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Hands out of sync


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Hello,

I have a watch with the hands out of sync. Meaning by the time the hour hand gets to 12, the minute hand is already more than 10 minutes ahead. I think I can fix this if I can get to the dial. In the picture I already removed the crown and rotor. But the movement does not slip out. I've looked at all sort of guides and videos but there are none similar to this situation. Don't worry, this is a cheap Chinese watch which I obtained as a gift because one day the previous owner noticed a hair floating around the dial ( A Chinese eyelash, I wish to take care of that too!). He didn't want it so I asked for it to see if I can give it a little more useful life. Plus these mechanical things interest me and I want to learn all I can. So if I fail it's not a big loss. So how can I get to the dial? is this a front loader? 

movement.png

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Looks like you have removed the movement holder and screws already? could just be a tight fit. Try to tap it gently in the palm of your hand? Or in the table. Be sure to catch the movement as it falls out. If it falls out :huh:

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Won't budge, i'm afraid to hit it harder. In the picture only the crown with the stem and the rotor are removed. Nothing else, nothing else was in there. Perhaps the picture's perspective is misleading. You can see three "rings". The outer one where the cover screws go, then another one inside and below which has a notch for the stem, then a third one inside and below again, which is the one I consider the movement holder, but don't know what to do about it, and then there's the movement, which is possibly part of this same ring.

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9 minutes ago, rogart63 said:

Could we have a picture of the dial? It's strange? Why would a frontloader have a case back? 

For one, "holed" cases are much cheaper and easier to manufacture than monocoques. And, movement screws are still on the back.

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You can see the eyelash between 8 amd 9. Below a side view. The picture seems to show a gap at the bezel but in reality this is invisible and appears seamless. The crystal height is only very slightly more than the bezel.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Alaskamick said:

It looks to me as if the crystal and bezel come off with an ordinary case opening knife.

Yes it did! Quite easy too. All fixed. The "hair" was not an eyelash. It seems to be a thin piece of wire.

BTW the movement did not slip off the front either. I did not need to remove it for what I wanted to do but I still wonder should you have to, How would that be done?

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HI ngc,

On the first picture, is that an inner ring with a cut for the stem? If it is, it may turn to a point where it disengages and frees the movement from the case. Alternatively, the movement may turn to a point where it may fall out the back. Try that and see if it works. Careful with the balance wheel.

Cheers,

Bob

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Thanks for that. But I was anticipating way ahead of myself. The fact turns out it was not that well fixed. It's now worst, it's broken. The hour hand bent "counterclockwise" and it's about to fall off. My theory is that it "collided" with the mini date hand at 3 o clock and got stuck there because that's where it had stopped even when it still had lots of wind to go. That's surely because I set it either too low or inclined downwards instead of flat. Now I need a replacement hour hand. This is very disappointing on a personal level, but it rises my admiration of you repair watch people. There is more detail to consider that what is apparent at first sight. I also stored my cheapo "hand tool" incorrectly, Squeezed to tight in a rubber strap, and it's broken too. It does not "open" enough any more to grab anything, a "separator" failed at the joint. So to continue this little reparation project I have to decide to buy "again" a hand tool ( I had bought one in preparation beforehand anticipating I would need this to install them in sync). Maybe I spent too little on a cheap tool or maybe I stored it incorrectly, but If I'm to continue I'll have to spend in a new one. The watch is not worth any more effort, so any more investment would be purely out of a wish to learn and a wish to restore personal pride. And that's without considering if such an hour hand is available, I'm just assuming it's as cheap as the watch. I don't understand why this problem did not show up when I set the correct time after I finished, but only a day later. advise requested:

Continue?

Throw it away and stick to my day job?

Where could I get such an hour hand without breaking the bank?

What is a better "hands tool" without breaking the bank?

If I get those two things and continue, what is the correct way of installing the hands such that they don't collide with each other.

Thanks for any help,

Thanks for any help.

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