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A mixture of success and failure...


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I bought this watch on Ebay.  It looked interesting and was not a lot of money, so hey...a little project to hone my skills.

When it arrived, I wound it up and did some 'tic'ing and off and on some 'toc'ing.  But the balance was clearly sluggish...struggling for the next tic or toc.

So today, in a fit of boredom, I decided to clean it.

My first image is the watch as I saw it on Ebay.

2021-02-11 20_09_04-Window.png

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I do not have the "proper" cleaning gear but I worked with what I had.  I took the watch down, put the components in lighter fluid followed by IPA for drying.  Interesting design.  The top plate has a pivot hole for a gear that does not exist.  A little confusing.  But...don't sweat the unknowns.

I did not have to (and wish I had not), but I removed the click spring.  This was really for fear that it would take flight during the cleaning process.  Well...lol...it did take flight...more on that later.

Here is an image of the the train wheels with the main plate removed.  The balance and pallet fork are already removed here.

Forgive the 60Hz in these photos...the lamp is florescent.

I also show the dial side with and without the date ring.  These pictures were primarily for helping me reassemble

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Edited by LittleWatchShop
grammar fix
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I removed the mainspring from the barrel.  Inspected and put it back in.  Gave a little thanks to my Dad who assembled this watch bench and tools...the mainspring winder is cool!  Fun stuff.  Anyway, wound it and put it back in the barrel...no problem.  Oh wait!!! Ieeeeee!!!  I put it in backwards.  Oh well...more practice with the winder.

During the reassembly process--remember that click spring--I managed to send the click spring flying aaaawwwaaaayyyyy!

I have a sweeper magnet leaning against the wall next to the bench.  I took several sweeps and no spring.  Lots of other things (another story).

What to do?

Well, a month ago, I saw a bag-o=springs on Ebay...one gram worth.  I bought them.  Moreover, I had a small collection of springs that my Dad kept for such emergencies.

I found a spring that was really close, did some bending and cutting and voila!

 

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I assembled the train wheels, oiled them, and applied power and they spun away.  Yay!

Assembled the mainspring, ratchet wheel and click (with my handcrafted click spring).

Then the pallet fork and balance wheel.

OK, I confess, I could not figure out what was going on with the balance pivot holes.  Some kind of metal on one side and jewel on the other...not like anything I have seen, so I did not try to break it down to clean and oil. 

After the movement was assembled, I took another sweep with the magnet and found the original click spring!!

Here is the movement after assembly. 

 

P1010005.JPG

Edited by LittleWatchShop
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I tell you, I felt like I was fluent in Swiss...or German with a Swiss accent!!

Then...all of a sudden...shite hits the fan.

While putting the hands on and adjusting them to get a perfect calendar roll over, something hit the one o'clock lume and it popped off.

No biggie...I will glue it on.  I did this once before on another watch.  Well, no bueno.  The glue caused the lume to fracture and it was a mess.

Who needs one o'clock anyways!  Nothing happens then.  It is not a happy hour.

Here is the final result (sans case).

That's my story!

2021-02-11 20_39_58-Window.png

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  • 2 months later...

Nice one! I agree with Klassiker, it’s great to hear a full story, especially one with some ups and downs. That looks like an interesting movement. Isn’t it the best feeling when you drop that balance in and...it works? ?

Did you ever figure out the balance jewels?

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    • in general this shouldn't be any change. but in general questions like this it be nice to know the specifics of the watch in other words how was it performing before it was cased up and what is it doing now.
    • just as a reminder this watch is a Swatch group product. This will bring up a problem like spare parts and technical information. that I found some links to some information on when I talk about your watch and some of the technical and basically your watch is equivalent to 2834-2 for which I'm attaching the technical sheets. But equivalent does not mean exactly the same you want to do a search on the group for C07 as we discussed this watch before including the technical differences how it's supposed to be regulated and basically because it's watch group there is no parts availability. https://calibercorner.com/eta-caliber-c07-xxx/   https://www.chrono24.com/magazine/eta-movements-from-the-2824-2-to-the-powermatic-80-p_80840/ https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/h-10-movement-details.4636991/ eta CT_2834-2_FDE_481857_15.pdf
    • people be honest.... Swatch is evil for the watchmakers and repairers, BUT not everything in watches from Switzerland is from the Swatch-Group. As far as i know, Selitta got sacked by Swatch as a Movement-Assembler for them and they started to produce Movements in their own Name with slight Modifications. As far as i know, they sell Parts to the Market for their Movements. In most cases, if a ETA-Movement fails, it is a valid Option to replace it with a Selitta Movement, which i consider the Solution for this Mess with the Swatch-Group...... I have no Connection to anybody at Selitta, but being a Swiss-Guy, i still like to have Swiss-Made Watches, but not from the Swatch-Group.   ok ? regards, Ernst
    • Just one more greedy act by Swatch. They started a number of years ago here in the US..cutting off supplies to watchmakers that could build complications that many Swatch houses couldn't even touch. Old school masters who had gone through some of the most prestigious houses in the world. Otto Frei has some statements on their page about it. I tell all my customers to avoid new Swiss watches like the plague,..unless they just want an older one in their collection that still has some parts out on the market, or they have really deep pockets and don't mind waiting months and paying through the nose to get it back. Plenty of others to choose from..IE Seiko,..or other non-swiss brands Even a number of Chinese brands are catching up with the Swiss,..and I think that in time, their actions will be their downfall
    • Yes. If that's not what you are experiencing...start looking for something rubbing. A 1st guess is that one of the hands is rubbing against the hole in the center of the dial. Especially if you now have lower amplitude in face up/ face down positions.
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