Roxedo Manual Wind EB 8800

[AndyHull]

On impulse I picked up a clean-ish looking "Roxedo" EB 800 based manual wind for £2.00

I'm a complete amateur when it comes to fixing watches, although I do quite a lot of soldering of very small things (one of my long term interests is electronics), and I did tinker with and occasionally fix a lot with watches and clocks as a kid, so I know what makes them tick.

I suspected the watch might have been dropped, from the description, but it turns out the pallet fork pins have vanished. I removed the offending item and examined it very closely with a loupe. Everything is back together at the moment, and the balance is still intact, so I haven't lost my touch.

My question is this. If I can source the pallet fork (a big if, since I have only a vague idea where to look for one), what are the chances that the escape wheel may have been damaged by the explosive unwinding that no doubt took place when the pins parted company with the fork? It looks OK to my untrained eye, but I'm no expert.

In other words, is it worth sourcing the fork and replacing it, and in the process no doubt more than doubling how much I have ploughed into my "investment" or am I likely to need to also source the escape wheel too.

My supplementary question is where would I find the necessary parts?

I've attached a couple of pictures, but they are not particularly detailed (though if you look carefully you can just about see the remains of one of the pins lying on the fork in the first image).

[WatchMaker]

You're doing the right thing investigating and finding your way around an inexpensive movement to start with!

It's difficult to say if there may be other problems. This is a simple and sturdy pin lever movement but if there was an incident that was violent enough to break the pins from the pallet fork that doesn't bode well! My attention was also immediately drawn to the fact that there would normally be a jewel in that balance wheel but you have none .... however a quick check shows the EB 8800 came in 0, 1, 17 and 21 versions so you must have the base model with no jewels.

It is possible to still get spare parts for vintage movements. If you go to https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/filter/eb-movement-parts for instance and select 8800 as the EB Calibre Number and then click 'Search For Items' you'll see all the parts it's possible to get for your 8800. These are prices ex-VAT and you'd need to factor in postage. You can see that you'll soon rank up a bill where just the spares outweigh the whole value of your movement so...

... assuming you want to continue then your best bet would  be to source another (or more than one) spare 8800 movement from a site like ebay and then exchange parts as necessary i.e. make one good movement from the two (or move) movements you have. 

 

[clockboy]

You should introduce yourself first. However the top cap jewel is missing.

[AndyHull]

This may seem like a rather obvious question to some, however just to be clear I take it that if I have an 8800 (or 880X) movement, that has zero jewels and one that has for example 17 jewels, are the majority of components (theoretically at least) interchangeable.

Clearly if one has a jeweled escapement and one has a pinned one, then these parts would be different, but things like cogs, barrels, mainsprings, key-less work etc, and even hands would be swappable from one to the other.

I ask, because in my quest for the world's cheapest watch collection (with a self imposed budget of no more then £4.04  +p&p per watch) I picked up an 8800 based Adrem, which has a 17jewel movement, and which has a winding issue (the mainspring often slips alarmingly when wound).

Is the mainspring issue likely to be wear (the ratchet is not slipping), or the spring itself. A further hint, if I gently press on the retaining bride that holds the barrel in place, the watch does in fact wind).

Can I swap the spring and barrel etc from the Roxedo to the Adrem?

 

Picture of the Adrem to follow.

Edited October 23, 2018 by AndyHull

[AndyHull]

Pictures of the EB 8800 based Adrem 17 jewels.

 

The first image is the state when it arrived.

 

The crystal was been polished and this showed up a bunch of flaws on the dial, so that was removed, and carefully cleaned.

There was a fingerprint etched into the original finish coating, and the finish had become very flat and matte over the years, with a number of scratches so the face was carefully brushed, degreased and a light rub of denatured alcohol was applied to lightly key whatever finish remained.

Next a very fine misting of clear-coat was applied, followed by a second.

I don't want to add any height obviously as this may foul the hands. Initial inspection suggests this has done the trick and hidden the majority of the flaws.

The clear-coat has added a little depth to the blues of the dial. I don't think the pictures do it any justice. What appears in the photo to be a possible issue near the bottom left is actually a very delicate gold accent, and the effect is quite pleasing. 

I should really concentrate on getting it working reliably next.

Once I let the face dry and refit the hands to see if I'm satisfied with the results of course. 

It may not be worth much, but it actually looks quite good so far.

Edited October 24, 2018 by AndyHull

[WatchMaker]

Hi @AndyHull - ah there you are! Wondered what had happened as no 'Thanks' or 'Like' tag to earlier advice. 

To help further though ...

... a really useful resource is Dr. Roland Ranfft's website on watch movements. So if you google, for instance, ranfft EB8800 and click on the first link that comes up you'll see your movement along with those in the same family. On the left under 'Data' you can see the info that shows that these movements came with 0, 1, 17 or 21 jewels, run at 18,000 A/h etc. On the right you'll see the family information.

In general then, yes, you can exchange parts within the same immediate family e.g. they have the same ligne size, same amplitude etc.. Most often a movement family starts with a base manual wind model ... then the next step is to add a date ... then a day ... then an automatic etc. No reason that a common part from one member of the family won't fit another movement in the same family. The maker of the watch (Adrem vs. Roxedo in your case) is not relevant ... it's the movement (family) that is.

Your budget watch seems to be coming on nicely and is a really good (and cheap!) way to find your way around a movement etc. 

[watchweasol]

Hi Andy  thought I had a  cheap watch collection. To me any watch or clock that does not work is a ornament  and fixing it a challenge.   Had a shufty  at cousins uk where I get my parts. 

the pin pallet is £5.96.   Escape wheel  £6.55 then factor in vat and postage I guess that,s not too bad . I should have to wonder what sheared the pallet pins, If dropped the balance would have gone . one possibillity is one pin broke through wear and this caused the power surge which broke the other. The escape wheel teeth on pin lever watches are quite strong but I would check its running flat Poised. I have enclosed a PDF of the EB8800  (bettelach) an eubaches make .  hope you find this useful.

2849_EB 8800etc.pdf