Jump to content

The Beginning Of The End

icius

By icius
in Your Watch Collection

 Share

Recommended Posts

icius Watch Enthusiast

icius

Posted
Posted

Hello all,

 

I just want to start out by saying thanks to Mark for sharing his knowledge and expertise via Youtube and this forum. Your videos are excellent and I never would have been introduced to this wonderful world of watch repair without them.  

 

It's great to meet you all.  I can see already that this forum is going to be a great resource and community for those who share my new interest (illness?)

 

So, what I wear every day.  Right now it is this:

 

Seiko 5M62-0B20

 

post-752-0-19311800-1426437518_thumb.jpg

 

This is the watch that started it all.  I've had it for years and it was a birthday gift from my wife.  Really my first somewhat decent watch.  Some time ago, it stopped working.  Though my googling I determined that it might have been the storage cell/capacitor and that this is a common problem on these after some time.  I saw that they had replacements online that were easy to obtain and I thought "hey I can fix that".  

 

This led to the purchase of my first watchmaking tool, a Jaxa Case Opener.  

 

So I replaced the storage cell and the watch was working again.  Hooray!  Then recently it stopped working again.  More googling let me to Mark's channel and this video on determining why a Seiko won't hold a charge:  https://youtu.be/hngZxIrPVko

 

I became completely hooked on Mark's videos and watched all of them!

 

This led to the following work on this watch:

 

1. Complete disassembly, cleaning and lubrication

2. Replacement of stem and crown (don't ask)

3. Replacement of the crappy plastic crystal a local mall kiosk installed a while ago with a sapphire crystal

4. Solder fix of the induction coil (which was the actual problem)

 

So many tool purchases later, the watch is fixed and working great and I have the satisfaction of knowing it has been completely serviced.  As you can see from the many scratches, she has had a somewhat rough life on my wrist.  The finish is chrome and gold plate so I'm looking for ideas to gently polish out some of the scratches without breaking through either finish.

 

I also have on my bench these two:

 

post-752-0-11023100-1426438621_thumb.jpg

 

I can't seem to accurately date either.  The Waltham has an ST 1686 movmement in it.  I am waiting for a new balance to arrive to complete it.  It will also receive my first re-lume.

 

The Benrus is even more of a mystery as it appears to be a re-dial.  I can't even find a dial like it anywhere so not sure what it is, I just liked the dial. 

 

The Benrus has a Durowe 7420/3 movement in it.  Sadly I broke the hairspring on it removing it from the balance (lesson learned, make sure your hand removers are actually under the collet and not just resting on the hairspring before prying)

 

Anyone have a hairspring/balance from a Durowe 7410 - 7420 lying around? :)

 

So that's my story so far.  I have five more watches arriving over the next few weeks which I will share when they arrive (did I mention illness?)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • DDean
      First Project Already A Bit "Sideways"

      By DDean · Posted

      I decided that it was time to tackle the piece that I'd set aside as my first project. The subject in question is a Gruen Veri-Thin pocket watch.  It winds and "runs".  On the time grapher, it has reasonable amplitude (240 or so depending on the position), but was loosing close to a minute a day.  The stem also has the annoying tendency to just come out when pulled, which makes it super hard to set the thing.  As with many things this one started sideways and just got more so.  I was able to overcome the mangled "tab" on the back case cover (a well placed, very sharp knife enabled me to get in when I couldn't get a purchase on the mangled tab with a case knife.)   I was then sort of shocked to find that one side of the dial was held down with some sort off tape or adhesive material as someone had broken the dial foot screw on that side and left the broken screw in the mail plate. The loose stem does in fact seem to have been a poorly tightened setting lever screw, but I'm afraid there may still be gremlins in the keyless works.  While I was able to get the stem to stay in by putting everything in the right place and tightening the setting lever screw (before I took it all apart for cleaning and inspection), it just didn't seem to all sit right. The final gremlin showed up when I was taking off the lower cap stones for the balance and escape wheel (yes the Gruen 380 seems to have a cape jewel on the escape wheel).  The balance stone came off fine (but that in fact is the smallest screw I've ever seen.  When I turned the movement around to get the one off the escape wheel setting, I found that the screw head had been mostly sheared off.  After some reading and looking at what I had, I decided to try and tease what was left of the screw out of the hole by nudging what was left with the corner of my smallest screwdriver.  After 20 minutes or so, I was able to get the remains of that screw out. The picture I'm including of the disassembled movement was taken before I got the second cap stone off, so in the picture, it's still attached to the main plate (for those looking carefully, you'll only see the one cap setting in the pic.) Now I'm left with: A broken dial screw inside the main plate that needs to come out A broken cap stone retention screw that I have in my parts tray, but that is strictly useless and needs to be replaced. The need to get another dial foot screw I'm contemplating solving the first problem by soaking the main plate in an alum solution.  I think the main plate is brass and shouldn't be affected, but I have not been able to confirm.  This seems like the easiest option as I can't really access both sides of the screw to use the pricey Bergeon tool (which I don't fancy buying unless I have to.) I have located a couple of donor movements and have questions out about whether or not the include the dial foot screw and prompting for pictures of the dial side so  evaluate the cap stone settings.  I've also found that a supplier in this country does have the cap stone settings, but isn't overly clear about whether the screws are included. Are these the types of things that one can scavenge out of assortments or is it best to just grab one of the donors assuming that they look like they have what I need?  
    • ColinC
      Need some crystal replacement advice

      By ColinC · Posted

      I visited this place last year just before they closed their counter service - amazing shop (filled from floor to ceiling!) and the guy that was working there was really knowledgeable and helpful!. Their website isn't as good as Cousins but I understand that if you fill out the contact form they have stuff that isn't on the site. https://gleave.london/mineral-flat-bottom-domed/
    • tomh207
      Standard crystals to replace tension ring crystals

      By tomh207 · Posted

      As always in this game the answer is “it depends “ because the first one worked out ok doesn’t mean all will. A case could be made in a way that it would not really matter much, sounds like your first example. However a case could also be made so that only a tension armoured crystal could be used. Generally you replace like for like to maintain the integrity of the watch.   Tom
    • ColinC
      Standard crystals to replace tension ring crystals

      By ColinC · Posted

      When can you use a standard crystal to replace one that had a tension ring? The first time I popped a crystal with a tension ring out of a watch I found that I had a suitable sized standard crystal and decided to try that.  It fit nicely and it was hard to see that anything was missing from the watch.  I understand that it probably reduced the water resistance of the watch but since it was an old dress watch it wasn't going for a swim anyway! I have since tried the same thing on another watch and found that the tension ring seemed to have an additional role of holding the dial in place.  With the standard crystal in there the dial and movement falls forward. This means it rattles in the case and falls forward and the hands fowl on the crystal (when the dial is down). Is there a trick I am missing here or does this watch require a special crystal?  I am reluctant to buy an expensive armoured crystal only to find I have the same problem.  
    • Levine98
      Chinese clone demagnetizers

      By Levine98 · Posted

      So I wrapped the anvil it in bubble wrap and passed ot through the demag only. Still no go—the unit is simply too strong.  next experiment is to use a VARIAC to lower the voltage and see if that reduces the magnetic field. 
×
×
  • Create New...