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Replacing Dial On Vintage Pocket Watch

BruceInHawaii
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BruceInHawaii New Member

BruceInHawaii

Posted
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I'm replacing the dial (old one is damaged) on a vintage Tavannes Pocket Watch.  The new dial fits perfectly with one exception:  the pins are further away from the edge of the dial than the old dial and need to be relocated.  I am sure I can't solder new pins on this new dial due to the possibility of damaging the beautiful enamel finish.  I've attached a photo of the front and back of the new dial.

 

post-814-0-35529000-1427587863_thumb.jpgpost-814-0-38793100-1427587880_thumb.jpg

 

Can anyone offer a suggestion on how to reattach the pins to the dial (without risking damage to it of course:)

 

Thanks,  -Bruce

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

Hi Bruce.

You've definitely got a a tricky one here. I might be wrong, but I'm sure pins can be soft soldered onto the dial. Being ceramic, the heat required should not effect the finish. The ceramic residue on the rear of the dial would first have to be carefully ground off; not easy when you consider how hard the stuff is. You would then require some sort of fixture to hold the pins in correct alignment and the whole dial would have to be gently brought up to temperature to prevent cracks before actually doing the soldering. I sure wouldn't want to attempt it.

You can buy replacement dial pins/feet with solder pads here:- http://www.daveswatchparts.com/MaterialAssortments.html

I would suggest purchasing the feet and fixing them with superglue. It would be a lot safer.

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WillFly Distinguished Member

WillFly

Posted
Posted

I'm with Geo on this one - enamel dials are very prone to cracking. An alternative to superglue (apart from a perfectly fitting replacement) is to use sticky pads. It's not a solution I care for, but they do work and they won't cause any damage. There's also the question of grinding down the existing feet...

  • Like 1
Blacklab Distinguished Member

Blacklab

Posted
Posted

Avoid superglue as it gives of gasses which can cause untold damage to watch internals. Dial pads are the safe route or use a 2 part epoxy to stick on feet.

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

Hi BL, I would never recommend it for use within the confines of a watch, anything on the face of a dial or for holding a crystal in place and have said so before on this forum.

In this case the pins are on the back of the dial that has been separated from the watch, so once fully cured there shouldn't be a problem with fuming. Having said that, I've never had any real success glueing dial feet regardless of what glue I used and I've tried a few. :(

bobm12 Distinguished Member

bobm12

Posted
Posted

A note here, I 've tried superglue and haven't been able to make it work...it usually breaks again when fitting the dial on the holes in the ring/movement. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?!

  • 2 weeks later...
zenon WRT Addict

zenon

Posted
Posted

I need to revive this topic for clearer answer. As far as I read here there is no proper way to reposition pins on a dial. So what is to be done if there is no exactly the same replacement dial? Is this an open subject?

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