Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

These came into my posession a little while ago. They are all running and I thought I might post some pics for your thoughts as I am not sure which way to go with a couple of them.

The first is a nice looking Cyma. It had a broken stem and  scratched up crystal. I have had a new crystal fitted and have a new stem ready to fit. I could put up with the dial but the hands could do with new lume, there is so little of it I am not sure if it would even be noticed.  Wondering what colour would be best if I did go ahead?

 

post-923-0-58752400-1432407443_thumb.jpg

 

post-923-0-90407800-1432407498_thumb.jpg

post-923-0-87866000-1432407531_thumb.jpg

 

Also have this Optima.

 

post-923-0-21583100-1432407613_thumb.jpg

 

post-923-0-56685300-1432407635_thumb.jpg

 

Shame about the scratch on the dial. Obviously the hands should be done but I don't think bright fresh green lume would blend in at all with the aged dial. Is it possible to "stain" or age new lume to make it look more in keeping? Someone has painted the second hand red, looks alright actually but would that have been it's original colour?

 

post-923-0-54395100-1432407657_thumb.jpg

 

And then there is this poor old fellow. I love the shape and design of the case. The "unusual" crown is a nice touch. It has certainly been through the mill. What are the chances of finding the parts to fix it up? New stem, crown, crystal and handset. There is a serial number on the caseback, I was wondering where I could refer to for an idea of it's age?

 

post-923-0-41749900-1432407908_thumb.jpg

 

post-923-0-04867700-1432407927_thumb.jpg

 

I am not at all sure what the finish on dial is, it almost feels cardboard-like. I don't like to touch it too much in case I make it worse.

 

post-923-0-54109600-1432407949_thumb.jpg

 

Anyway, I hope you like them and I would be grateful for your opinions and suggestions.

  • Like 1
Posted

A good 20 min blast in the ultrasonic with detergent and a good polish with a silver cloth will clean the cases up. Replace crystals with new. As for the dials it depends what you are willing to risk & what you are willing to live with, I have had good results with silver dip, gently washing with detergent or baby oil (not all at the same time). All methods have a risk - just try a small area on the edge first. Apparently dried tea added to the lume will give it an aged look.

 

Hopefully one of the other members will be able to give you an idea of the movement makes & ages.

Posted

These old timers definitely appeal to me. When I saw the Vertex I thought 'Aha!' and had a rummage in my small stock of elderly watches. Alas, what I turned up was not a Vertex but a Fortex, entirely unrelated in the movement department, or any other department!. The upside is that in removing the case back and stem the watch started to run. I suspect that the stem is incorrect as it neither winds nor adjusts.

 

Keep posting these OTs though Davey and others as it's great to see examples of the huge variety of watches and it may prompt owners of a few more veterans to dig them out and make them go.

 

Now where's that Trotteur I had?

Posted

It's possible to buy lume packs which contain a small container of staining agent - you can choose the degree of brown-ness in the lume mix.

 

Doesn't have to be bright green. It costs a bit more than the standard lume pack, but worth it.

Posted

I understand that tea can be used very successfully to add a vintage hue to the colour of the lume mix.

Posted

Definitely going to rejuvenate them to some degree without taking away all of the originality if I can. I find I am fascinated by these older type of watches, you can tell they were built to last. I also like the sense of times gone by that they can conjure up and wonder about their history and previous lives. Am I just a bit of a nostalgic dreamer or does anyone else ever look at an old timepiece and wonder about the places it has been and the things that have happened to it. There is a story in every scratch and cracked crystal.

 

 

Will where can I purchase the lume pack. Working on a MST and the dial could do with some of this magic treatment.

 

Yes, please advise if you can. I would like to have a look.

 

Thanks.

Posted

Davey, I meant to ask about the crown(?) on the Vertex. I may be doing it an injustice but it looks for all the world like a blob of solder! Silver solder maybe?

Can you wind and adjust with it?

Posted

I know, it is a work of art!. It does actually work but I don't know what it is on the end. If push comes to shove I was just thinking about filing it up so it looks a bit prettier. If a new stem and crown became available I would replace them. How hard is silver solder and would it file up ok? I do hope no-one has tried their hand with a stick welder :lol:

Posted

I'm tempted to say leave it as it is because it's part of the watch's history and it certainly makes it unique.

If you are determined to modify it, and if it is silver solder, then it'll be plenty hard enough to file and shape. Personally I think it's great!

Posted

Okay, those shoes you've got on at the moment are horrendous! Get youself some Nikes! Oh, and a mohican!

See where I'm going with this?

If anyone says anything, tell 'em that it was repaired by Winston Churchill after he gave it a whack whilst laying some bricks. Or, it belonged to a Spitfire pilot and the old one was shot off!

  • Like 1
Posted

Whoa. This is way too spooky. When I took out the stem and all the debris fell out it looked to me suspiciously like brick dust and cigar ash.

It must have been Winston wot dun it. You were right all along.

  • Like 1
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Hi, this is the first place I found when looking for advice so I hope someone could advise me.  Im completely new to touching watches but I’ve always wondered how they work.  I’ve bought a cheap movement, an ETA replica to take apart and rebuild.  Im thinking I’ll need some screwdrivers, tweezers, movement holder and a loop? My goal is just to have a go first and see if I enjoy it enough before buying more tools.  Do I buy cheap tools for now and get better quality tools later if I enjoy it like I think I will? or will the cheap tools be a pain and take some of the fun out of it?  With quality tools being relatively expensive I’m unsure what to buy.    Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
    • Yeah I have seen 44-56 documented for Elgin 18 size elsewhere. I have the style of gauge that's like a set of feeler gauges and I never noticed before today it is faintly stamped "Elgin". Pictured is the way I have been measuring. I am going to go to a larger jewel than the 42 that had been in there. I recently won an auction on a big set of Fitrite jewels all in the little bottles, to discover that the what's actually in the bottles bears no relation to the chart of sizes printed on the box. In most cases it seems to be all mixed so in fact I have about 24 little bottles and thousands of assorted jewels of all diameters and lengths, which is better than nothing. But since I don't have a micrometer with a table, measuring for the exact diameter will be a big job. Instead I will test a lot of them in the fork slot the same way I measure with the gauge. But this is still the next thing. I have to get the escapement to unlock first.
    • it would be nice to have the exact model of the watch the or a picture so we can see exactly what you're talking about. this is because the definition of Swiss watch could be a variety of things and it be helpful if we could see exactly the watch your dealing with then in professional watch repair at least some professionals they do pre-cleaned watches. In other words the hands and dial come off and the entire movement assembled goes through a cleaning machine sometimes I think a shorter bath perhaps so everything is nice and clean for disassembly makes it easier to look for problems. Then other professionals don't like pre-cleaning because it basically obliterates the scene of the crime. Especially when dealing with vintage watches where you're looking for metal filings and problems that may visually go away with cleaning. Then usually super sticky lubrication isn't really a problem for disassembly and typically shouldn't be a problem on a pallet fork bridge because there shouldn't be any lubrication on the bridge at all as you typically do not oil the pallet fork pivots.  
    • A few things you should find out before you can mske a decision of what to do. As Richard said, what is the crown and all of the crown components made of . Then also the stem .  The crown looks to have a steel washer that retains a gasket. So be careful with what chemicals you use to dissolve any stem adhesives or the use of heat. You might swell or melt the gasket unless you are prepared to change that also . The steel washer maybe reactive to alum. Something I've just used to dissolve a broken screw from a plate. First drilled out the centre of the screw with a 0.5mm carbide . Dipped only the section that held the broken screw in Rustins rust remover. This is 40 % phosphoric acid. 3 days and the screw remains were completely dissolved, no trace of steel in the brass threads. A black puddle left in the solution.
    • I suppose this will add to the confusion I have a roller jewel assortment. It lists out American pocket watches for Elgin 18 size and even 16 size it's a 50. But not all the various companies used 50-50 does seem to be common one company had a 51 and the smallest is 43. American parts are always interesting? Francis Elgin for mainsprings will tell you the thickness of the spring other companies will not even though the spring for the same number could come in a variety of thicknesses. But if we actually had the model number of your watch we would find it probably makes a reference that the roller jewel came in different dimensions. So overlook the parts book we find that? So it appears to be 18 and 16 size would be the same sort of the arson different catalog numbers and as I said we don't have your Mongol know which Log number were supposed to be using. Variety of materials garnered her sapphire single or double but zero mention about diameters. Then in a section of rollers in this case rollers with jewels we do get this down in the notes section Roller specifications but of course zero reference to the jewel size. I was really hoping the roller jewel assortment would give us sizes it doesn't really. But it does show a picture of how one particular roller jewel gauge is used  
×
×
  • Create New...