Lost Click !

[LeCorbusier]

I have lost the click off a pre WWI ladies wrist watch (pocket watch style) and to date have failed to find it (I still live in hope!).

Given the age of the movement and no markings to suggest the model/maker etc, what options do I have if nothin turns up?

 

[HectorLooi]

Did you lose the click or the click spring?

[LeCorbusier]

Unfortunately the click. It was still under tension from the spring due to the particular config. and so pinged away when lifted off the post - I felt very foolish, but the last three movements I have worked on had no tension on the click at all when at rest - 

Edited April 11, 2022 by LeCorbusier

[watchweasol]

Hi What is the ligne size of the movement.

[watchweasol]

HI  and also a close up of the keyless work may be able to get an ID from the bestfit Identification guide.   One reason why we advocate removing  replacing  springs , clicks  etc  under or inside a large plastic bag that way the ones that try to escape are confined ti the bag and readily retrieved.

[LeCorbusier]

15 minutes ago, watchweasol said:

One reason why we advocate removing  replacing  springs , clicks  etc  under or inside a large plastic bag that way the ones that try to escape are confined ti the bag and readily retrieved.

what a great idea ... worth asking the question just for that tip! ..... learning curve still very steep!!

[watchweasol]

We have all been there and spent time on our knees looking for parts so you are not alone.  Can you get the movement size (Lignes) and I will look in the book and see what we get.

[LeCorbusier]

The movement diam is 29.8mm and the depth is 4.2mm. Photos attached.

[watchweasol]

Hi Had a look onthe bestfit book, yours converts to 13.2 lignes and is a simple lever and spring, no flat setting lever spring unfortunatly nothing showed up will have to see if anybody else has any ideas.    cheers

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 hours ago, LeCorbusier said:

I have lost the click off a pre WWI ladies wrist watch (pocket watch style) and to date have failed to find it (I still live in hope!).

Given the age of the movement and no markings to suggest the model/maker etc, what options do I have if nothin turns up?

 

Hiya Lecorb. Sorry about that matey a very frustrating event I know only too well. What size room and work area are we talking about ? Is it not worth carefully clearing everything off your workbench. Emptying out any open containers and the like. Another  really thorough look costs nothing and might be your only course of action if a replacement is not available. A click isn't really that small in comparison to its spring. Diashock springs on small movements are crazy small as are stud screws. Is the room carpeted? Is a big magnet available  for use ? I use a whacking big one that is used for magnet fishing. There is nothing that I've lost that it hasn't  retrieved. It's certainly  worth a try. Good luck.

[LeCorbusier]

7 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Hi Had a look onthe bestfit book, yours converts to 13.2 lignes and is a simple lever and spring, no flat setting lever spring unfortunatly nothing showed up will have to see if anybody else has any ideas.    cheers

I believe that it is a pocket watch style movement .... the canon Pinion is a pin fit and the case has a hinged front and back. I don't know if that makes a difference?

[HectorLooi]

I hope you do manage to find your missing click. That is a nice watch.

I'm no expert in watch history but how did you manage to date that watch to pre WW1?

I'm not aware of early 20th century watches made in that calibre. I know that the earliest wristwatches were military watches made in the "trench" style. And ladies started wearing them after the war because dresses didn't have pockets.

I hope some watch history expert would chime in.

[JonTee]

I've had to get on hands and knees with a magnet to find parts before. I lost the tiny click spring from a Seiko diashock watch, and found it down a heat vent! So, a magnet can be handy, but you'll have to demagnetize it after you find it. Small price to pay, in my opinion. 

[LeCorbusier]

6 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

I'm no expert in watch history but how did you manage to date that watch to pre WW1?

neither am I ... I am working from family history. The watch is my mother's and she inherited it from her grandmother who died when she was 8 in 1944. I understood that my great grandmother had the watch from her 20s and she was in her 60s when she died.

I also understood that pre WWI gents wore pocket watches and ladies smaller movements work on the wrist? It was WWI which popularised the wristwatch amongst men, where as before they were regarded as 'not very manly' ?

The case has some hallmarks ... if anyone is any good at reading I will post and we can see if I am way off or not!

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by LeCorbusier

[LeCorbusier]

Similar style watch here?

https://www.reemandansie.com/auction/lot/561-edwardian-ladies-9ct-rose-gold-wristwatch/?lot=69223&sd=1

[LeCorbusier]

..... I found my Click .... perseverance is everything !!!!!! ...... and I have no idea how it got to where it got.

[watchweasol]

Brilliant  How did you find it and where, sounds like a good storey.   Pressure is off now, remember when refitting keep it covered should it try thr Houdini act again        Cheers

[LeCorbusier]

I believe the cannon pinion arrangement of this watch is a taper pin/arbor style set up where you have to drive the pin out rather than pull the pinion.

Is there a guide anywhere on how to remove and then following cleaning how to refit?

I also think that the centre wheel has a slight wobble on it .... but am not certain if this is down to the mounting or the wheel itself yet.

 

[watchweasol]

Hi  I seem to recall Old Hippy mentioning on a post that they are punched out from the top. Perhaps he will enlighten us on the problem.

[Neverenoughwatches]

On 4/12/2022 at 11:47 AM, LeCorbusier said:

..... I found my Click .... perseverance is everything !!!!!! ...... and I have no idea how it got to where it got.

Yey. Well done 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Yey. Well done 

I'm actually  dying to know where it was and how long it has been lost. It will either give me hope when I lose something or a time limit on my searching. I've never  actually lost anything as yet which is quite unbelievable because there were all manner of parts pinging in all directions  when I started and before I learnt to hypnotise my tweezers. I found a diashock from a tiny Oris twice after it had disappeared  on me while trying to coax it into its home 4 days ago. The second time it flew I was that pissed that I had lost it again, I had to go make a cuppa calm down and start looking again. I sat in my seat put my specs on looked down and it was there on my fricking thigh laughing at me. WTF I'd been downstairs had pee made a cuppa gone back upstairs. NFW. Apparently my grandfather's  brother was a watchmaker I think he's been looking down on me and puppeteering my eyes. I now have a picture of my grandad and all of his brothers on a shelf next to my bench. Old Stanley now has a very clear observation point. 

[LeCorbusier]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I'm actually  dying to know where it was and how long it has been lost. 

No great story ... just couldn't work out how it could have ended up in that place from where it started out! It was lost on Sunday around 7.00pm and found the following Tuesday morning.

I work in an office with benching and wooden floors. the piece dropped on the floor from the front of the bench and being a click cannot roll. it was under tension from the spring and so should have pinged away from the desk either straight down or away behind me or to the side. The desk is built in so it can't fall off the back - it has a wall to the left and runs around the room to the right for a number of meters. I cleaned off all the work surfaces and searched fully including with a magnet. I cleaned back all the floor including beneath the adjacent desks at right angles .... no luck.  

In final desperation I searched beneath the bench and found it right in the back rear corner. Still no idea how it could have got there without either legs or wings ... but there you have it!

[Neverenoughwatches]

7 minutes ago, LeCorbusier said:

No great story ... just couldn't work out how it could have ended up in that place from where it started out! It was lost on Sunday around 7.00pm and found the following Tuesday morning.

I work in an office with benching and wooden floors. the piece dropped on the floor from the front of the bench and being a click cannot roll. it was under tension from the spring and so should have pinged away from the desk either straight down or away behind me or to the side. The desk is built in so it can't fall off the back - it has a wall to the left and runs around the room to the right for a number of meters. I cleaned off all the work surfaces and searched fully including with a magnet. I cleaned back all the floor including beneath the adjacent desks at right angles .... no luck.  

In final desperation I searched beneath the bench and found it right in the back rear corner. Still no idea how it could have got there without either legs or wings ... but there you have it!

Haha a very thorough  search even by my standards. Those lost watchpart fairies are devious little buggers especially  the females. I've routinely  started to spray my workroom day and night with repellent, cheap as chips stuff, just a regular tin of beans 4 times a week and problem is solved.  Fortunately  I live alone and carry a clothes peg in my top pocket.

[LittleWatchShop]

Another useful tool for finding bright metal objects is an extremely high lume flash light.  I have one behind me at my watch bench and regularly deploy it to find things.  It is useful to shine from various angles looking for the glint from the object.

[watchweasol]

Good Idea.