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Poljot 3133 Resurrection

eccentric59
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eccentric59 WRT Addict

eccentric59

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I'd call it a restoration, but right now it's pretty much a cadaver. I picked up the watch from eBay (which just today I realized was "bee" in pig Latin 😉 ) and stuck it in a drawer. A couple of days ago I had finished up another project and for some reason this one said "Hey, I want some attention, too." So I did a cursory inspection and decided to give it a go. 

Cosmetically the case is really worn where good portions of the plating are completely gone, but the case in general isn't in too banged up.

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At least one pusher is a replacement which would probably account for the problem we'll get to internally. The Dial itself is in really good shape even if the hands are very dirty with broken lume. 

Once the movement was out of the case I discovered three problems. One was a broken part and two others were completely missing.

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My guess is this was someone else's project watch which they tried to sell for parts after they broke the operating lever tab with the wrong pusher setup.  Two other things I discovered as I stripped it down was that most of the screw heads were mangled, marked or gouged and the whole drive train was swimming in oil. The keyless works in particular was so dirty that i had to put a piece of tissue down to keep the bench from being stained. Yuk. 

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Oh, and I did get the watch to run after cleaning some of the oil off the hairspring with a one dip bath. It's going to need more work.

Right now new parts are ordered, including a new mainspring. The old one is rather "unflat". I will definitely give all the parts a good pre-cleaning just to get the puddles of oil of them.

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mikepilk Distinguished Member

mikepilk

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I have a Poljot Blue Angels 3133. I assume you know it's a copy of the Valjoux 7734 (I believe they bought the old tools from the Swiss).

Endeavour does a nice walkthrough here 

 

And the Valjoux technical guide is useful

Valjoux-7733-7734-7736-technical-communication-service-manual-EBAUCHES-SA.pdf

Edited by mikepilk
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mikepilk Distinguished Member

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1 hour ago, rossjackson01 said:

Mikepilk. Thank you for the download. I have a Breitling Top Time, using a Valjoux 7730 movement. Another 2 years of self imposed apprenticeship before I tackle it. I could probably do it now, but I want to do it properly.

You probably could do it now Ross, but you are doing the right thing by waiting. Especially for such a nice watch.

I started on pocket watches, then manual wind wrist watches, automatic movements, and finally alarm watches (Seiko Bell matic are good practice)  before finally a Chronograph, many years later.

Edited by mikepilk
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eccentric59 WRT Addict

eccentric59

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4 hours ago, mikepilk said:

I assume you know it's a copy of the Valjoux 7734

Sure do, although I doubt the parts would be interchangeable. Right now it's on the back of the bench waiting for the replacement parts to arrive. Considering they are coming from Poland, Ukraine and Germany, it might be closer to Thanksgiving when I move forward with this. I guess I could start to clean the case. I haven't decided if I want to get it replated or not.

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