Mount royal pocket watch question

[transporter]

Hi guys, ive been given a mount royal pocket watch to look at by a friend,  can anyone help me with how you actually open the case to access the movement, there isn't anywhere on the case where you can get a case knife inserted to lever off the covers. As the rear is a display back due to the movement being a skeleton one I'm having to be very careful. 

I'm thinking that I might have to remove the hinge pins on the outer covers, it being a half hunter case, to access the  bottom area where I can see an area I might be able to get a case knife into. It looks like the parts are pressed into the case, I know this as I can run a razor blades in the vertical position all around the edge of the case back but im unable to lift the case back off as there is no lip to prise up on.

Cheers for any help, ive searched the net and youtube but just get reviews of the watch, know one has as of yet done a tutorial so to speak so im abit blind with this one at the mo

[clockboy]

Load a few pics and there will for sure be someone to help.

[transporter]

Hello mate, will do, I'm at work at the moment but will load some up later this afternoon ok, cheers for the interest

[transporter]

Ok here's some photos, really not much to see, on the 2nd photo at approx 1oclock from the latch spring you can see a piece of razor blade that snapped when I was exploring a way to open the case, as you can see there is a gap all around the case back in the vertical plain with nowhere on the horizontal plain to place a case knife to lever it off, in the third photo you can see the bottom of the case, where the case is chamfered flat, I'm wondering if I have to remove the hinge pins and remove the two outer cases and lever it off from there??

[JohnR725]

20 hours ago, transporter said:

there isn't anywhere on the case where you can get a case knife inserted to lever off the covers

I rather like the terminology here. The reason I like it so much is on another discussion group somewhere else somebody had a really nice Hamilton railroad pocket watch. This person tried really hard with their case knife and made some nice indents but they couldn't pry the back off. It never occurred to them that the back unscrewed. Then the problem for future people is you'll see these nice little indented marks were obviously the case knife should go which means they will attempt to pry it off not grasping that there supposed to be unscrewing.

but we really do need pictures. Googling the description of your watch I suspect the back probably pops off but we still need to see the picture. Otherwise we will make wild guesses which visually could be bad if we are wrong.

[transporter]

Hi John,  can I assume that you cannot see the pictures that I have posted? Not being sarcastic, but I know sometimes pictures etc are not displayed ok.

As for opening cases I hear what you are saying, ive come across numerous cases that have been mauled by others trying to open them, hence why I have looked at this one and have hit a brick wall so to speak as to how to open this case so I have stopped and will seek advice from others more experienced than myself, any help appreciated though mate

[szbalogh]

2 hours ago, transporter said:

Ok here's some photos, really not much to see, on the 2nd photo at approx 1oclock from the latch spring you can see a piece of razor blade that snapped when I was exploring a way to open the case, as you can see there is a gap all around the case back in the vertical plain with nowhere on the horizontal plain to place a case knife to lever it off, in the third photo you can see the bottom of the case, where the case is chamfered flat, I'm wondering if I have to remove the hinge pins and remove the two outer cases and lever it off from there??

This is a 5 USD chinese pocketwatch with the skeletonized chinese standard movement. I can imagine that it is assembled not to service it just throw away if not working, so it could be inreversibly closed. Search...

ah found one

Lol there is plastic in the case

And it has an anchor error.... but who cares about that... it will look fine with the case polished 

 

[JohnR725]

So puzzled by your response but this is what happens when I start to answer message wander off come back later much much later finish my message go to work. Sometimes there will be a pop-up message notifying that additional responses posted didn't see one.

So the photos reveal that it definitely doesn't thread on which is obvious from the quality it pushes the cost up considerably higher to put threads on. So obviously they push on but if it's really meant to be a throwaway watch I wonder if did take the time to make it so it could be popped off?

so earlier was googling to see if anyone had disassembled the watch or any other watches noticed the YouTube video below. That type of knife arrangement is a little easier to hold then a razor blade. Although looking at the video there may be a little more prying that I would like to see initially. You should build up push the plate in which would llift up a little bit then you could pry.

Then looking carefully at the photos are those glass crystals with outer nylon rings to hold them in place? Normally when you push those kinda crystals in that takes a lot of force, the ring they would go into would have to be reasonably strong even a little different shape than the normal pocket watch type bezels so I suppose there is a small possibility that it's not made to be disassembled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YmjZax7BzI

[transporter]

Mmmm thinking that way myself, I know it's a cheap movement, whole watch costs approx £80, the movement is the same as those used in Rotary wrist watches, but a long search and forum questions shed no light on the make of days movements when I had a rotary in for repair before.

This particular pocket watch went back to the factory for a new crystal to be fitted came back and wasn't used for a long time then was wound and didn't work, even shaking the whole watch doesn't even get the balance to wiggle 

[transporter]

Oh my god that video is bad, i stopped watching after she used pliers through the movement to push the crystal out. Anyway nice find but that's s totally different watch case to what's on the one on my bench at the moment though 

[transporter]

Ok guys ive sorted it, I needed to take the hinge pins out the remove the case parts, after that I could use a case knife at the bottom of the case to lever off the covers, now the inspection starts to find the fault for the non running of this watch.

[MilTimeCan]

23 minutes ago, transporter said:

Ok guys ive sorted it, I needed to take the hinge pins out the remove the case parts, after that I could use a case knife at the bottom of the case to lever off the covers, now the inspection starts to find the fault for the non running of this watch.

I have a very similar watch,I wanted to get something inexpensive to visually study a mechanical watch movement a few months ago. I don't rely on this for timekeeping, I have quartz.

 FWIW , mine has a notch on the side that you can insert a flat screwdriver head and lightly pry open.

 

 

[MilTimeCan]

On 11/4/2016 at 2:56 AM, transporter said:

Oh my god that video is bad, i stopped watching after she used pliers through the movement to push the crystal out. Anyway nice find but that's s totally different watch case to what's on the one on my bench at the moment though 

What a horrible death even for a cheap Chinese watch

Pliers...plastic crystal...distressed...gouges....stratches...

[vinn3]

welcome to the forum "Mr. Bill"

[vinn3]

it happens often to the semi novice.  how  are you shure its not a screw case back? the ans. is -------.