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Posted

I came across a Nivada with an AS 1130 caliber inside. When I started to dismantle it I saw that there was some sort of end cap jewel on one of the jewels in the train bridge and not one that I would  expect from looking at the pictures on ranfft.de were the end cap jewel is fitted into a metal plate that is then screwed to the bridge. This seems to be some sort of metal fitting keeping the jewel in place. My questions are what kind is it and how can I disassemble it and assemble it again for cleaning and lubrication ?

 

 

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Posted

Hi  It is feaseably possible its some ones repair to the plate due to not having the correct jewel or the plate being damaged in some way and required drilling out and a jewel in a setting fitted. the tech sheets dont show it as standard, so I should treat it as jewel. Others may have a different opinion on this.  Attached sheets for AS1130

2448_AS 1130.pdf

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Posted

I could be wrong but it looks like some rubbed in jewels have been fitted. Providing they are working OK just clean and lubricate in situ. 

Posted

On  ranfft he makes the comment that there were several different bridge configurations. There's also a variant 1130N which doesn't have the metal plate on the escape wheel jewel. It's hard to see from the pic if it's just a plain jewel.  

AS_1130N.jpg

Posted

Perhaps you guys are correct and in that case it sure seems to be nicely done. The movement "worked" (as far as I can tell) when I disassembled it and I just wanted to give it a good clean and lubricate it. What do you mean with "in situ" ? 

Posted (edited)

Def a repair.  Have seen this many times esp on old 7 jewel movements where someone added a jewel for the escape pivots or even the sub second wheel pivots. In this case the jewel was set In using a vintage tool set pictured below, this tool is used to remove and install jewels. Essentially they are openers and closers. The one half of the set (openers) spreads the metal out away from the jewel to allow for removal. The other half (closers) push the metal back over the jewel keeping it in place. This tool is especially used when adding a jewel that was not there in the first place and needing to use the metal of the bridge or plate to retain the jewel, rather than screws or setting. so in order to remove the cap jewel you will need to get one of these. You can lubricate this jewel by going from the bottom and using an auto oiler to insert the oil into the pivot hole deep enough to reach the cap, but if you don’t have one then you will have to use something thin enough to get in there and not make a mess which rodico alone wont be able to clean up, thus requiring you to re-clean and oil. I find that have a very small set of round smoothing broaches, like ,005-.015 work pretty well for this. You can essentially use them as an oiler, they hold oil pretty well. Not the best way to oil but when there is no other way you have to do the next best thing, its better than no oil esp on the escape wheel.

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Edited by saswatch88
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Posted

I think this is original. It's not uncommon at all to have one or two cap jewels at the escape wheel. In many cases we see this in higher end watches but also in common grades. The jewel count of 17 was sort of a magic number and consumers wanted to see at least that to know the watch was of a certain quality. I think you'll find you have exactly 17 jewels in this piece, including the cap jewel on the escape wheel. Almost certainly there isn't a plate jewel for the center wheel.

 

I can't really see from the photo but there's a good chance the retaining spring is removeable. In some cases they aren't; in those, if the maker was thoughtful there will be openings around the jewel usually on the underside to allow cleaning fluids to get in and out. Not the best design, but it works.

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Posted

I was unable to remove the end cap jewel without risking breaking something real bad and I don't have an automatic oiler so I did as good as I could with cleaning and lubricating. The jewel had almost like a cup on the other side of the plate so I put some oil there after pegging. I'm pleased with the results I got from the watch timing machine so I will let it be for now.

 

I think it is a nice looking watch !

 

 

 

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