway, I just enrolled on it so it's going to be very interesting to see the videos. I must say, IMO there's nothing really that can compete with Mark's courses when it comes to presentation and video quality. It's simply world-class and makes me associate with some really expensive BBC productions.
    • Steel has some funny properties, or at least counterintuitive. The modulus of elasticity is effectively (not exactly, but close enough) the same for steel that is annealed and hardened. What changes is the point of plastic deformation* . If the movement of your spring doesn't pass that, it should work fine. It looks a little thick, I would thin it a bit maybe from the main body out about halfway, maybe 10-20% thinner (not in thickness, along its form). But if it works it works!   *So- if you have two bars of the same steel, one annealed, one at 600 Vickers (general hardness watch arbors might be), clamp them to a table so the same length is hanging out, and put a weight on the ends, they will bend the same amount. But if you continue to add weight, then remove it, at a point the annealed bar won't return to its original straightness. That's the point of plastic deformation. But up to that point, as springs, they are the same. However- their wear characteristics will be very very different. And getting the hardened bar past its point of plastic deformation takes a lot more effort.
    • @JohnR725 now that you've mentioned it. This is actually the second aftermarket spring (same place and brand) I ordered as the first one broke. The eye on which the arbor pulls on, broke off on the first spring after the first wind, and also it was a bit to large for the arbor. Looked like on one the second picture in the 2nd group. The second one was exactly the same, I had to bend it a bit, to give it a more prominent curve to the end of the spring so that the arbor catches the eye.  Also I believe both were 5-10mm shorter. Not that I writing that, I feel a bit dumb, as the spring might actually been the problem all along, although its advertised as a substitute to the original...     
    • The CS70 is the only one they show as annealed.  A further search on ebay, I found CS75 and CS100 annealed carbon steel strips  e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314072784422
×
×
  • Create New...