Anyone familiar with this jewel fixing? Ruby-Neutro-Shock?

[Klassiker]

I'm in the middle of servicing an old Standard 96 I picked up in an India-special Camy. All the ST96s I've seen so far have Incabloc shock protection on the balance jewels. This one has a different system, which I think I've identified as a Ruby-Neutro-Shock. I've attached a photo which I hope you can see. Apologies for the quality. It's taken from the screen of my cheap digital microscope. First question; have I identified it correctly? Second question; how do I remove the jewels for cleaning?

[Nucejoe]

Slightly raise two of the prongs ( least that will let you to)  wiggle out the jewels. Avoid excessive raise of the prongs ( fatigue) .

[clockboy]

If it was me I would clean it in situ and use an auto oiler

[Klassiker]

 

18 hours ago, Nucejoe said:

Slightly raise two of the prongs...

Thank you Joe. Have you tried this yourself and been successful? I'd considered doing it that way, but was very wary of breaking or irreversibly deforming something.

6 hours ago, clockboy said:

If it was me I would clean it in situ and use an auto oiler

Hi Clockboy. Probably safest, but I already tried that way and wasn't happy with the result.

Any other ideas? Someone on here must have come across these things before.

[watchweasol]

Hi  Had a look at some other forums regarding these and also in the bestfit catalogue, from information gathered its best to clean in situ using an ultrasonic as per Clockboys post.

[clockboy]

8 minutes ago, Klassiker said:

 

Thank you Joe. Have you tried this yourself and been successful? I'd considered doing it that way, but was very wary of breaking or irreversibly deforming something.

Hi Clockboy. Probably safest, but I already tried that way and wasn't happy with the result.

Any other ideas? Someone on here must have come across these things before.

If it has really old dried oil then it will need a good soak in a de-greasing agent first. If still not happy then you will have to bent a couple of the retaining prongs back to remove the cap jewel. My fear with this method is bending back the prongs and achieving the correct force to secure the jewel. 

[Klassiker]

OK, thank you clockboy and watchweasol. I will soak in lighter fluid and then give it a buzz in the ultrasonic bath (also in lighter fluid). By the way, how do you tell for sure if the jewels are completely free of contamination when cleaning in situ?

[watchweasol]

Hi    Try pegging with peg wood and inspect it after use, If you have a compressed air can just lightly give it a puff,  then under a strong loupe for final inspection you should see no specks

[nickelsilver]

If there's no feasible way to get the cap off I would strongly recommend against pegwooding the hole. If your wood breaks you're humped. And it do break.

[anilv]

Use something absorbent to wick out the cleaning fluid before you oil. Check for cleanliness before oiling. You may need to repeat a few times.

Anilv

[Klassiker]

Thanks again for all your help. I took the clean in situ option and with a second clean in the ultrasonic then wicking dry got it clean. Was too chicken to try bending the tabs. I didn't fancy using pegwood. I really cannot get a sharp enough point. Maybe I'll ask for tips in a separate thread. Also I was worried about flakes and breakage, as per Nucejoe's comment.

Anyway, here's a picture of the finished article. I wore it today and it loses a few seconds, but that's OK as I'll not be wearing it often.

[mlfloyd1]

Nice. Also try it with a nice dark green alligator strap.


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