Leaderboard

Love It.... Here's Elmer.

Thanks all. Silly me the battery CR2430 was firmly attached to the watch cover when the cover was removed.

Picked this little throwback piece up at a flea market, or boot fair is it called across the pond? $12US and was not running and missing the minute hand. Took it out of the case and the missing hand falls out on the bench! Put it back on, flipped it over and saw that the balance wanted to kick in. Gently pushed on the hair spring and then noticed the screws next to the balance were loose. Tighten them down, hit it with a puff of air and off trigger galloped! This seems original, the crystal is yellow but not noticeable at first. Edit: set this an hour ago and is running a bit fast but absolutely keeping time well.

If none of the above works, try whispering to them sweetly, and promise the moon if they'll just come out and get it.

I know we all love working on one piece wristwatch cases. They always seem to contain the movements which delight in post-natal regulation changes. After far too many of these, the penny dropped. I keep the old crystal and shave the edge down so it's an easy push fit. Keep it in place with Sellotape whilst you wear it to do the final regulation. When happy with the final adjustments - fit the new crystal. Sorry if the rest of you have been doing this for years - I'm a slow learner and have never seen or heard this trick mentioned.

Whilst doing lots of work on a one piece case Omega Dynamic my frustration mounted having to wind and set the hands with the movement out of the case. The split stem leaves just the male stub to deal with and the matching female crown doesn't always want to slip on. Also clicking it on is difficult - it's a hard push and holding the movement is awkward when out the case. If you have the Etachron balance regulator adjusting tool it's a good fit on the male stem stub and will allow you to wind and adjust the hand settings with accuracy and ease. Just use fine pliers to pull out the stem for hand movements.

This is what was throwing me, some sellers are describing it as a bezel cleaner, but the design is slightly different for that ( i have a picture somewhere in a book when i find it ). Same frame but has 3 scraping pads that adjust to fit into the rim of a bezel the bezel then rotates to clean out the rim. Mine does look like the posts can be spun around to face outwards for the same purpose. Whatever its use its too big for a wristwatch, burys something like a 12"' and the cut outs as they are overlap too far into the movement to work on it. Its use is for something much bigger. Just wanted to post it up in case anyone saw one and has it mistaken for something of a different use.

Interesting, just seen an identical one on ebay advertised as a bezel cleaner. Maybe the feet up holds the movement dial down and the groves hold the movement dial up?

I don't know either but I seem to remember that furniture polish is detrimental. Bees wax or linseed oil? I look forward to more knowledgeable advice.

That is a old movement holder.

Picked up a book of Seiko manuals on microfiche at the local nawcc chapter meeting today--free. I can read them onder the microscope...lol. here is a page

I meant hopeless for finding jewels. The rest of the website isn't too bad. I think they are the UK's second largest supplier after Cousins. Worth a look if Cousins don't stock it. They have a couple of shops - London and Birmingham. I must pay a visit and fondle some of the Bergeon tools. https://www.hswalsh.com/watch-parts-straps-batteries

https://www.fossil.com/en-us/shopbr/how-to-change-a-watch-battery

I'm not sure if you are supposed to change that. The battery is the large 3V coin cell that is just below the battery hatch. There is a YT video of a similar Fossil watch.

I looked it up as well after I asked.

I just wonder if Les Paqu.. and Seitz were related? Located in the same small village! Frank

Another place where you can find the crystals listed is basically on the bottom of the page at the link below there is the casing book https://www.mybulova.com/vintage-bulova-catalogs

Most base metals interact with moisture which often results in expansion of the metal, rust. Obviously is such cases screw head might pop off if you force it, no matter how well you have dressed the driver, the issue is with the expansion and rust, not inadequate force. Rust is the base metal molecules plus moisture molecule therefor you have a heavier and often bigger molecule, thus expansion. I have always had success with soaking the piece in CocaCola for 48hrs, the acid ( phospheric) dissolves oil and rust. Just try it and see for yourself. Rgds

Hello gang, I'm new to the site, looking to get advice and help from the experts while starting on my new hobby/obsession! I got into this all because I felt most modern watches are too large for me, and found that there are so many beautiful vintage watches that suit me more. I love taking things apart and discovered that half of the fun is inside the watch! Kind regards, Will

I think you have let the secret out of the bag. You are probably correct in that all of us say something to our watches, even silently.

Hi Winks, I am also new here and also obsessed. I have been collecting quite a while and am learning repair here through the courses offered. I haven't started the class yet though because I am trying to get organized first. I think what you said is true, about beauty in the vintage watches. I think the modern ones seem to focus more on function and less on form. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and could just be my personal aesthetic. Welcome to here, I think is is a great place to learn and shoot the ****.

Hello all I acquired this little 33mm gold-plated hand-wound Fortis watch. The Venus 180 movement was a non-runner, but as it turned out, all it needed was a good service, a new main-spring and the housing a new crystal. The overall condition isn't bad and the movement seemed untouched. The newly ordered, supposedly original main-spring with a strength of 1.10mm, was too strong. So the old tired 0.95mm spring had to go back in. Questioning whether I should spent more money on this and buy a fancy 16mm strap, I would like to find out how "exclusive", or in which price-range these Fortis watches would have been in the mid 1950's? Anybody any idea?

Gorgeous watch. I would wind and dine it and but it a strap.

"Exclusive" is a modern marketing **BLEEP** term (edit: interesting... must be a British bleeper... Certainly not an American one. Starts with a "w", ends with an "ank". Same in all the bleeps.) . Didn't apply/wasn't a thing in the mid-50s. Depending on your opinion of marketing **BLEEP**, it means nothing now (in my opinion of marketing **BLEEP**, the word "exclusive" is a hard turn off and makes me think of people calling VW Beetles "rare"). Looking at it, it looks like your typical lower-mid tier (50s perspective) stuff I find all day long on my 404 hunts (modern perspective). Venus made decent movements, but that one looks like it's from the bottom end of the catalog; absolutely minimal, and no decoration. 404 would be the "before" classification, not the after though... If you LIKE the watch, spend whatever you want on it. If you're looking to sell it and recoup costs or something like that, I don't know that the extra cost would necessarily net you a meaningful return. The thing about that end of the market is that the difference between $5 and $100 is often the quality of the listing photos, the asking price, and whether or not someone feels it works for their personal tastes.

There is a US based eBay seller that also sells the jewel upgrades for those movements - sunset2go - https://www.ebay.com/usr/sunset2go I've even bought the chrono bridge jewel upgrades from them. I haven't seen where anyone else had those. I had a 6138 with a missing upper minute recording wheel bearing, so the jewel upgrade kit worked like a charm. They are a solid seller of Seiko parts and gaskets. Never had an issue with them. I like VTA as well, but it just takes so long to get them shipped from AU to USA.

A month - Wow - That sort of patience is amazing. Those screw fixings on back casings seem to get welded in with heat and sweat from the wrist. I've had a few that needed lots of soaking but as you say - don't force them. The quartz cheapies often use lower quality screws.

Third time was the charm. The Powermatic 80 (ETA C07.661) out of the box timing results were impressive; from 0 to -2 in 4 positions, but the beat error was a little odd as it ranged from 0.4 to 1.1ms. After my first day of wearing 24 hours later it was -2 seconds, I'll take that.

Gold filled is mechanically bonded to either silver of base metal. Plated is a chemical process.

Seiko Elnix 0702-6010 from August 1973 eBay buy just arrived today. In really fantastic unpolished condition. Looks like it's been in a drawer for 40 years. So pleased with it. The bracelet and case are so sharp. Will be getting a full service soon enough. This watch has an electronic balance and the movement was only produced for 2 years so quite rare. Note it still has a sticker on the clasp in Japanese showing how to adjust the bracelet.

When you look at a material house like cousins they are 100% online If it's not online it doesn't exist. But often times when you look at other material houses they will usually say something like call us email us because not everything is online.

Classic Benny Hill , i grew up watching all the comedy greats. Was never really a Monty Python fan though. Laurel and Hardy was the best double act the world has ever known.

Just this week I found the jewel I wanted discontinued at Cousins. But I did find it at HS Walsh. They have a good selection. Don't try and find them on their website - it's hopeless, but they have an ebay shop. If you search ebay for "seitz jewel" you will find them.

We have a specialist among us @oldhippy Does the clock, despite the fact that the hands "stick", still strikes on time? If the clock still strikes every hour, every 60minutes and on time (measured with a watch / another clock), than you have to look somewhere Nickelsilver suggested. If the whole timekeeping & striking is "off" with the same amount as the hands are "off", then the running-works do see some kind of "hold-up" or "sticky" moment(s).

No idea which movement this is, but they all have a friction setup for setting the hands. It might resemble a canon pinion from a watch, or it could be a separate wheel that fits to the center pinion and is held by a friction spring (or some others but those are the most common). Sounds to me like the friction is too low, and it's slipping when trying to move levers.

Just had the classic corroded in screw in a 1946 Bumper Omega - Very dried up but otherwise good. Tried Lubeta since it’s basically thin solvent with a small amount of oil. The trick is patience. It takes a day or two for any liquid to get between the screw and the thead. Have a look on youtube for experiments using all the popular potions. Even overnight on large nuts the penetration is minimal. If you have room make a little moat with Rodico so the screw sits under your tiny paddling pool. Please get rid of the dial before you start. Practice servicing a couple of old indian hmt’s -the ones that say “fully serviced” they will get your skills well up to expert