Watch reassembly difficulty?

[Len33]

To date, what is the most difficult and frustrating watch movement that you have had to reassemble?

Personally, my choice (So far)  would be the Harley Ronda 726 chronograph.

After stripping, cleaning, and reassembly, I discovered that the circuit was faulty and was in need of replacement. 

Luckily, I found one in Los Angeles USA.

The circuit is buried deep inside, so a couple of layers have  to be removed in order

to get at it.

Lining everything up, after, is where the nightmare begins.

Honestly, what a totally frustrating experience and how these things are ever designed and made in the first instance, is way beyond me!

A beautiful watch, though, and the rewards after competion make the effort well worth it.

Well, over to you, what is your nightmare?

 

[watchweasol]

Hi in my advanced years all of them!!!!!!.  No not quite

[AndyHull]

Tiny circuit boards present a unique challenge. Other spare parts are often easier to get, but good luck finding a replacement circuit board.

This one comes to mind.

It took far longer, and was far more involved than I had anticipated, and I generally consider myself quite adept at soldering.

My brother in law's HMT also took several sessions to fix, but in fairness, it was completely destroyed, and its value was purely sentimental, so neither was economically worth fixing, but both were very satisfying repairs, and both work perfectly now.

In my limited experience, quartz chronographs followed by small mechanical ladies movements are probably the trickiest in terms of the tiny parts involved.

Edited January 23, 2020 by AndyHull

[jdrichard]

Full plate pocket watches. Getting the pivots back into the jewels can be either easy or next to impossible. The game of nudge.


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[FLwatchguy73]

For me, the single most difficult  was a Sicura with the BFG 158 31/7 movement.  Finicky damn movement.  Also, timex m21 and m22 are maddeningly fiddly with everything  under one plate. Quartz movements have to most microscopic of gears add to that the fact the stepper rotors are magnetic and pull everything to them.... all add up top my personal choice to simply swap quartz movements. 

[Nikia]

For me, the single most difficult  was a Sicura with the BFG 158 31/7 movement.  Finicky damn movement.  Also, timex m21 and m22 are maddeningly fiddly with everything  under one plate. Quartz movements have to most microscopic of gears add to that the fact the stepper rotors are magnetic and pull everything to them.... all add up top my personal choice to simply swap quartz movements. 

I feel you. I gave up on a Timex M22. Still sitting in a box disassembled

[FLwatchguy73]

2 hours ago, Nikia said:

 

I feel you. I gave up on a Timex M22. Still sitting in a box disassembled

 

I mangled the pallet arm on an M22 because I put it in a bind trying to keep everything aligned while assembling.  I think I'm driving Jerseymo nuts with my incessant questions in regards to Timex's... lol.