Stuck with taking a Landeron 48 out of the case

[DocTomoe]

Hi all,

So, I took a little break in destroying my practice movements and wanted to improve the look of my two chronographs (Fidelius branded Landeron 248 and Orator branded Landeron 48) which were quite dirty.

The Landeron 248 has progressed really well. I was able to open the case, remove the movement and dial and separate the glass. I then polished the scraped up acrylic glass with Autosol Metal Polish (yes it works!) and was able to insert it back into the now cleaned gold plated case (I cleaned the case with a Mr Clean wet magic eraser sponge, works well too). I carefully cleaned the dial with Rodico first , but the result was not that much different. So I gave it a try with mineral oil, which I then wiped off with a clean tissue followed by again a Rodico treatment. That seemed to improve the look nicely without damaging anything. I have unfortunately not taken photos, so I will provide these later.

The issue I am now facing with the Landeron 248 is that when putting back on the chronograph minute hand, I can not seem to get it right in how tight I put it on. At first I put it on as tight as it would go with a guided hand fitting tool (still a light press of course) but that was too tight and made the movement stop when the chronograph was about to hit the minute mark. I then retried several times by putting it on as lightly as it would go without turning around freely or falling off, but I either press it on too hard (and make movement stop) or too light (as at some point it will start to swing freely or fall of). Is there any trick to it?

On the Landeron 48, I got stuck way earlier, as I have been utterly unable to remove the movement from the case! I proceeded as with the Landeron 248, meaning that I unscrewed the back, removed the two movement holding screws and removed the stem. At that point, I was able to remove the 248 as it was then only held in my a metal spacer. The 48 hwoever doe snot budge and it looks like the movement is slightly larger than the back case opening. I can however not see how I would remove any part of the back to enlarge the opening (I thought maybe the bezel that the case back is screwed on could also be screwed out somehow, but it does not seem like it). So I thought that maybe you had to remove it through the glass and was able to remove the front glass with the relevant glass tool. But the movement still does not come out and does not budge at all. So I am completely clueless now. Any suggestions are welcome. I attach some pictures of the 48 as it is now. Sorry if the quality is not the best.

Many thanks,

Olivier

[Geo]

Olivier, the movement comes out through the front, but first you must remove the bezel.

To do this start be carefully pressing a single sided razor blade into the joint between the bezel and body, sometimes there is a very shallow notch to allow a blade easier access.  Once you have lifted it slightly with a razor blade, use a Stanley blade, that is slightly thicker, to lift it a bit further.  Once that is done, finish off with a case knife to prise the bezel off completely.

By doing it is stages, there is less chance of damaging the mating surfaces of the case and bezel.

[DocTomoe]

Ah, had not thought of that. Many thanks Geo, I will have another look tonight.

[DocTomoe]

Just wanted to confirm that this worked. Many thanks again.