Raymond Weil dial repair

[LittleWatchShop]

This is the same watch I just posted regarding a replacement crystal.

The Roman XII has come off. 

Should I glue it back, or remove the dial and kinda rivet it in?

Gluing is tricky because I have to nudge the XII around a bit before the pins drop in place.  Would not want glue to smudge around.  Also would not want to use superglue because it might lock in the wrong place.

Thoughts on type of glue please.

I am fixing this for my goofy neighbor.  Every time I fix a watch for her...in about a week she has another...and another.  It is good experience for me, so I do it for nothing.

[jdm]

1 hour ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Should I glue it back, or remove the dial and kinda rivet it in?

Not rivet. The proper way is to remove the dial and glue it from the back. That being said, if one is really in a hurry or have another good reason, you can get away with a very little gluing between index and dial. The pins are not difficulty to drop in if you position it accurately by sigh first. Never use superglue, rather something reversible and friendly like GS hypocement. It comes with an easy to use thin pin. If some smudge is left around it's easily removed with a tootpick while soft.

[LittleWatchShop]

12 minutes ago, jdm said:

That being said, if one is really in a hurry or have another good reason

I am just now watching the WRC video of a service of ETA 955.  I think I will do a full service on this watch, so it will be easy to do as you suggest--glue from behind.  I think I have some of the GS cement...but it is old.  Will test its efficacy on something else.

[jdm]

37 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

-glue from behind.

The trick is to place a tiny drop on the holes just before fitting the index. It will wet the wall of the holes and make the pins stick better.

[LittleWatchShop]

This one is done.  Full disassembly and clean, replaced crystal, fixed dial, and fixed crown!

The crown had a glass jewel of some sort but it was missing when it arrived (from my neighbor).  I got lucky and found a red glass faceted faux jewel with a flat back in one of the drawers of the watch bench!  It was too big, but I was able to file it down to shape with a diamond file and then glue it in place.

Oh, yeah...had to do a minor repair on the bracelet as well.

[jdm]

15 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

The crown had a glass jewel of some sort

Which is called cabochon.

[LittleWatchShop]

6 minutes ago, jdm said:

cabochon

Why I love this forum...a wealth of info.  I was gonna ask for advice on fixing the crown and what to call a stone with a flat back, but felt like I should solve some things on my own!  New word for my lexicon.

[LittleWatchShop]

Incidentally, this is the tool I used to hold the cabochon while I filed it to fit.  This particular tool was not inherited...I got it on ebay when I bought an assortment of watchmaking tools (pin vises, etc.).  This particular tool turns out to be very useful.  I think it is called a "hand vise."

[jdm]

4 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

this is the tool I used to hold the cabochon while I filed it to fit.  

Beautiful. There no hope that a same object made today, with 100 times more technology available, will have just 1/100th of the look.

It's a fact also, jewelers are not second to watchmakers when it comes to tooling.