Beginner Help Please

[BotleyBouy]

I’m a complete beginner and would very much welcome any help and guidance with my early attempts.

I’ve bought two "spares or repairs" watches to experiment on. One is branded "LEWA" which I assume is a generic brand name and has what looks like a fairly basic mass produced movement (not jeweled). The other one is branded "KANDER Marines"; the automatic movement is marked "BREVETS". With 25 jewels it seems to be a much better quality movement than one in the LEWA. Amazingly both run and keep reasonable time.

Starting with the "LEWA", the stop/start buttons are a bit of a puzzle because they don’t touch the mechanism. The stop/start function does work so unless someone can suggest a better alternative I’ll solder a small piece of brass on the inside ends of the buttons. The plan is to start with this one, take it apart, give the movement a through clean and try(!!) to put it all back together.

As for the KANDAR, someone has taken the "Marines" part too literally and water has got into the case causing a bit of (hopefully) surface staining on some of the parts and is probably why the calendar isn't working. There's also a bit of staining on the dial. There was no ‘O’ ring under the back cover which no doubt explains the problem. Otherwise the case and bracelet are in good condition. This is clearly a more complicated job so I’ll leave this one until I’ve done the "LEWA". It looks like the crown & stem will need to be removed before the movement can be lifted out of the case. Do I need to remove the crystal to do this? If so how do I do this?

I have some basic tools on order, one of which is a crystal lifter.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Joe

[AdrianNOGUES]

Hello Botley,

To take out the movement from the case, you have to unscrew the set lever screw, which is the little screw on the top when you have the movement in front of you like on the first picture. You take out the crown, and you take out the movement. Sorry if I wasnt clear, I'm french....

I recommand you this website :


http://archive.horlogerie-suisse.com/Theoriehorlogerie/disassembling-mechanical-watch.html

There is the reassembling part too on their website.

Hope you will progress, don't worry if you break something ! Its normal, everybody has gone through that one day, and take care, be patient, and all will be good, if you cant do something and your starting to be angry, put that away a moment, do something else, calm down..


A. Nogues, watchmaking student.

[watchweasol]

Hi  I have enclosed two docs you might find useful just starting out.  A little advise when asking questions It is helpful if you can post pictures like you have already done and include the make and caliber of the movement as these are a great help in finding information.  The name on the dial is uasually the finishers name and the movement bought in.

TimeZone Watch School Home.html TZIllustratedGlossary (1).pdf

[FLwatchguy73]

The first movement is a manual wind Lapanouse. It is frequently used in simple stop timers . Not true a chonograph, but useful nonetheless. It looks as if the pusher spring is missing in yours. The attached photo where the red arrows points to one. The second is a BFG 158 automatic. I have one in a Dicura watch, it has been a real bear for me. Very challenging. The date is driven by a wheel that in my watch, the arbor which was supposed to be staked into the mainplate, had worked itself loose and the wheel was flopping around under the dial. the second photo lists those items

Lapanouse/Rego movement

BFG 158 Movement

[BotleyBouy]

Many thanks to all for your replies and for the links to further information.

FLwatchguy73 - the  case of my LEWA seems to be larger in diameter than the case your Lapanouse is in. Yes the spring shown in your photo is missing but there is a springy lever attached to the lever shown at 6 o'clock in my photo (see 1st photo). I think extending the buttons by a few mm may be the answer here.

watchweasol -  thanks for the links. Where would I find the caliber marked on the movement?

AdrianN - thanks for the link, very helpful. I'm not sure which screw you are referring to. Do you mean the one in the photo below (see 2nd photo). There are two wedges which look like they hold the movement to the case .

Thanks again gents.

[watchweasol]

Hi The caliber and makers marks are usually found under the balance or near it some are on the front plate, Quartz modules are on the cover plate (Miyota ) or on the plastic surround (ronda)

[FLwatchguy73]

In regards to your Lewa watch, the movement I believe, is held in place by the back cover of the case, The thin piece of steel that you highlighted is the return spring for the stop and start pushers. I found a better picture online and it is now clear to me how it works. You should try carefully bending the tabs out enough to better perform their function. Good luck.

[BotleyBouy]

I've managed to strip the movement and reassemble it. It ran for about an hour then stopped. So working backwards I removed the hands & dial (no difference) then "re-hung" the balance and that seemed to solve the problem. It's now been running for four hours so hopefully when I refit the dial and hands tomorrow it will be OK.

Thanks to all for your help.

 

[BotleyBouy]

Thanks for your help.

The "LEWA" is back together now and keeping pretty good time. Once I'm happy it's as good as it can be the watch will be on eBay.

I've finally managed to disassemble the "KANDER" and have put it back together loosely because I've lost a part. The tiny spring in the first photo pinged off somewhere and naturally I can't find it. I think it's something to do the the stem clutch. Can I get one from somewhere and if so where? The second photo shows the (?) caliber mark. It looks like a monogram of 'GBF' and the number 158 (although it could possibly be 758 - more like a '1' though).

Thank in advance.

[spectre6000]

On 4/30/2020 at 1:01 PM, FLwatchguy73 said:

The second is a BFG 158 automatic. I have one in a Dicura watch, it has been a real bear for me. Very challenging. The date is driven by a wheel that in my watch, the arbor which was supposed to be staked into the mainplate, had worked itself loose and the wheel was flopping around under the dial. the second photo lists those items

BFG 158 Movement

 

[FLwatchguy73]

16 minutes ago, BotleyBouy said:

Thanks for your help.

The "LEWA" is back together now and keeping pretty good time. Once I'm happy it's as good as it can be the watch will be on eBay.

I've finally managed to disassemble the "KANDER" and have put it back together loosely because I've lost a part. The tiny spring in the first photo pinged off somewhere and naturally I can't find it. I think it's something to do the the stem clutch. Can I get one from somewhere and if so where? The second photo shows the (?) caliber mark. It looks like a monogram of 'GBF' and the number 158 (although it could possibly be 758 - more like a '1' though).

Thank in advance.

Search BFG 158 spring on eBay, I found no less than a dozen of that spring listed for no more than $10 each including shipping.

[BotleyBouy]

Many thanks for such a prompt reply - very helpful. I'll order one. In the meantime, if you have a photo or a diagram of how it should be fitted it would be most appreciated. The reason I lost it was because I was probably trying to put it back in the wrong place.

Thanks again - Joe

[FLwatchguy73]

It is apart of the setting mechanism. See the image below, the red arrows show the spring in it's propper position. 

This photo is shared from another post by a fellow WRT member. See the post HERE.

[BotleyBouy]

Very helpful, many thanks again. I've ordered the spring but the guy is away until the 21st so it will be a couple of weeks before I can let you know if I manage to get the watch working.

Joe

[BotleyBouy]

I thought I'd finished the LEAW (Lapanouse) apart from adjusting the timekeeping. Unfortunately the tiny pin on the end of the stop/start lever has broken off. Do you know where I could find a replacement lever and what is the proper name for the part? If I can get one cheaply I'll replace it, if not I'll sell it as it is.

Thank you.

(I couldn't find anything which looked like a caliber number on this movement)

[spectre6000]

Assuming that's the end of the start/stop lever that comes in contact with the balance to stop it, that would be the hack. I'm about as new to this world as you, so others will chime in if I'm wrong.

Edited May 18, 2020 by spectre6000