Benrus case opening help

[Levine98]

Hi,

 

Picked this up in eBay for $15 and overall a pretty nice restoration project. First problem however is getting the movement out. I've looked under magnification and don't see any way to slip even a razor blade between the caseback and case, so I'm assuming the movement comes out some other way. I've tried lifting the cystal off with my crystal remover but abandoned this for fear of scratching the case. I've looked through the forum for advice, did see one thread about Benrus in general but honestly couldn't follow it and not sure it applied to my particular watch. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated since once opened and cleaned and returned to the case, this shoudl be a sweet little vintage piece (the band is original as well, mark Benrus 1/20 GF and in excellent condition). 

[GuyMontag]

I have a Benrus that looks to have a similar style case and you have to pull the crown off (it's a split stem) and then push on the crystal which will drop the movement out of the back.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

48 minutes ago, GuyMontag said:

I have a Benrus that looks to have a similar style case and you have to pull the crown off (it's a split stem) and then push on the crystal which will drop the movement out of the back.

 

Is the caseback snapped on guy ?

[Levine98]

3 hours ago, GuyMontag said:

I have a Benrus that looks to have a similar style case and you have to pull the crown off (it's a split stem) and then push on the crystal which will drop the movement out of the back.

 

Yup. that is exactly it. I was able to pull the crown off without damaging it (first time i ever encountered a split stem and a bit nerve wracking). Used a cystal/case press to push the case movement off from the case. 

Now on to the crystal and getting the movement actually out of the caseback.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Levine98

[Levine98]

5 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Is the caseback snapped on guy ?

No, you push the case out appying pressure from the crystal side after releasing the split stem. I had to use a press to push it out (crystal side up, pushing down).  Once it is out, you remove a very thin ring that surrounds the crystal and the movement just falls out from the case. I suspect if the one i bought hadn't so much crud/corrosion, it would have been easy to extract. 

I was able to totally get the movement out this morning, dial off etc. Turns out there is a rather nice ETA 1080 in there that is in very good shape (and ticking no less once I was release from the cae).

Edited June 7, 2022 by Levine98

[RichardHarris123]

2 hours ago, Levine98 said:

No, you push the case out appying pressure from the crystal side after releasing the split stem. I had to use a press to push it out (crystal side up, pushing down).  Once it is out, you remove a very thin ring that surrounds the crystal and the movement just falls out from the case. I suspect if the one i bought hadn't so much crud/corrosion, it would have been easy to extract. 

I was able to totally get the movement out this morning, dial off etc. Turns out there is a rather nice ETA 1080 in there that is in very good shape (and ticking no less once I was release from the cae).

Amazing since the case is in a right state. 

2 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Amazing since the case is in a right state. 

Where's the hour wheel, is it stuck to the dial?  Is the cannon pinion missing too?

[Levine98]

I removed them before taking the picture.

[RichardHarris123]

1 hour ago, Levine98 said:

I removed them before taking the picture.

That's good, I have seen them stuck to the dial before.