Jump to content

Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox: Missing inner caseback / movement ring and other parts


Recommended Posts

Hello fellow watch repairers,

I recently purchased a vintage LeCoultre Memovox as a repair project. I knew it was missing some parts, but as I got it for really cheap I thought it was worth it. 

IMG_5375.thumb.JPEG.3dd3293ddce986ee0bb6e87fd8f8307b.JPEGIMG_5374.thumb.JPEG.5b9de074dc1be2ac90c8fa92f2eca076.JPEG

It is missing hands, winding stems, crowns, the escape wheel and a crystal. The movement itself seems to be in decent condition. 

But I didn't know that it was also missing this kind of inner caseback / lid:

a3074-jaeger-lecoultre-vergoldet-11.thumb.jpg.aefaface32e797a7e67432c40ffba2b9.jpg

It features the pin that the alarm hammer strikes against to create the alarm sound. Also it apparently serves as some kind of movement ring as well, without it the movement just floats around in the case. Without it it seems that the watch isn't really worth a repair.

Does somebody have any idea where I could source this inner caseback? I already spend quite some time online to search for it, without success. 

I could just fix up the movement as it should be worth more than I payed for the whole watch, but I would prefer to have a whole watch in the end. 

If anybody has parts I could use or any other ideas I would be really greateful. 

 

thanks in advance!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello to you also!  Pretty watch.  You have a difficult task, but not impossible.  There are non-running LeCoultre movements out there which would make decent donors.  If you could please post the calibre number and/or serial number to this thread (or any important looking info from the bridge plate of the movement) we can see if there is a parts-movement available somewhere and point you in that direction.  I tried to make out the information in that second photo, but it didn't get any clearer when I enlarged.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey @KarlvonKolnand thanks for the reply.

I already have some experience with the memovox movement. I recently restored a memovox with the JLC 815 for myself. 

This one has the JLC 814, basically the same as the 815 just without the automatic module, so the service shouldn't be a big deal. So far I couldn't spot any issues with the movement apart from the missing escape wheel and I already found a spare one online. Sourcing stems shouldn't be a problem as well.

The main issue here is the missing case part, as the watch is almost useless without it 😕 and unfortunately it seems almost impossible to find a replacement without buying a whole watch.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you already checked the below-listed sites?

https://www.ofrei.com/page1310.html
&
https://www.jewelerssupplies.com/horological/lecoultre_814.html

I'm thinking it's likely you already have, but I figured I should post them just in case.  I feel like poking around a bit more, so if I turn up anything I will post it here.  It's still likely that one of our other veterans will chime in with more advice.  And perhaps a commonly accepted name for that part which we can use to look it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot for your effort 🙂 I already checked and couldn’t  find anything that could be that caseback part. 
I already tried to figure out what the correct name for that part is, but so far I couldn’t find anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Good morning,   To be honest, I'm not sure I trust my own logic anymore 😅. But here's a picture of my own (failed!) attempt to install a new rotor axle. I punched way to hard and even split the metal of the rotor. My thinking was that, in my case, the axle sits "deeper" in the rotor and hence the rotor would be closer to the movement plates. Vice versa, I was thinking that a very light punch could cause the rotor to sit rather high. But not sure that makes sense because in both cases, the flat part of the axle and the rotor align equally.     Sorry, but is he saying that the outside of the caseback has been polished to such an extent that the inside of the caseback has deformed/sunk??? That sounds crazy to me because those casebacks are thick! Can you see any signs of that on the inside of the caseback? Have you tried screwing in the caseback a litte bit more or less so that the supposedly "sunk" part of the caseback would move from 9 o'clock to e.g. 6/7 or 11/12 o'clock?  If the caseback is truly deformed, maybe it could be punched/pressed back into shape (e.g. with glass/caseback closing press).      I agree with your choice. But yea, Rolex makes it VERY hard for independent watchmakers to do a perfect job because we can't get (original) parts easily.      Your pictures aren't too bad. But still impossible to see if the rotor isn't perfectly flat. You'd have to look at it with your loupe, from the side (like the pictures), and turn the rotor to see if the gaps (with the automatic bridge plates) increase/decrease.     Finally... how is the up/down play of the rotor? To test, take a toothpick/pegwood and press on the small triangular side of the rotor next to the axle (NOT the big side where the weight is. But the opposite side.). Does that lift up the weight-side of the rotor? There can be some play, but it should really be minimal. If there's too much play, a new spring clip is the first thing to do. After that, one could play around with the jewels. This is too much:
    • could start a new sub-brand: Bergeon-Pro Worked for Apple phones! Ah they already beat me to it:  
    • Hello, those RR pocket watches are nice watches, there are still parts around...
    • The hairspring looks to be in good condition from the photographs, it is natural that the balance will perform slightly differently in different orientations. Assuming there is no damage, the difference may be caused by the balance moving relative to the jewels, not the hairspring itself. So too much space between the jewels (endshake) and the difference will be greater, if one jewel is oiled and the other not, then again a lower amplitude in one position than the other....and so on. If the difference is reasonable (like your 13 seconds) the the best thing to do is to make one position slightly fast (+7 seconds, and the other position slow -7 seconds) then this averaging of the error will make for a more accurate watch in use. If the difference was much greater eg 100 seconds, then you would need to troubleshoot the problem. Additionally, you need to let the watch run-in for 24-48 hours after a service to allow the new oils to work their way in to all the jewels and pivots etc before you make a 'real' timegrapher test, otherwise you can get strange results. For example the oil in the top shock setting may be evenly spread, but not (yet) in the bottom setting = high difference.... after 24 hours this oil will probably have sorted itself out and the difference may be much better.
    • Oy! No bad words in our forum please.
×
×
  • Create New...