AS 444

[Gra]

Hello everyone,

A friend of mine recently asked me to look at his grandma’s watch which was not working, the movement is an AS444.

when I opened it I could not understand why there was no pallet fork. I thought that is why it is not working but looking at the photos I realised there was no where for the Palette gol or cock. I cleaned and lubricated the watch and got it working but I do not understand why it goes…honestly, can someone explain please.

[RichardHarris123]

It's a  cylinder escapement.  Goggle it. 

[Lotus]

As Richard stated, the movement has a cylinder escapement, quite common in these pieces referred to as Lepine movements. It predates the modern swiss lever escapement, and is much more susceptible to wear. Because of this, it will need to be serviced more frequently. Anyways, good job for getting it working again!

[nickelsilver]

For future reference, on a cylinder escapement it's imperative to let all power off before removing the balance.

[JohnR725]

  On 7/25/2023 at 9:25 PM, nickelsilver said:

For future reference, on a cylinder escapement it's imperative to let all power off before removing the balance.

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You obviously are not learning your watch repair on YouTube as that statement apparently is entirely incorrect.

Seldom do I ever watch YouTube watch repair stuff unless there's some reason I have to. While I do watch a heck of a lot a YouTube I typically almost never watch, watch repair. Although there's a few channels out there that I do like and do subscribe to them to help out with their numbers. Then I will usually refer people if they need a video to those channels but that's a really tiny list.

For the channel below which I do not subscribe to I was only there because somebody asked if I knew Marshall? To be honest I didn't even know who Marshall was. But I was informed he lives in Seattle so I tracked down his history which is quite fascinating and noticed this video. I had seen a couple other videos before people made suggestions but this one looked interesting.

Then before we look at the video the comment made by @nickelsilver that I quoted above ideally I'd like to expand that to always remove the power before disassembling any timepiece. Disassembling with power can be very bad not just for the escapement. Then some escapement's disassembling with our can be extremely bad. So it's usually best if you can always remove the power before disassembling.

Then how do you know that this is a cylinder watch? Or basically how do you know it's something different a lever while you look to see if there is a lever. Then there's another way to tell a cylinder watch as far as I know only cylinder watches have this feature which is when the dial comes off and I snipped out something notice I circled something

So when you see something like that that's not a lever that's usually a cylinder it's meant to be adjustable. The also notice up above you can see the mainspring barrel with its stop works mechanism still there not swiped like typically happens. Then yes the barrel is suspended its call the suspended barrel is no place for the arbor to go on the side. Makes for a slightly thinner watch at least that's why suspect that they didn't know it actually no but it is interesting barrel assembly if it wears out.

Then there was the other amusement I had which is the Cannon pinion. This is one of the minor problems of watch repair it requires lots and lots and lots of experience. This is because there so many variations of things it becomes almost impossible remember everything but this is something relatively common for these type watches of this time span. The question comes up enough times on the group that I actually have a dedicated folder with all the pictures are easy to find and I can show people exactly what they have and how it's supposed to come apart. Although the video he used a rather clever method.

 

 

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

  On 7/25/2023 at 10:20 PM, JohnR725 said:

You obviously are not learning your watch repair on YouTube as that statement apparently is entirely incorrect.

Seldom do I ever watch YouTube watch repair stuff unless there's some reason I have to. While I do watch a heck of a lot a YouTube I typically almost never watch, watch repair. Although there's a few channels out there that I do like and do subscribe to them to help out with their numbers. Then I will usually refer people if they need a video to those channels but that's a really tiny list.

For the channel below which I do not subscribe to I was only there because somebody asked if I knew Marshall? To be honest I didn't even know who Marshall was. But I was informed he lives in Seattle so I tracked down his history which is quite fascinating and noticed this video. I had seen a couple other videos before people made suggestions but this one looked interesting.

Then before we look at the video the comment made by @nickelsilver that I quoted above ideally I'd like to expand that to always remove the power before disassembling any timepiece. Disassembling with power can be very bad not just for the escapement. Then some escapement's disassembling with our can be extremely bad. So it's usually best if you can always remove the power before disassembling.

Then how do you know that this is a cylinder watch? Or basically how do you know it's something different a lever while you look to see if there is a lever. Then there's another way to tell a cylinder watch as far as I know only cylinder watches have this feature which is when the dial comes off and I snipped out something notice I circled something

So when you see something like that that's not a lever that's usually a cylinder it's meant to be adjustable. The also notice up above you can see the mainspring barrel with its stop works mechanism still there not swiped like typically happens. Then yes the barrel is suspended its call the suspended barrel is no place for the arbor to go on the side. Makes for a slightly thinner watch at least that's why suspect that they didn't know it actually no but it is interesting barrel assembly if it wears out.

Then there was the other amusement I had which is the Cannon pinion. This is one of the minor problems of watch repair it requires lots and lots and lots of experience. This is because there so many variations of things it becomes almost impossible remember everything but this is something relatively common for these type watches of this time span. The question comes up enough times on the group that I actually have a dedicated folder with all the pictures are easy to find and I can show people exactly what they have and how it's supposed to come apart. Although the video he used a rather clever method.

 

 

 

 

Expand  

I noticed he removed all power before removing the balance. I guess he must have asked youband Nicklesilver before doing that. The cannon pinion was also not an issue, i may have to resubscribe 

[Gra]

Sorry for the late reply, only just been catching up.

Thanks for all the information on the cylinder escapement, all the help and info on here is great and really useful to beginners like myself.

Currently struggling with a messed up hairspring using a x20 loupe as I don’t have a microscope yet.