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Pierpont Landeron 48 Chronograph Up And Running.

Geo

By Geo
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

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Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

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A couple of years ago just as I was starting to dabble in watch repairing and was given this old Pierpont Chronograph from a friend.  It had been lying about in a box full of old watches and parts in the back of his shop.

 

The condition was as we say in Dundee………minging!  The back was missing, it was full of dust and dirt and nothing would operate.  My friend reckoned that a wash out with WD40 and a back should have it as good as new, well he certainly got that one wrong.

 

I stripped the watch down completely and gave all the parts a good wash in the ultrasonic bath and then set about finding out what was wrong.  It was at the stripping stage that I realised there were eccentric adjusters, and I had turned every one in the process of stripping the mechanism.  It was at this stage that I thought……….time to buy a book on chronograph repair!  If only I had found Mark’s videos on watch repairing it would have saved me a bit of heartache as everything had to be re-adjusted on assembly.

 

Once cleaned, assembled and adjusted I found that there were major problems with the chronograph.  It would start and run but would not stop and re-set as it should.  After much deliberation and not having seen the inside of a Landeron 48 before, I noticed that there was evidence of micro butchery.  The hammer cam had been attacked with a file along with the tip of the hammer spring.  The tip of the fly back lever was broken off and the fly back spring had been twisted out of shape and shortened.

 

I eventually managed to source new parts from France, Germany and England and finally finished off the project today.

 

Its running well, so I’ll wear it for a while and decide whether to have the dial refinished or not.

 

Pictures below, the last one shows the offending parts.

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DJW Super WRT Addict

DJW

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I've been avoiding working on any chronograph movements up till now. Just too many parts for me to wrap my head around! But, I now have the need to step out of my comfort zone and expand my ability to understand and work on these interesting works of art!

Well, off to eBay I go to look for some possibilities!

 

BTW, Well done GEO!

Edited by DJW
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Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

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I've been avoiding working on any chronograph movements up till now. Just too many parts for me to wrap my head around! But, I now have the need to step out of my comfort zone and expand my ability to understand and work on these interesting works of art!

Well, off to eBay I go to look for some possibilities!

 

BTW, Well done GEO!

Hi Don, thank you for the kind words.

You really must get involved with chronographs, they are magnificent pieces of machinery and will test both your horological understanding and engineering dexterity.

I wish I had found Mark's videos on the subject before getting involved with chronometer, it would have helped a lot. I suggest that you purchase the book "Complicated Watches and their repair by Donald de Carle F.B.H.I" and study it before you start. It is a book that has served me very well, it's a mine of information.

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