French Benrus Mark IV

[WileyDave]

Need some help with this one, my neighbor gave this to me, said it was his grandpa's retirement gift from Marathon Oil co, probably in 60's?, its a FU14 14 jewel, I searched the bay for similar and found a few. This one has minor H2O intrusion, (yeah says waterproof!) batt was not leaking, but confirmed water mark, coil screw has rust, I guess my question is, is it worth fixing? Hands are loose, when you try setting they catch, second hand also winds when stem is turned. (no big deal) Overall watch is in great shape, no repair marks in caseback, have not tried batt yet, appreciate any help/info. Dig that crazy lightning bolt sweep hand!

Thanks, Dave

 I would

[clockboy]

I  personally would like to service/repair this watch as it is a movement I have never encountered before. So for me it would be a yes it,s worth it. Parts will be a challenge but that,s part of the fun.

[Cad101]

I too would also give it a go I like a challenge.

[WileyDave]

3 hours ago, clockboy said:

I  personally would like to service/repair this watch as it is a movement I have never encountered before. So for me it would be a yes it,s worth it. Parts will be a challenge but that,s part of the fun.

Me too, any idea on maker? I looked on Ranff and Gleaveandco, but no luck unless I missed it, (highly possible). The rusty coil screw has me a bit worried. Thanks

[Cad101]

Looks to me like a Lip R184 (Datolip 148) to me or very similar don't know if this link will work

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Lip_R184

[Cad101]

[WileyDave]

SPOT ON! or close enough, wonder where the extra jewel comes from??? Got a lead on parts movement if seller will agree to BIN/offer....THANKS!

[Cad101]

Its what we are here for

[syfre]

The R148 is very popular in France because of the Lip Nautic-ski which is a collector

http://watchesz.free.fr/mfa/calibre R148.htm

 

[WileyDave]

Thanks Syfre and CaD101 wow color too! Hope seller accepts my offer on parts watch, I'd really like to see this thing work!

4 hours ago, syfre said:

The R148 is very popular in France because of the Lip Nautic-ski which is a collector

http://watchesz.free.fr/mfa/calibre R148.htm

 

 

[Cad101]

Thats an impressive piece of information youve provided there syfre. I'm excited to see this project finished.

[WileyDave]

6 hours ago, Cad101 said:

Thats an impressive piece of information youve provided there syfre. I'm excited to see this project finished.

so would I, seller of parts movement has not accepted my reasonable offer,..... yet. Think they're waiting for auction to end, I'll update when I get confirmation, they said it works, so that's a plus!

Thanks again syfre, I am indebted for your info.

 

[WileyDave]

UPDATE: Good news, seller accepted my offer and while it's an 11J model, (second generation with blue diode), it just might work for parts. Seller stated that movm't was tested and second hand advances. I translated syfre document to get all the other particulars about this truly unique movement.

[Cad101]

That's excellent news, things are progressing nicely if new movement works I would probably just change parts with a name attached to them like the train bridge just to keep a hint of its originality.

Mick

[WileyDave]

UPDATE: installed new batt yesterday in parts movement, (11j) did not work as seller described, put batt in 14j movement and nothing.... back to square one,

as I mentioned, original watch has minor rust on movement case screw and coil screw, case screw is pretty bad, don't think I can get out without wasting it, I'll get updated pics soon and suggest Moderator move to repair forum???

[Cad101]

I would be having serious words with that seller that's for sure and asking for at least some kind of refund.

 

[WileyDave]

22 hours ago, Cad101 said:

I would be having serious words with that seller that's for sure and asking for at least some kind of refund.

 

yeah , fleabay generally sides with buyer on issues, I sent message to seller to let them know it didn't work, I don't expect a response,

got rusty case screw out, now trying figure out retention/case ring, gently trying to separate but seriously not budging, movement will rotate easily, here is update screw pic.... pretty ugly

[WileyDave]

Last chance for this one, got back on bench this a.m. before hitting finger with hammer and getting stung by honeybee on same finger working on house, (figured I'd better quit before something really bad happens)swapped out coil and blue diode, maybe newer version parts may have better chance of working???, still nothing, coils look good, no obvious nicks, but you can't tell by looking, don't really want to get into balance assembly. This might be a cut losses project, unless there is something on dial side I can't see yet that's holding up the operation, because I can't get the fargin' thing out of case! Okay I feel better now, IF and WHEN I get back to this, I will update only if successful. Thanks for all your help.

[vinn3]

the watch with a battery AND a balance is the only electric i work on