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ToddABrown

By ToddABrown
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ToddABrown New Member

ToddABrown

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Posted (edited)

Greetings to all.  My name is Todd.  Married with children (great show right!).  Long time admirer of mechanical watches. Now taken up the hobby of repair.  Why?  Educated at Purdue University (Indiana) and Lawrence Technological University (Southfield, MI).  29 years in automotive industry, first 15 in product development.  So basically my mind has always been curious about how things work.  I see how the evolution of the mechanical watch has occurred.  Amazing.  I have inherited an 1800's swiss cylinder escapement that was non-working.   It is my first project and I am happy to say that it is running again now after some creative repair in the main spring housing to click interface.  However, this classic is missing on the dial side the reduction gear for the hour hand and the actual minute hand.  Seconds hand and hour hand are ok.   As reference, the movement OD is 44.9mm, the cannon pinon OD is 1.15mm, the seconds hand shaft is 0.6mm and the post that supports the missing reduction gear is 0.49mm.  Basically I could use some hints where to search for parts!  Attached are some pictures to compliment my words.  I appreciate in advance any advice.

1800s Swiss Cylinder Escapement Movement.JPG

Missing Gear Close up.JPG

Movement Cover.JPG

Missing Hand.JPG

Case Back Inside.JPG

Edited by ToddABrown
watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

Posted
Posted

Hello and welcome to the forum.  the watch is a five bar french/swiss made cylinder movement  you will probably have to trawl the net/ebay for bits.  I believe Old Hippy mentioned that these are the devils own find bits for as they are almost individualy made and as such parts dont interchance easily or not at all.

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RichardHarris123 Distinguished Member

RichardHarris123

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello and welcome. I'm a reasonable newbie myself, servicing I'm getting good at, repair is a different matter. 

Unfortunately the parts aren't always interchangeable, in fact seldom are. I've learnt the hard way. 

Edited by RichardHarris123
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    • RichardHarris123
      Help with repairing a quartz clock

      By RichardHarris123 · Posted

      I would remove the wheels, check for damage and if not damaged, clean. 
    • MikaR
      Help with repairing a quartz clock

      By MikaR · Posted

      Thanks for the replies! Here's a photo of the front of the clock and a GIF animation of the movement (exposed by removing the black cap in the centre of the clock). You can see the behaviour of the gears. It's a fairly valuable clock from the 80s (Braun ABW 35). I'm not sure if replacing the movement would diminish the value, so I'd prefer to keep the original parts if it's easy to fix. But since the movement itself is pretty generic, I guess, maybe replacing it wouldn't make any difference with regard to the value of the clock? Or would it? I suppose the value is mostly in the design.
    • VWatchie
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      By VWatchie · Posted

      Well, my fundamental stance is that I want to go in and out without leaving any trace other than a shining, perfectly running movement. So, no scratchings on the inside of the case back lid, no marred screws, no debris, no fingerprints, and so on. That is, my goal is to make it impossible for the FBI to track me down. As a professional, I suppose you might want to keep track of returning watches, but as @JohnR725 mentioned, we can keep detailed computer records without marking the watch at all. That may not be true for every watch, but luxury and COSC-certified movements do have unique numbers. John also says it’s best to leave no sign you were ever there, and I couldn't agree more. Now, suppose the Sea-Dweller I'm working on is one day scrapped, and you want to sell the case-back separately (perhaps the case was destroyed in a plane crash). Then the scribbles on the inside no longer reflect the current movement inside the case. Also, the engraving will likely halve the market value of the case back. It had been "sleeping" for about a week and a half. Yes, the "debris/old lubricant" theory is my hypothesis as well! It will be interesting to see what I find once I have time to start disassembling the movement.
    • MikeEll
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      By MikeEll · Posted

      I've repaired a few of these, having some success with stripping and cleaning the mechanism.  They are so cheap though, its hardly worth the effort in many cases.
    • watchweasol
      Oldhippy

      By watchweasol · Posted

      Get well soon Old Hippy, torn muscles.,  not good
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