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Getting started in Austin, TX


Sberry

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Hello -

I started getting interested in watches about 10 years ago when I interviewed a local watchmaker for a design project in school. I picked up a 1965 Seiko Weekdater around that time and have sent it away to be rebuilt once since then, wearing it daily, pleasantly ticking away on my wrist.

My wife's father passed recently and I was given his daily-worn 1976 Bulova Accutron in non-working condition. I finally got around to trying to sort it out and I was surprised to find that it needed more than a battery and also surprised when researching that the movement is so different and transitional. I would not really dream of tangling directly with the Accutron guts so I sent it off to someone with more direct knowledge and an appropriate parts-bin for it (works great, now).

Along the way, though, my own interest was piqued and I looked around for more simple watches that I could perhaps learn on, with the objective of being able to service them and know them. Soon I had several decades-old soviet watches in the mail from Kiev which I'm having fun wearing and restoring but would eventually like to service. 

Now I have an ST-36 on the way, a very-expensive set of small screwdrivers and tweezers, magnification, and I've sprung on this course bundle after surveying a few options. 

 I have a background of software, and lots of automotive projects large and small, but nothing so fussy and tiny as watch maintenance in my resume. Hoping that pure curiosity and interest can push me forward through any frustrations. Glad to join this community and please wish me luck!

steve

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    • glad it worked out, those ESA movements are obsolete but new old stock is still out there, now that you know the make/model you could also do a cross reference to see if something more current would line up with the dial feet and hands...for future use if needed 👍
    • I wish they would have done so in this case. The whole story went like this: I sent my speedmaster to an omega service center about 10 years ago (at that point of time I haven't even started watchmaking). After the watch came back to me it had only about 6 months wristtime until january 2024 (not fair for this nice watch but the other pieces of my collection want wristtime too 🙂). So my conclusion is that the barrel was already faulty when it came back from service, can't imagine that amount of wear in 6 months wristtime. In january 2024 the performance on the wrist was quite bad, so I decided to have a look by myself. I have to admit that I didn't check the barrel close enough as I thought it must be ok, couldn't have issues after official omega service. That was a mistake, I will learn from that. Follow the golden rule: Nothing is certain except death and taxes.
    • I am same as you oldhippy I won’t touch anything with a battery, I keep getting requests to but I just say I only do mechanical clocks, there are quite a few errors & omissions with the repair guide have a look at this. https://mb.nawcc.org/wiki/Encyclopedia-Subjects/Torsion-Clocks/Book:Horolovar-400-Day-Clock-Repair-Guide-10th-Edition-Errors-and-Updates
    • Nice experiment. As it will be no problem, please put a twice less mass (half of the two penies) and read the amplitude, will be interesting. I mean to determine what is the relation torque/amplitude.
    • parts touching that aren't supposed to touch definitely would cause an issue. there not supposed to be touching there supposed to be independent which means that @VWatchie is correct that the ratchet wheel has no effect on performance. so if the ratchet wheel in your particular case is touching that is definitely going to be an issue and needs to be addressed. did you know that the Swatch group service centers do not change mainsprings? Swatch group service centers have an infinite supply of spare parts so they just change the mainspring barrel the whole thing. Plus anything else the watchmaker doesn't like just gets replaced like anything related to the escapement they just replace the components because they can.
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