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1959 Bulova President "A" 11AF movement


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I bought this guy off eBay, listed as "serviced and running."

Looked nice when I got it, but it felt pretty crunchy setting. I opened it up and it was a mess inside. Oil *everywhere*, dirt, wear, rust in the keyless works. I messaged the seller, and to his credit he offered a full refund or a generous discount off the offer he accepted from me, so I took the discount.

After a full service it's running very well. I was all proud of myself since it's the first watch I reassembled completely without checking my reference photos.

Which is a good thing, because I accidentally deleted them. Which is a bad thing, because I ended up with a screw leftover in my dust tray.

Thing is, I don't think it's from this movement. Does anyone know the 11AF or have a parts list?

And if it's not from this movement, where the heck did it come from?

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You can see the rogue screw in the center section here with the pallet bridge. The other two screws are for the balance and pallet bridge.

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The screw in question:

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The head is large, like for a ratchet or crown wheel, but that shoulder makes me think it's for a yoke spring or something. I checked the keyless works, and there are no screw holes leftover.

It was also in the center section of the dust tray, which I reserve for the balance and pallet fork. So I'm at a loss.

And here's a short video of it running, because I never get tired of it.

 

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10 hours ago, Kalanag said:

It could be the weird screw that clamps the pallet bridge down:

That's EXACTLY what it is, thank you! Now I remember taking it off and thinking, "well that's weird."

One more request: these movements have a tiny spring on the stem that centers it in the case, preventing the movement from wiggling around. Both the President watches I have are missing it. Are they available anywhere?

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1 hour ago, ManSkirtBrew said:

That's EXACTLY what it is, thank you! Now I remember taking it off and thinking, "well that's weird."

One more request: these movements have a tiny spring on the stem that centers it in the case, preventing the movement from wiggling around. Both the President watches I have are missing it. Are they available anywhere?

You can buy some spring wire and make one quite easily. I believe, It's made from stainless steel and doesn't need hardening and tempering. I use it for making replacement click and yoke springs. it comes in various thicknesses https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/spring-wire-for-catchesclasps?code=S47003

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  • 3 months later...

I had to uncase this guy recently because it stopped running. Looks like I'd pressed the hour hand on too far and it was touching the dial.

While I was in there, I took the opportunity to take @Jon's advice and make a little spring for the stem to keep it from rattling around in the case when it's in the setting position.

I had some thin stainless wire I got from Amazon for a different project. I found 0.3mm wrapped around a #64 drill bit seems to be the best fit.

A little cleanup on a diamond wheel in my shop, and I think it's pretty nice.

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First try was too small.

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Second try with 0.4mm wire was too thick.

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Third try with 0.3mm and a larger mandrel was just right.

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After cleanup.

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A spring!  Holy carp!  That explains why a Bulova President which I worked on a little while ago always felt loose in its case.  I wondered why the stem hole looked larger than it needed.

Thanks for showing that.  I honestly hadn't seen that before. 

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