Watch of Today

[rehajm]

…my Watch O’ the Day today. This one is under monitoring as it was a mess and I just buttoned it up. A bit of a scam this one was as it was messed up in a way only someone experienced would have done…

The hairspring was out of the regulator and bent in a way so the balance wheel would turn just enough so the auctioneer could write ‘ticking’. The banking pins were bent outwards about as far as they could move and it tricked me for a long time. A picture from WatchGuy solved it…

…the roller was supposed to look like this but someone had replaced it with a one piece far too large to fit, though it looked fine in the watch. My mistake . I filled the wheel with the missing screws and rebent the over-coil to see what the escapement was doing, so I get to the bad roller in a roundabout way…

I sourced a new balance. The hairspring needed some heavy correction and so far its holding. I may go back and repeat the service as I spent much time messing with the escapement…

Edited November 5, 2024 by rehajm

[mpe7383]

On 11/4/2024 at 8:34 PM, mbwatch said:

@mpe7383 I have wondered how is the power reserve on those movements, with two (apparently smallish) barrels?

So for anyone who is remotely interested in how my Slava 2428 power reserve test went, the results are in.

It actually performed far better than I was expecting, the stated power reserve for this movement is 47 hours, my watch achieved 40 hours and 20 minutes. I don't think that's too bad considering the mainsprings are very probably the original from manufacturer.

As previously stated, I had my doubts to the results being great as winding is very easy all the way to the stop, not like some movements where you dont even try to get to the stop, you feel that much tension you just think no, that's enough. But I do have a few watches with this movement so I compared the winding, and they are all the same, wind easily to the stop. So perhaps that's another benefit of the twin smaller barrels, and if you then consider the automatic version of this movement, would it be easier going on the auto works?

Well as it's now run down, it can have a rest. Recently I repaired and serviced this early Accurist quartz which uses the 7 jewel ESA 9632 movement.

I replaced the quartz oscillator and with it's new battery has been running well, so this can have the rest of the week getting worn. Time keeping is excellent, I use a radio controlled clock to set watches, and this is still to the second from when it was repaired.

[mpe7383]

Finished this watch last night, I'm guessing mid 70's

So it's a 17 jewel Corvair, I've not worked on this brand before, looking at other Corvair watches, they all seem to have Swiss Made on the dials, but this one has Fr Ebauche on the dial. So no surprise then to find a FE 104 2-A movement within.

Again, never worked on an FE movement so all good experience, all pretty straight forward, although 16 of the 17 jewels all in the normal places, but to my knowledge, I've not seen one here before:

I will say though, the day date change really is excellent on this movement. With no quick set I was expecting hard work getting it set, but with careful back and forward hand setting it was actually quite quick and easy.

The only real issue I had with this movement was the hairspring, ran fine with very little wind, but with full wind the spring coils colliding killing the momentum. So a bit of manipulation and eventually running well on full wind. I admit, hairspring manipulation not one of my strong points so some good practice and experience gained here, more needed though.

[Razz]

I showed this one as part of a lot in the 10:10 club thread. Was not working and one a speidel flex bracelet

 A 218 1 from 1975. Presentation piece from Goodyear. Could use a crystal. Sourced an accucell. Put on a decent band. It was a bugger to get going. Will need a full service but could feel the buzz but just would not move. Finally after reading the chapter and going back 2 or 3 times to the book realized it was probably just gunked up. Can't find one dip so used a slight bit of carburetor cleaner and a fine oiler to clean the debris off the pawl stones and micro adjust them on the index wheel

 

Since I got it running about 4 hours ago it has not lost or gain 1 second. It is as smooth a sweep second hand I have ever seen in person. Very mesmerizing...

Edited November 12, 2024 by Razz

[rehajm]

1 hour ago, Razz said:

Very mesmerizing...

[Waggy]

Hi everyone, been a while since I posted, but just moved house and then getting ready to move back to the UK to start a whole new career, so my watch shenanigans have had to take a back seat. Anyhow, I recently managed to sneak in a Seiko 7005, I think it was  made in April 1969. Here are the before and after shots.

Here is the front, I had to replace the cracked crystal, but it was hiding a nice dial, not 100% convinced it's original, but suits the watch:

Here is the back of the watch, with a generous helping of arm cheese:

And here is the finished watch, I managed to save the bracelet and everything else is original, apart from the crystal and mainspring , and bearing on the rotor.

Edited November 13, 2024 by Waggy

[mpe7383]

For the last couple of days, I've been giving this big cat some exercise

Citizen Leopard, 1972 with the 28 jewel 7230 movement full of springs.

I've had this for quite a while and must be over a year ago it was serviced and repaired. The rotor weight was adrift on one rivet and that all tightened up nicely. When I finished it, was running excellently, the cannon pinion a little on the loose side but coping well with the day date change so left it alone. I won't attempt to tighten these unless absolutely necessary, I'm still on the lookout for one for a different watch that I over tightened. A replacement for this movement I would imagine would also be hard to find, and it's coping with the day date change.

Until recently, I never got to wear this after the service, when I did want to, and went to set it up, discovered it had developed an issue where the hands would lock up when passing through the midnight change over. By this time, another watch all stripped down and taking up the bench, so this got sidelined.

Well I've eventually got round to it and I have eliminated the persistent niggle in the back of my mind to get this sorted. Very simple fix in the end, and a basic mistake on my behalf. Found the date ring retaining plate / quick set rocker spring (circled in picture below) was not fully home on the left hand stud causing the right hand side of the plate to dip down enough for the date ring teeth to catch on. Lucky escape for me, if I had tried to force it then the plastic day date cam would have been damaged, again, I reckon they won't be easy to find.

[Razz]

I picked this up on Sunday and changed the crystal and cleaned up the dial with rodico and tuned it up to get it working, even the chronograph. Now I am dying to get it on the wrist but the lugs are missing! Looks completely original. Not sure if art deco or the 40s but the Landeron48 was made from 1937 to 1970s so either way this just blows me away...

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Razz said:

I picked this up on Sunday and changed the crystal and cleaned up the dial with rodico and tuned it up to get it working, even the chronograph. Now I am dying to get it on the wrist but the lugs are missing! Looks completely original. Not sure if art deco or the 40s but the Landeron48 was made from 1937 to 1970s so either way this just blows me away...

Ive seen that before to make it as a hanging watch ( in a car )  Bottom lug was maybe damaged and easier to remove than to replace or even on purpose .

[AndyHull]

If both of the bottom lugs, or both of the top lugs are missing, that may be because someone was using it clipped to their lapel in the same manner as doctors or nurses watches.

These two are designed that way, but if you already have a watch , "converting it" by removing two lugs, and hanging it from a short leather strap piece is fairly simple.

Assuming the lugs didn't break off in normal wear, someone may have deliberately removed them to stop them from catching on their clothing if they wanted to  wear the watch this way.

[fredy]

Hello!

today Seiko ssc015p1

 

[Razz]

On 12/11/2024 at 12:29 AM, Neverenoughwatches said:

Ive seen that before to make it as a hanging watch ( in a car )  Bottom lug was maybe damaged and easier to remove than to replace or even on purpose .

Both nubs are very similar so could be merit to the purposeful removal scenario. 

[Geotex]

I’ve seen at least one picture of someone holding an old chrono in their palm and using it as a stopwatch with only the top strap in place, similar to the string/strap/ribbon/fob you would have on a stopwatch or pocket watch. If you only planned on using it as a timer and didn’t want to wear it, removing the bottom lugs would make it easier to pocket. 

[GuyMontag]

No one has posted in over a month, let's change that. Here is a nice example of the 1965 Bulova Diamond Excellency 'B' with a 17 jewel 11AL movement. I love the faceted crystal, the light play as it bounces off the facets and that diamond at 12 o'clock really adds some pizzazz.

[Razz]

I have this Pogue that I have been working on. Aftermarket pushers because the originals were bent. Working on sourcing those and have some on the way. The dial has some patina but is all original and a nice orange "tropic".

[steve1811uk]

Seiko QZ from April 1975

Just finished this morning. Had an issue with no end shake on the centre wheel that was causing the second hand to just twitch. Turned out that I hadn't pushed the canon pinion fully home. After adding the hour wheel and calendar plates everything was just getting clamped together. All fixed now after giving the canon pinion a satisfying click into place.

[Jon]

50 minutes ago, steve1811uk said:

Turned out that I hadn't pushed the canon pinion fully home.

I put the minute wheel on and see the height of the cannon pinion leaves with the teeth of the minute wheel, which gives a good indication the cannon pinion is sitting correctly or not.

Lovely looking watch!

I've just finished this JLC Futurematic for the mid 1950s.

They say if you gave an engineer an unlimited amount of funds, they would come up with this movement. I have to admit it is over-engineered!

It has a manual mainspring in an automatic movement, that when it gets to full wind the bumper rotor hooks onto a pin that is eccentrically pushed over when full wind is achieved, so the mainspring doesn't break. The mainspring is also pretensioned by 1 1/4 turns to create a stop-work, so the spring never comes to be fully unwound and when the watch is picked up after stopping, it will kick into life instantly. The spring also never gets to be fully wound as well, so there is a more even and linear torque over the 33 hours of running.

The hands a set by sliding that winder across at the back of the monocoque case, It also has a hack which stops the balance when the winder is slid across. You can see that in the third photo.

The second from last photo shows the power reserve rack and that hook that hooks onto the pin to stop the rotor turning and breaking the mainspring.

The last photo shows a good timegrapher reading. A little problematic fourth wheel as you can see from the trace, but not bad fro a 70 year old lady. This has been one of the most looked after JLCs to date. Absolutely gorgeous unstated watches! I've got another JLC bumper auto to service this week. I'm spoilt!

Edited February 1 by Jon

[Razz]

5 hours ago, steve1811uk said:

Seiko QZ from April 1975

Just finished this morning. Had an issue with no end shake on the centre wheel that was causing the second hand to just twitch. Turned out that I hadn't pushed the canon pinion fully home. After adding the hour wheel and calendar plates everything was just getting clamped together. All fixed now after giving the canon pinion a satisfying click into place.

I need to check this issue or tightened the CP on this weekdater 6619-8010. It seems to slip as well.

[Knebo]

6 hours ago, Jon said:

I put the minute wheel on and see the height of the cannon pinion leaves with the teeth of the minute wheel, which gives a good indication the cannon pinion is sitting correctly or not.

Lovely looking watch!

I've just finished this JLC Futurematic for the mid 1950s.

They say if you gave an engineer an unlimited amount of funds, they would come up with this movement. I have to admit it is over-engineered!

It has a manual mainspring in an automatic movement, that when it gets to full wind the bumper rotor hooks onto a pin that is eccentrically pushed over when full wind is achieved, so the mainspring doesn't break. The mainspring is also pretensioned by 1 1/4 turns to create a stop-work, so the spring never comes to be fully unwound and when the watch is picked up after stopping, it will kick into life instantly. The spring also never gets to be fully wound as well, so there is a more even and linear torque over the 33 hours of running.

The hands a set by sliding that winder across at the back of the monocoque case, It also has a hack which stops the balance when the winder is slid across. You can see that in the third photo.

The second from last photo shows the power reserve rack and that hook that hooks onto the pin to stop the rotor turning and breaking the mainspring.

The last photo shows a good timegrapher reading. A little problematic fourth wheel as you can see from the trace, but not bad fro a 70 year old lady. This has been one of the most looked after JLCs to date. Absolutely gorgeous unstated watches! I've got another JLC bumper auto to service this week. I'm spoilt!

Nice!! 

I love JLC for their inventions. Fascinating idea about the power reserve. I recently serviced a more modern (90s) JLC with a power reserve and it was done quite different, but also appeared over-engineered. Pretty cool stuff. 

[GuyMontag]

Here is my 1973 NOS Bulova 'Minute Man' on the original lizard skin strap. The '70s vibe is strong in this one.

 

[Raykv423]

What am I wearing today

It may not be Steve McQueen’s Rolex Submariner but boy, am I actually beginning to enjoy it.

Edited February 4 by Raykv423

[mbwatch]

41 minutes ago, Raykv423 said:

It may not be Steve McQueen’s Rolex Submariner

Is this the one that's like 52mm? Smartphone photo perspective always adds a lot to the case diameter. Especially if you have thinner wrists.

[Knebo]

On 2/1/2025 at 8:47 PM, GuyMontag said:

Here is my 1973 NOS Bulova 'Minute Man' on the original lizard skin strap. The '70s vibe is strong in this one.

 

that's a cool watch!

[mbwatch]

12 hours ago, mbwatch said:

Is this the one that's like 52mm?

I think the MRW-210 is the one I'm thinking of - 52.6mm in diameter and just a giant. https://www.casio.com/us/watches/casio/product.MRW-210H-1AV/

[GuyMontag]

I recently finished servicing this NOS 1971 Bulova Jet Clipper 'A' on the original bracelet with painted center links. The paint on the bracelet is notorious for chipping completing off so it's rare to find one with it intact.