Zodiac Sea Wolf - another doozy of an ebay purchase.

[SpringMangler]

I won what looked like a fair condition Zodiac Sea Wolf on the bay. It arrived quickly and at first glance looked half decent. The lume had gone from the hands but it was ticking, which was a plus point compared to some other recent eBay purchases.

Then I opened it up.

The watch could have applied for membership of OPEC there was that much oil in the movement. It was everywhere, apart from some areas it should have been.

Second observation was that the previous person who worked on this used a variety of small chisels and other assorted sharp implements to "service" the movement.

Turning to the dial side, there were a couple of screws missing and some obviously put back in the wrong place, plus the hands must have been removed by Edward Scissorhands, going by the marks on the dial.

It was also running like a dog; +280 seconds a day, 150 amplitude and a beat error above 9.

So, two weeks of stripping, cleaning, ordering missing bits, installing the correct crystal, re-luming the hands, sympathetically restoring the bezel and it's back in operation. I also had to recreate a new seconds hand as the old one resembled a hockey stick that had been left out in a hailstorm.

Whilst the amplitude is now up to 280 and the rate is +- 5 seconds, I'm still not happy with the beat error which is sitting around 2.5 - 3 so more work to do.

A word of warning for anyone looking to buy a beater of this movement, Zodiac 70-72, to fix up. The parts are rarer than rocking horse droppings and quite pricey when available. The mainspring barrel is sealed, and I mean sealed. A replacement is around $140. Same for the balance. However, this movement was a collaboration with Zodiac, Favre-Leuba, Girard Perregaux, Doxa and Eberhard. I managed to find a Favre Leuba movement that was a lot cheaper than the Zodiac and the parts were fully interchangeable.

On the plus side, this is my wife's favourite watch so I'm sure she won't mind me finding another few to fix up.

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by SpringMangler

[JohnR725]

15 hours ago, SpringMangler said:

there was that much oil in the movement

 

15 hours ago, SpringMangler said:

Second observation was that the previous person who worked on this used a variety of small chisels and other assorted sharp implements to "service" the movemen

in a watch repair discussion group we really like to see pictures of the movement. Even pictures of the movement filled with oil are really nice to see.

 

15 hours ago, SpringMangler said:

Zodiac 70-72,

 

15 hours ago, SpringMangler said:

beat error

I found the picture of the 72 looks like floating stud which means adjusting the beat shouldn't be an issue?

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Zodiac_72

 

[SpringMangler]

4 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

 

in a watch repair discussion group we really like to see pictures of the movement. Even pictures of the movement filled with oil are really nice to see.

 

 

I found the picture of the 72 looks like floating stud which means adjusting the beat shouldn't be an issue?

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Zodiac_72

 

I couldn't get a decent picture of the mess. I'll see if there was anything useful.

In terms of the beat error, I've moved the stud as far as it will go before it interferes on the balance cock. There is a protusion on the balance cock that limits the travel of the floating stud.

[JohnR725]

7 hours ago, SpringMangler said:

In terms of the beat error, I've moved the stud as far as it will go before it interferes on the balance cock. There is a protusion on the balance cock that limits the travel of the floating stud.

are you using a timing machine when you're doing this? Then it would be nice to see a picture of what you're getting.

As far as putting the watch in beat if you've gone to the extreme you have a problem. Unless somebody is restaffed the watch up with the hairspring collet where it's not supposed to be you shouldn't be this extreme.

the problem with beat error in the timing machine is it doesn't really have a plus and a minus you don't know if you're fast or slow or at zero. In other words zero is in the middle and the numbers get bigger the farther the way you go in either direction such really easy to go past zero and just keep on going to the end and being puzzled by what's going on

when this happens the best is to let all the power off visually see were the beat is and then move the beat adjuster back more work should be. In other words you need to visually put it back to where it should be reasonably close then you can do the timing machine.

 

 

[SpringMangler]

Thanks for the advice John. Yes I am using a timing machine and if I move the stud in the other direction the beat error rises significantly. 

I'll follow your recommendation and let down the power and check the beat. I might also remove the pallet fork and check as to where the impulse jewel is sitting. Looking at the condition of the watch, I wouldn't be surprised is someone has bodged the balance.