Watch of Today

[Razz]

On 5/19/2023 at 7:11 PM, Razz said:

Good morning across the pond. Early Friday evening here in Tucson Arizona, USA. I have this Tissot Seastar 781-1 in fairly original condition. The dial has seen the worst of it but the patina is not entirely ugly.

An original ss case and bracelet, and crown. According to the photos date stamp I disassembled 10 weeks ago. Got side tracked and then finally had a couple of hours to reassemble 2 days ago. I ordered the correct acrylic but it did not have the Chrome ring so after the on wrist shots I removed and put the other one back on while I wait for a new one from cousins.

I did nothing to the mainspring or barrel, but did oil the pivots, jewels, etc. The amplitude can be improved and perhaps then regulated refined. But overall I am pretty satisfied. Looks and wears nice. Not sure the year but maybe the numbers on the interior of the caseback are a clue. '65 to '72 on the movement manufacture.

Pictures of the disassembly and a microscope are game changers for me personnally.

 

Looked up the number on the movement, looks to be late 1969 I think.

Updated photos with new crystal with tension ring. The dial patina is growing on me, so to speak, and I really like the ways this wears.

[AndyHull]

I've not worn this Ingersoll for a while, so I decide it was time it got a day in the sunshine.

This is what it looked like when it arrived back in Nov 2020.

[Waggy]

Great job, looks like 2 different watches!

[GuyMontag]

This came as a 'NOS" watch, which the case is. On the other hand, the ETA 2789-1 on the inside was anything but. The movement looked like it had been sitting in pieces in a drawer banging about for a few decades before being reassembled. It runs fine, just a lot of wear and tear on the parts.  This is the "youngest" watch I've serviced (1980's?) and the first watch I serviced that had both a quickset day and date, which sure is a joy to use. The instant change day/date is pretty cool too.  I do love the look!

Edited June 13, 2023 by GuyMontag

[Knebo]

Hello everyone!

This 1930s non-branded jump hour watch has been my project for a month or so.

The balance spring was broken and the balance wheel wasn't staying in place. One of the old-school cap jewels was broken. And DIRTYYYY! 

During cleaning, the plating on the movement parts came off... I then had to clean it again several times to the get it off completely. 

Another non-running donor AS 574 movement helped with the broken cap jewel, but the hairspring also wasn't doing so well... I managed to get another balance replacement from the UK -- which arrived today. So this afternoon was the big moment to finally put the last elements together!

And it runs well!

To be honest, the timegrapher screen looks better than it really is. It fluctuates quite a bit over the course of a few minutes. The amplitude goes up and down between 280 and 315 (dial up, fully wound) and rate between +40 and -30. Must be a bent pivot (where the second and minute discs are directly attached). But I think it averages out. I'll wear it a few days and see.

Not sure if I'll tackle the beat error. Since I have manipulate the collet of the balance spring, it feels too risky. I doubt that I'll find another replacement if I slip...

It's a funny mechanism, I must say. The seconds disc is directly stuck onto a prolonged seconds wheel pinion. The minute disc is directly stuck on the canon pinion. And the hours disc is just screwed on without any connection to the movement --- it is moved by a tiny "thorn" on the minutes wheel and stopped from spinning by a special spring. When the "thorn" of the minute disc engages with the hour disc, the movement clearly struggles a bit with the resistance -- for about 1min, the rate goes down to -300sec/day and the amplitude drops by 50°. But as soon as the hour "jumps", the movement recovers quickly.

Next will be an effort to restore the minute disc.
 

 

Original state of the movement with broken balance spring (etc) and its original colour/plating

[LittleWatchShop]

I picked up a couple of these as part of a parts/tools/watch lot.  The dial reads well, so I like that aspect.  It is quartz, so it keeps accurate time.

There is a feature on this watch that I do not understand: ACCUSET.  I have found descriptions and instructions but they make no sense.  Probably does not matter, it is running as accurate as I need.

[ManSkirtBrew]

1 hour ago, LittleWatchShop said:

There is a feature on this watch that I do not understand: ACCUSET

Looks like it's to adjust if you have drift in the seconds hand. From the Accutron 242 service manual found over at Watchguy:

Quote

Setting Instructions and Synchronizing

Electronic ACCUSET Circuit
Important: It is necessary to re-synchronize ACCUSET circuit after:
A. Installing a Power Cell.
B. Servicing the Movement.
C. Interruption of Current (e.g. loose contact screw).

Setting Instructions
Step 1. When sweep second hand of the watch reaches the 60th second mark (12 o'clock marker), pull crown out to Position 3 (See Fig. 5,).(Allhands
will now stop.)
Step 2. Press and release ACCUSET button. (ACCUSET circuit is now synchronized with position of second hand.)
Step 3. Turn hands forward until date changes. (This establishes midnight.) .
Step 4. If A.M., advance hands 5 minutes ahead of a time standard being used. Then gently turn the minute hand back to correct time. If P.M., advance the hands past 12 o'clock (noon) to 5 minutes ahead of time standard and then gently turn the minute hand back to correct time.
Step 5. When time standard being used reaches the 60th second mark (12 o'clock marker), push crown to the "intermediate" position (Position 2). All hands
will start instantly.
Step 6. First set the date, then the day. Crown must remain in Po'sition 2. Slowly turn crown forward to correct date; backward to correct day. Push crown
"in" (Position 1).
Note: Day Indicator is printed in English and Spanish, or English and French. Set accordingly. Calendar cannot be set manually between 9:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M. However, the mechanism will not be damaged if crown is accidentally turned during this period of time.

Additional Setting Information
Once the ACCUSET circuit has been set (Refer to Step 1 and Step 2), there is no need to reset it, unless the power cell has been removed, or there
has been an interruption of current.

Using the ACCUSET Corrector
After a period of time, if the watch is no longer accurate to the exact second, press and release the ACCUSET button the instant the time stenderd used
naches the 60th second (12 o'clock) marker. (Maximum correction is + or - 30 seconds.) The sweep second hand of the watch will temporarily stop if it is
fast, or accelerate if it is slow until it is in synchro-nization with the time standard.

Important: When the crown is "all the way out" (Position 3), motor and all hands stop. The ACCUSET circuit continues to operate and the quartz crystal
continues to vibrate, using extremely little current. Store watches with crown in "out" (Position 3) to prolong battery life.

 

[LittleWatchShop]

2 hours ago, ManSkirtBrew said:

Looks like it's to adjust if you have drift in the seconds hand

Oh, I think I get it now.

Normally, for a quartz watch, you would pull the stem out as soon as the second hand reaches 60.  Then adjust the minute hand to the next minute.  When the reference time reaches 60 seconds, push the stem in and start the watch.

The accuset feature allows you to do this without stopping the watch.  When you push the accuset button, it fast forwards or stops in order to synch the second hand.  Cute.

 

[Waggy]

Working on this OVIVO I picked up as part of a lot sale  - didn't make it into the 404 club as it worked out to be $8.71. and looked in good shape:

And I was very happy when I opened up the back as the movement looked like it hadn't been touched:

 

And the dial was in even better shape

 

BUT....... then I noticed the ratchet wheel have several teeth missing:

 

And then I noticed that the click spring was missing and there was a lot of rust hiding under the ratchet and crown wheels. Fortunately I found a replacement ratchet wheel in my bag of spares and I fashioned a new click spring, I steeped the rusty parts in rust remover solution and they came up well, then off to the watch cleaning machine with my home made cleaning fluids. Next I assembled the train of wheels and everything on this side and all worked well, without any adjustment the amplitude close to 300 and rate was 1 sec/d with +/-5 beat error, very happy for this as a starting point, and all luck not skill. Will complete the dial side tonight, and put some of my new blue lume on the hands and then case up - hopefully there are no more hidden surprises, and I can post complete pictures tomorrow!

Edited June 15, 2023 by Waggy
fixed typo

[Waggy]

And here is the finished watch working great:

Very pleased with the re-lumed hands and I also managed to restore the crystal.

[Razz]

1972 Tissot Seastar 2511

I picked this up off the bay for my 60th bday coming up next month. I went out on a bit of a limb as the lot had no pictures of the movement. It did however show an original case, bracelet, signed crown, and awesome dial. It is a non runner, but I am hopeful that it is not to difficult to diagnose. It winds almost too easy and is a bit sticky on the setting though the calendar works is fine and the push quick date set is also fine. I hope it is a loose screw on the ratchet wheel or something that is not allowing a wind into the mainspring as the balance spins quite easily with a blower.

As no pix of the movement in the lot description I was hoping for a 784-2, but very surprised and happy with the 2511, which is the same as the Omega 1481! 20 microns gold plate in great shape, case with sharp lines and drilled lugs. You can tell I am quite smitten at the moment. No scratches on the movement or screws, the rotor doesn't seem to have play. I will take my time on this one and ease my way into this as a practice run for my eventual foray into my grandfather's Omega Constellation pie pan with a 561.

[Cihan]

On 5/22/2023 at 6:08 PM, Waggy said:

Good day everyone, I just completed a watch for my wife's uncle as a gift, its a Seiko 6309 which was in pretty poor condition and a non runner for obvious reasons. I had to replace the crystal and the ratchet wheel which was completely corroded (see pictures below) I also had to replace a screw and the cannon pinion. A quick lume on the hands and polish the case and it was good to go. Let me know what you think:

Before Front:

Hareketten Önce:

Cırcır çarkı ve vida(lar)da korozyon hasarı

İşte bitmiş saat, 24 saat sonra zaman grafiği ile birlikte:

 

excellent job. Congratulations. Are the amplitudes of Seiko automatics always this low? I did 6319 and 2906 maintenance. Values are always around 200 degrees.

[VWatchie]

On 6/16/2023 at 3:51 AM, Razz said:

I went out on a bit of a limb as the lot had no pictures of the movement.

All too often there is a reason for that. Don't ask me how I know. Nowadays, I always ask the seller for pictures of the movement and if there are none, then there will be no deal. You were really lucky but don't count on that luck to last. Very nice watch by the way and good luck restoring it.

[Razz]

10 hours ago, VWatchie said:

All too often there is a reason for that. Don't ask me how I know. Nowadays, I always ask the seller for pictures of the movement and if there are none, then there will be no deal. You were really lucky but don't count on that luck to last. Very nice watch by the way and good luck restoring it.

Thanks. You are correct, I was lucky. But I will say I was prepared and took a calculated risk. There were a number of things that I took into account when bidding on this item. I knew several things including that the seller probably did not know what they had. Although they have over 8k items sold, at the moment they only had a dozen items for sale but only 2 other watch lots. Asking for pictures of the movement might have tipped the seller off, which then could have added to the bidding pressure. I was content if it was the 784-2. Also described was that it was a presentation watch with a inscription for 25 years service in 1976. In the middle of the quartz crisis I don't think the corporation would have given a piece of junk to their employee just a hunch but things added up...there were about 40 bids on this item and I got in early and waited. 2 other bidders put it up fairly quickly, but I did not snipe it either. I put my Max bid in about an hour before the end and it came in just a bit under.

Finally, during this time period Tissot's were a poor man's Omega, similar to Tudor to Rolex. So I got lucky that no one else took a bigger risk or had contacted the seller yes, but I thought it was a very value added bet to make!

[Neverenoughwatches]

12 hours ago, VWatchie said:

All too often there is a reason for that. Don't ask me how I know. Nowadays, I always ask the seller for pictures of the movement and if there are none, then there will be no deal. You were really lucky but don't count on that luck to last. Very nice watch by the way and good luck restoring it.

I sometimes do this, i would love to say a calculated risk on my part but there is very little calculation involved, its nearly all risk. Sometimes pays off sometimes doesn't.  What it does do is push most buyers away leaving it open for low bidding. I did this recently with some tools and it paid off, i also did it on Saturday with 6 watches at just under a tenner each. 2 Sekondas, a Smiths Astal National ( this alone is around 200 restored ) not sure about the other 3. Some folk just have a crap camera phone, dont know how to photograph or understand presentation, cant get the back off or simply cant be bothered, dont know what they are selling or just dont care. If its cheap anyway then that softens the blow if the risk turns bad.  Its only money after all, you cant take it with you so why not enjoy it because you dont know when you're leaving.

[GuyMontag]

1971 Oceanographer Q on the original bracelet.

 

 

This one was a non-runner as it couldn't be wound. The culprit was a severely worn Connecting Wheel for the Auxiliary Reverser. Here it is on the left next to one from a donor movement on the right (which is starting to show some wear too).


 

[Knebo]

My friend asked my to look at her beautiful (quartz) Cartier Tank. Not running, gold plating didn't look good. 

I changed the battery. Ok, running again. 

But I assumed that the gold plating had started to come of and it would need restoration (or, my preference: acceptance of a cool vintage look). 

But I decided to give the crystal a good rub with Polywatch. Then... as I was polishing, the diry/oxidation of the case started to come off... so I continued and the case ended up as good as new.

She was elated when she saw it. 

 

 

But seriously, what's up with that Côte de Genève décoration !?!?  Can't keep a straight line across TWO parts @Cartier?? 

 

[Waggy]

I have seen a few videos on Chronoglide where the presenter (Kalle Slaap) states that these Geneva stripes are there so you can spot if a part has been replaced. If this is the case (and I have no reason to doubt him) the slight misalignment of the stripes would indicate that the watch has had a replacement part installed at some point in its' life. So the stripes are doing their job, nice example .

Great work on the restoration by the way, as someone who isn't necessarily a big fan of the vintage look (sacrilege!!), I think the watch turned out great.

 

 

 

On 6/16/2023 at 5:49 AM, Waggy said:

And here is the finished watch working great:

Very pleased with the re-lumed hands and I also managed to restore the crystal.

 

So I'm gutted.... after about a week of working well, I noticed that it was becoming more difficult to wind,  to such an extent that I thought it better to stop before I damaged it and I left it to wind down. I am so grumpy about it I can't bring myself to open it up and look inside and I'm going on vacation tomorrow so didn't want to start anything I couldn't finish.

The watch before I tried to fix it had broken teeth on the ratchet wheel.. so my fear is that I missed something and it is the old issue re-surfacing? Or maybe the horseshoe type click spring I made is not working correctly and fowling the spring barrel or ratchet wheel??? Any ideas?

Edited June 20, 2023 by Waggy

[Knebo]

16 hours ago, GuyMontag said:

1971 Oceanographer Q on the original bracelet.

 

 

This one was a non-runner as it couldn't be wound. The culprit was a severely worn Connecting Wheel for the Auxiliary Reverser. Here it is on the left next to one from a donor movement on the right (which is starting to show some wear too).


 

That's very cool looking watch. Love the blue tones and the yellow contrast. 

 

7 hours ago, Waggy said:

So I'm gutted.... after about a week of working well, I noticed that it was becoming more difficult to wind,  to such an extent that I thought it better to stop before I damaged it and I left it to wind down. I am so grumpy about it I can't bring myself to open it up and look inside and I'm going on vacation tomorrow so didn't want to start anything I couldn't finish.

The watch before I tried to fix it had broken teeth on the ratchet wheel.. so my fear is that I missed something and it is the old issue re-surfacing? Or maybe the horseshoe type click spring I made is not working correctly and fowling the spring barrel or ratchet wheel??? Any ideas?

Oh man, what a bummer. Sorry to hear.

Of course you'll have to face it and open the watch 

But there's one super-random thing that comes to my mind for your to check. I was working on an Omega cal 244 and the intermediate wheel of the keyless works (see pic below) was flat on one side and a bit rounded on the other side. As you see in the picture, the flat side goes on top. When I was re-assembling, however, I hadn't checked this picture and assumed the opposite. When I was winding, there was some strain and thankfully I discovered that I had to turn that wheel around.

Most likely, this isn't your issue, but I thought it's worth posting for the 1% chance that it helps.

 

 

7 hours ago, Waggy said:

have seen a few videos on Chronoglide where the presenter (Kalle Slaap) states that these Geneva stripes are there so you can spot if a part has been replaced. If this is the case (and I have no reason to doubt him) the slight misalignment of the stripes would indicate that the watch has had a replacement part installed at some point in its' life. So the stripes are doing their job, nice example .

Great work on the restoration by the way, as someone who isn't necessarily a big fan of the vintage look (sacrilege!!), I think the watch turned out great.

Thanks! If only every restoration would be so easy!!! Well, it'll also not be fun. I agree that it looks better now. And well, it's still the original plating.

The thing with the Geneva stripes and the "intentional" misalignment is very interesting.  But also absurd. So even when Cartier repairs/replaces this part with an original Cartier spare part, they intentionally make the movement uglier?? They could just engrave/mark the part..

I also have no reason to doubt the always-instructive "watchmaker from the Netherlands", but it seems quite ridiculous to me. I've also looked at dozens of Cartier 690 calibres on eBay and they ALL have this mis-alignment. 

Well, either way --- non-intentional misalignment or intentional misalignment of spare-parts --- I think Cartier should to better (at that price-point).

 

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Knebo

[GomBoo]

Hamilton Electric 14k Nautilus 201 1964

[rehajm]

11 hours ago, Waggy said:

So I'm gutted.... after about a week of working well, I noticed that it was becoming more difficult to wind,

I feel your pain- ‘tis a sickening feeling. From elation and pride, then blindsided by a mix of disappointment and failure. Crestfallen even…

[steve1811uk]

Seiko 4004 0903-8089 from 1975

On the train to London for a work meeting.

Running at +0.1 SPD. Not bad for nearly 50 years old.

[JohnR725]

On 6/19/2023 at 8:07 PM, Waggy said:

states that these Geneva stripes are there so you can spot if a part has been replaced.

I always thought they were there because it makes the movement look pretty. Then in the case of the quartz watch it's a very expensive movement so usually expensive things look pretty.

 

[Waggy]

10 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

I always thought they were there because it makes the movement look pretty

I think today you are correct as it's more about aesthetics than functionality, like pearlage which was originally there to prevent oil moving around the watch, oil would tend to pool in the middle rings, but again I think today it is more about making the watch look/feel like it is worth the money you paid for it

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

21 hours ago, rehajm said:

I feel your pain- ‘tis a sickening feeling. From elation and pride, then blindsided by a mix of disappointment and failure. Crestfallen even…

Bit dramatic rehajm lol , its frustrating but try to think of it as just another watch to repair and learn from. We as newbies, beginnners and amateurs beat ourselves up too much with this, we are not professional watchmakers, we didnt attend some years at watchmaking school or have decades of experience under our belts. It is what it is, we make mistakes plenty of them.  Disassemble, find the fault, fix the fault ,clean, assemble and lubricate it. Second time around the pride of repairing it yet again will outweigh and disappointment felt. There is a positive for every negative, we tend to overlook that and concentrate on the minor setback.