Some past projects and keepers!

[MattWatch]

Hi All,

Now, to start with I should say that my watch repaires are nowhere near the caliber (......see what i did there?) of some on this forum, but everyone started somehwhere right? 

Up until now I have been into costmetically restoring watches that run but have been somewhat unloved.  Out of that I have started getting into the mechanical side too, I'm currently building up a FL Twin Power movement (one that I did not take apart) using the age old "yep, that seems to fit there" and "hmm that doesn't look quite right" methods!  Some resources on this very forum have also been extremely useful.  I can get the odd dead watch re-started, but a full strip down, service and rebuild is where i would like to get to.

As i say mainly cosmetic work, the interest for me is taking something that looks completely unloved and turning into something that will be cherished.  My watches have been bought for birthday presents, wedding presents, something that's being bought specifically to hold onto and pass down to the next generation, and that's what it's all about for me.

Anyway, some examples for y'all  

Hamilton Self-Winding:

Stunning Louis Erard Triple Date:

Longines:

Omega Geneve (never did try to sort that bottom lug out just in case):

Oris 15 Jewel:

Oris Super:

Roamer Popular:

Rotary 17 Jewel GP:

70s Seiko Auto:

Seiko SeaHorse:

Tissot Visodate Seastar Seven:

Tudor:

Old Timex:

Thought I'd leave it there as you're probably getting a bit bored   That's probably about 10% of the watches I've done over the past couple of years!! 

In terms of my own 'keepers', I don't actually have that many.  A couple below:

Tissot Seastar that I fell in love with the moment i put it on:

Oversized Tissot Antimagnetique, which i sold and then pretty much begged the buyer to sell back to me.  Which he did.....but failing to mention that hands were fused together.  So i wound it not realising, and it's now broken and slightly in bits

In the future I'd very much like to aquire a genuine military issued chronograph, that will be my significant investment watch i think.

Hope you like!

Matt

[Geo]

Some very tidy looking restorations Matt. 

[oldhippy]

It is nice to see the old boys restored. Are they keepers or customers?

[clockboy]

Great work Matt, Nice collection indeed.

[MattWatch]

Thanks guys! 

All of those watches are one that I've bought, restored and then sold on. I don't 'do' other people's watches as I'd still consider myself an amateur and wouldn't want the responsibility/liability of handling someone else's watch!

[duncanbootmaker]

Fantastic resto's @MattWatch. Well done

[Nucejoe]

Take apprentice?     

Regards joe

[vinn3]

good idea,  work on stuff you  own and sell the results,  if you sell it as a "fixer upper"  or a parts watch,  it is somtimes  a good idea.  vin

[Watchtime]

Pro work for an amateur m8,...so you restore dails ect?

[Pip]

I’d love to know what method you use for your dials? The Longines and the Oris in particular are remarkable transformations.


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[MattWatch]

Hi everyone!

Apologies, I've been a bit quite of late posting.  Thanks so much for the positive comments, really appreciate Someone asked about the dials, I've cleaned a few up in my time but I'm not a dial restorer by a long shot.  The Longines, I sourced a NOS dial and swapped it over and on the Oris, incredibly, that dial was lurking under the faded crystal!  Swapped the crystal and jobs a goodun.

Thought I'd make up for my absense with a few pics

1) Old Oris before and after pics:

2) Lovely little Zenith that came through recently

3) Avia 'Matic' automatic

4) STUNNING 9ct sold gold Tudor

 

I also decided to treat myself to a couple of new watches :/  It took me a while to figure it out, but Tissot are by far my favourite watch maker. There are more Tissot's out there that i like than any other maker i can think of/have come accross. I like their new stuff, i like their vintage stuff, they are generally affordable, but you can go really high end if you want/can. For those reasons they're definitely the one for me.

With that in mind:

Sublime Tissot Navigator choronoraph.  The Mrs would literally kill me to death if she knew how much this cost!!

Another Oversize (38mm) Tissot Antimagnetique, which goes really nicely with the one i already had (and must get around to getting repaired).

Onwards and upwards

Matt

Edited December 7, 2018 by MattWatch

[Watchtime]

great projects sir...would you care to elaborate on restoring the dail on the Longines or was it replaced?

[MattWatch]

Many thanks.  Yes as I mentioned above I sourced a NOS dial for the Longines and swapped it over.