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By Booker
Hi all, newbie here. I guess I've ended up a bit of a watch fan with a bunch of watches in my current collection (pic below), plus a few others I've sold.
I haven't done that much modding of my watches, just battery changes and realigning hands on a few occasions. But I did put together a Series One watch from buildyourownwatch.com a few years (which I've actually sold since). At some point I would like to get more into building my own design, but baby steps first
Anyway, my Helgray Field Officer II watch has been a trusty daily beater for some time, with a quartz Ronda 515 movement. The battery ran out a few weeks ago, so I ordered a replacement, put it in - watch didn't restart? Tried with a different battery, nada. Both were new batteries in original packaging with expiry dates years in the future. After looking around I found a few others online saying they'd had similar experiences when replacing the battery on a Ronda 515 movement. Seems like the movement is prone to dying at battery replacement time.
So after a bit of hunting around at specs and seeing what I could easily get a hold of locally, I decided to give an ETA F06.111 movement a go as a replacement (https://shopb2b.eta.ch/f06-111-f06.1111597973808.html). It's shows up on the ETA website as discontinued and replaced by F06.115, but I couldn't find that locally and there didn't seem to be much difference between them.
There was a 0.5mm difference in stem to dial height from the F06.111 to Ronda 515, but hand sizes etc. were all the same, and the key deciding factor was a much better battery life - 68 months using a Renata 371, as opposed to 45 months for the 515.
Good news - it all worked. Switched over the hands to the new movement - even with tweezers and a hand press, I still find fitting hands the fiddliest of all! The hands maybe did get a little beat up from pinging out of my tweezers so often. The second hand isn't perfectly aligned but maybe I'll have another go some other time on that. Seems to me there's a market for a simple watch hand-friendly clamp, with a fine x-y axis adjustment to line it up to the dial and press mechanism to fit hands accurately and softly. Also needed to switch the crown onto the new stem and cut it to fit. Once the stem is in the new movement, the crown does sit at a slight angle if you look closely from the side, due to the 0.5mm difference in stem to dial height between the movements, but the actual date/time mechanism etc all works fine.
I have a Renata 395 battery on the way, which the ETA movement can take and ups the battery life to 94 months!
A few pics, and the Field Officer back in the working collection
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By Displacement
Hello WRT! Glad to have found your site, the resources here are incredible for a beginning hobbyist like myself.
I purchased a project LeJour 7000 (Valjoux 7750 powered) that is currently running hilariously fast- something like +2 hours per day. I purchased it with the intent to drop in a modern, more decorated 7750.
The LeJour has a Day/Date dial (Seen here) but I've found a date-only 7750 that would fit the bill. Is it possible to use this movement and just add the day wheel from my current movement? Is the underlying hardware all there?
Even better, what is the best way to research the parts necessary to do the conversion?
Thanks all!
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By Mickeycz
Hello,
I'm new here and into watch/horology world as well. I recently tried to replace the dial on my 7750 watch.
1) Open the wathc case
2) removed rotor
3) removed stem (gentle push of remove stem pusher and pull the stem out)
4) removed the movement from the case
5) put movment to movement holder
6) removed hands
7) removed dial
8) put new dial
9) pressed the hands back, hovewer during setting it up I realized the movement is not running - even when I wind it up - it is solid/stable and not ticking at all..
Kind of out of ideas what can went wrong, the movement was functional correctly before..
Thank you for any ideas.
Mickey
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By sunday
Hello, I'm building a watch using a Sellita SW200 and I bought an ETA 2824 dial. The dial has four feet and so does my movement, but they don't line up, the ones on the dial are too far apart relative to the movement. I think if I cut off two feet I can make it fit but I'm not 100% sure.
Is this a common scenario?
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By AdamC
Hello,
I know this is a long shot but would anyone happen to have the technical sheet for the ETA 1164. I acquired this little beauty on ebay; a non-runner from the USA, which needs a lot of TLC. I've never tackled anything quite like this one but fancied the challenge. However, I'm not 100% sure yet whether the everything on the bottom plate under the dial is complete - can anyone confirm? The top plate however looks fine. The watch back is stamped "Seeland Watch Co. Swiss" - having looked it up, it appears Frederick Seeland was once CEO for IWC! Nice historical timepiece once I've restored it. I've added a few photos for reference (yes, I've removed the balance ).
Thanks in advance.
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By HectorLooi · Posted
I think Earl Gray is an acquired taste. I hated it when I first tried it. Now I find it tolerable. Eventually I might find it ok. 😂 But what do you think of tea used in confections and other foods. Like matcha cakes 😖, Earl Gray cheesecake 🤪, duck smoked with tea leaves 🤔, etc...? -
Hello Not really a watch question, however I thought I would it it a try. I have a couple of Silver Beer Mugs that are tarnished and all I have to clean them with is the L & R Ultrasonic Watch Cleaning Solution (ammoniated) and a ultrasonic machine. I also have the L & R Ultrasonic Watch Cleaning Solution and an Ultrasonic machine. Does anyone know if I can use these two products on the silver beer mugs or should I get another type of cleaner> Also should I be diluting the cleaning and rinse solutions? Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided. Michael -
Hi JDM - Thanks for the detailed reply. The Bezel only looks like a rotating time ring, but it's just a "faux" divers watch, only rated to 50m. I think the Seiko "Solar Power" version actually had a rotating ring and Tritium on the hands and numbers and was rated to 200m or something. But, the bezel is fixed. Also, there are no "indent" or any indication that you could use a Snap Back knife to open the bezel. If this is not indeed a screw off bezel (using a screw type base wrench), then a 4 blade bezel tool is likely the only thing that will remove it. Then I'll need to figure out how the stem is removed so I can remove the whole movement to get to the Cap which I assume is underneath. Other owners on some other watch forums have reported the same experience I had with my Lorus/ Seiko 851 model, the Capacitor fails after only 8 to 10 years and nothing like the "promised" 80 years (Life Time Warranty they refuse to obey). Quite a few owners wrote that they had the Capacitor replaced, but no details on HOW. Read my response above to "watchweasol". There's been some conflict about which capacitor to use as well since the original 2023 24T / MT920 was discontinued 30 years ago (probably the reason all these Lorus Solar watch never met the 80-year promise. Supposedly the replacement Cap is a 3023 24T now. The word in some forums is that this Maxell Cap will last 30 to 40 years. The Seiko Kenetic watches supposedly also use this same Capacitor. Have you ever worked on the Seiko Solar version of this Lorus? Thanks. -
@watchweasol - I know that was the Seiko "company line" for both the Seiko and Lorus branded "Solar Power" versions, but there are an awful lot of folks that bought both and found the Capacitor died, like mine, only after 8 to 10 years and did have the Capacitor replaced with at first the original 2023 24T version and then the 3023 24T, which is apparently a much longer lived replacement. Seiko's "promise" of an 80-year life for this Capacitor was all hooey and likely the reason Seiko quickly dropped both their own branded model and the Lorus ones after just 10 years on the market. Both Seiko and Lorus (who is no longer in North America) refuse to honor the "life time" warranty. One of the reasons I now trust Casio more than Seiko for warranty promises. The movement in the Lorus is literally the exact same one that was in the 3 "Solar Power" Seiko mens models, a Seiko NA tech admitted that to me almost 30 years ago when mine stopped charging. I bought it new in 1986 or 87, and I still have the original paper manual and box and "Life Time Warranty" card (good for nuthin'). I've been a watch and clock "collector" since a teenager, prefer early American pocket watches, but who doesn't love early American MADE and Japanese and Swiss made wristwatches? So I've also collected all the tools a watch and clock tech uses, many pretty vintage too, and learned how to work to a certain degree on most any watch or clock, restoring and fixing, to my limits. I already have that (another version) Bezel removing tool, am just trying to confirm that the bezel is NOT a screw on, or absolutely IS a press-fit. Was hoping to find someone that has either worked on the Lorus version or the sort of same looking Seiko versions that also had the one-piece "tub" body. The Bezel only looks like a rotating time ring, but it's just a "faux" divers watch, only rated to 50m. I think the Seiko version actually had a rotating ring and Tritium on the hands and numbers and was rated to 200m or something. This Lorus/Seiko is an odd-ball and there is absolutely no repair info on them, so that makes me want to fix it more myself.
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Very, very nice production. Really outstanding walkthrough!
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