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Introducing myself - Jody


JWSimm11

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Hello everyone,  My name is Jody and I am in San Antonio, Texas.  I became interested in watch repair a few months ago when I sent my  Longines Conquest chronograph purchased in 2012 to a watch repair guy because the chronograph pushers are frozen.  His diagnosis- replace the mainspring for $540 dollars-  it keeps perfect time....  when I received it back the case back fell off... it wasn't even tight! I question that diagnosis so I to do some research on mechanical watch repair.  This lead my Mark's videos and I was  hooked after watching the first one.   I am now working my way thru all of his videos... a new passion!!  Below is a picture of my watch after the back fell off.

9304D462-056A-412C-92F8-69127CB62883.jpeg

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Hi Jody welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have had a bad experience.  Pushers seize up due to ingress of water swat dirt, The fix the problem the movement has to be removed and then the pushers which contain small clips and springs. If you van supply photos of the movement and  the caliber number we may be able to find the tech sheet for your watch. It will give you a better understanding of what it comprises of before taking it apart. 

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On 11/5/2019 at 4:32 PM, JWSimm11 said:

when I received it back the case back fell off... it wasn't even tight!

He was probably "disappointed" that you didn't feel for his attempt, and so returned it hastily. You can check his professional affiliation looking at the AWCI directory online.

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2 minutes ago, yankeedog said:

Pushers? You could remove  the movement  from the case and wash  it in hot  soapy  water.it would  most likely  free them  up.rinse in distilled  water allow to dry thoroughly  before reassembling. 

Wash the  case that  is.

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I'm a little hesitant to open my watch.  I saw a quote somewhere that said something to the effect of..."don't practice/learn on your own watch".  My regular watch guy retired last month at 82.  He serviced my watch 3yrs ago and fixed a loose screw that was preventing the autowind pendulum from swinging... charged me a grand total of $35 dollars.  I may just send it to Longines,  they offer a full service including polishing the case and bracelet for $390.  I may try operating the chronograph manually bypassing the pushers,  that should let me verify it's the pushers and not the movement itself.   If I do I will post a video of my efforts.    

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52 minutes ago, JWSimm11 said:

He serviced my watch 3yrs ago and fixed a loose screw that was preventing the autowind pendulum from swinging... charged me a grand total of $35 dollars.

Interesting. What I see in your video is a phillips head screw holding the case clamp at an angle. I also see the case ring rotated a little. The stem should be centered in the cut-out part of the ring and the case clamps should be straight. I agree with Nucejoe --  I wonder if when your loose screw was replaced , the case ring shifted enough to block the pushers?

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So,  I was able to manually start, stop, and reset my chronograph.  I then went back to my jeweler who recently hired the two questionable people that said i needed a new mainspring.  We open the back,  he loosened the screws and adjusted the movement ring... and like magic the pushers began working as designed.  Saved myself $540.  Thanks to Mark and all his great videos because my jeweler is just that.. a jeweler and only knows how to change batteries.... but he has an AWESOME SET OF TOOLS

P.S.  Hey Mark,  kindly do a Public Service Announcement concerning ''CHEAP WATCHMAKER TOOL KITS".   It did serve on great purpose...I realized you need to actually spend a little money if you want decent tools....  <Lesson Learned>

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