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I am bumping up this old post because, @Jon, I wanted to thank you again for this tutorial. Recently I had to service a customer's vintage Byn Deluxe, a lesser known Swiss watch which uses a Baumgartner 34. The movement was running but the hands weren't moving. Luckily, I remembered reading this post a few years back. I managed to find it here again to refresh my memory, and was able to read what you posted on how to tighten the clutch with a staking set, since the cannon pinion on these movements must remain free, as they are only mounted on an unmoving post. I was able to tighten the minute wheel enough to provide just the right amount of resistance, and then - everything got a cleaning, oiling, and regulating. The hands move now!!! I am sure I would not have know quite what to do with that thing if I had not read this post. You are awesome sir! And so is this awesome forum!

I've seen these watches on Amazon for instance visually they look expensive with their chronographs and the nifty buttons hands etc. But they do have an actual function which is to look visually like they have a function that they do not actually do at all.

Oh and it does appear to be a cylinder escapement you want to pay attention to that to avoid unpleasantness things from happening. I rather enjoyed a YouTube channel who will remain nameless disassembling one of these and I was wondering if? Yes you can tell it's a cylinder because of what you see on this side. In the video I was wondering if he had let the power off and oh never mind he removes the balance wheel and escape wheel starts spinning which is an extremely bad thing to do. Yes the joys of watching YouTube watch repair where nothing bad ever really happens but it's a miracle that it does not. We really do need a picture of the other side of the watch.

Been a few weeks since anyone posted. Heres 25 candidates for the 10:10 club. 25 watches £203.00. I have a few favourites. The Nivada on my wrist, bit small at 30mm but its a lovely little bumper automatic. The Doxa, cant wait to get to this, the Cyma is a nice size, Citizen Eagle 7, Leonidas GSTP. Mickey Mouse Timex.

I understand your hesitation in this process, but you are building it up in your head, I believe. I've done the same with new methods that could prove disastrous, but always find the fear is something my head wants to cling to first and tell me it's all going to go wrong, but the foundation of my experience will be the judge of that. Anyway, failure is usually your best teacher, so if you break the top because you hit the rivet too hard, then that will be invaluable lesson that cost £25 or so. From that you will be able to quantify how hard not to hit the next one. I'm sure you will ace it. What you believe, you become!

Here's my military collection from the bottom of the world in NZ. The two that interest me the most are both not military issue but rather private purchases that saw service in either WW1 or WW2: the old timer from 1916 sporting the "shrapnel guard" and the little Revue Sport . The 1916 watch was worn through WW1 and the owner was wounded four times. The little Revue Sports was worn by an engineer in a NZ armored regiment in WW2. The Tissot is an interesting beast - it has a heavily polished case-back with a broad arrow and a "PAF" marking. I've had various explanations offered for the PAF engraving but none that I can reliably verify.

That sounds like me on a weekend, i have nifty arms and legs which make me look visually like i should have a function , but actually i do not at all........ and get labelled as "a waste of space "

Thanks for the encouragement Jon! I'm mostly concerned about hitting so hard that the rotor cracks as illustrated earlier in the thread. I don't mind breaking the axle. I can handle that but the rotor would feel heavy. Come to think of it, I've had worse challenges and succeeded well with them in the end despite having strong initial doubts. There is a lot in what you say! Thanks again for the encouragement, my friends!

Originally bought as a parts movement, this Vostok 2214 arrived with a chunk missing from its crystal and the dial covered in sand. As I cleared the debris off the dial, I was smitten with its blue-purple sunburst. And since I am all about bringing back the most hopeless basket cases (and since I found the lost part I needed it to donate right under my nose) I went ahead and serviced it. I love how it came out and it runs great. I even took my first stab at re-brushing the caseback with a result no worse than the rusty and pitted dial.

Fear interferes with the job in hand. I used to be like this sometimes at work years ago if it looked like i was in for a heavy lift, that fear weakens you. Nowadays i dont even think about it, just roll up my sleeves and power up. My point being and reinforcing what Jon has said, dont let the job get into your head too much, think it through and be confident in the knowing of what you are doing. When you're confident , fear has no place to roam in your head. You'll do it H, you're a skilled watch guy dont let anxiety tell you any different mate.

Sneaky

I'm very disappointed with the negative comments, ebay want a heafty £3.79 with free postage, so definitely fully functioning and top quality. Hehe.

You can all send me your useless finger cots, I have long slender fingers and have not had a problem with them Tom

Just as a reminder this discussion is occurring in a very interesting section of the message board. This is where were supposed to be cheerful and helpful and not negative and well be quite honest a lot of times I just walk away and don't even bother because too many rules and I'm going to hurt somebody's feelings etc. etc. Always important to share your thoughts with a photograph so we grasped what you're trying to do. I'm not sure you actually going to know that until you take it out. Typically although I watch repair the word typical isn't exactly correct because it was way way way way too many variations. But as somebody else said you have a square hole in the dial the frame typically will push in so is going a little bit of a flange and probably just Glue. The markers often times will be almost riveted in place depending upon a variety of factors As usually things like that would be the last thing on the dial as long as it's not stuck to the finish you should build to probably push it out being very very careful not to get your fingerprints all over the dial or damage anything's if you're lucky. Then you should bill a push it in and glue it would just a very tiny bit of some sort of glue Then the best thing of all would be more photographs like to dials both of them and the backsides the dial so we can see for the future. Then if anyone else ever asked the questions we can refer them to this discussion and others can learn from whatever we learn here

Pretty sure OH didn't mention politics, it was more an opinion of a complete muppet and lets face it thats a very light comment . Even his missus pulls a face when his brain shuts down. I occasionally see the odd one stagger past my microscope making his way home to the book shelf after a night out on my solvents.

I think it will all depend on the dial, if the surround is recessed and how it's fitted. Personally I think there's too many options for failure to attempt it.

I've removed one of those with a cheap three jaw caseback tool, using the widest bits & with a bit of clingfilm over the case first to reduce the chance of scratches. I had to hold the case itself in some slipjoint pipe grips to get enough force on it! (Gripping the case in the strap lug slots with a folded microfiber cloth over the grips first).

This is a companion of the 404 club where watchmakers are encouraged to squeeze every bit of value from those 'less loved' watches they find for less than £10.10..... why £10.10, this was the value and currency voted on by the members who already submit to the existing 404 club, but are finding it more and more difficult to find watches at this price point due to inflation and also wish to open this bit of tun up to more participants. The inspiration for the value of £10.10 comes from the hand position of most of the watches you see in pictures:, example below This is all meant to be a bit of fun and allow you to hone your skills and show off your talent on these watches to your peers here on this forum before attempting to use them on something that will cause tears! So Here are the rules: Watch purchase value to be less than or equal to £10.10 (or equivalent in your currency at the time of purchase) Reasonable shipping and spares are excluded from the £10.10 Before and after pictures are required (if possible) Lot purchases are allowed e.g. lot of 10 watches for £100 = £10 per watch Have fun and don't take it too seriously Over to you!

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England.

Hi @rjenkinsgb Yes possible to remove with three jaw tool,specially if the case back has previously been removed/ replaced , and your safety precaution sounds good. These types of case back is well built and specially designed to press a copper O ring washer to acheive full water tightness. The problem with them is once you open the case back, the previously pressed copper washer in there would not further get pressed and must be replaced with a new one, which are hard to find. Rgds

That’s a bingo- I ended up with two bags of highly recommended black cots labeled as different sizes L and XL- both look to be the same tiny size. Took me a year of generous replacement to work through the first bag, now working on the second…

Here's the screw to remove the stem.

Please let me know if there are any questions about using Ruffle or saving the .swf files.

Hi, I stumbled across this old thread about end of life Adobe flash player and the inaccessibility of the ETA movement docs/training material in Flash format (.swf files). I just wanted to let you know that there is an open source Flash Emulator that is available as a web browser plugin that plays the ETA .swf files well.... https://ruffle.rs/ Ruffle Flash Emulator is available as a Firefox browser plugin OR a desktop application. I have personally tested and installed both and successfully downloaded various .swf files from the ETA site and played them with the Ruffle flash emulator. I encourage anybody who still needs to access ETAswissl@b training Flash .swf files to try this solution. Regards, Slade.

Sounds like Russian military has got different priorities but lets not go there. Was it a Komandirskie, wobbly crowns and all those strange ideas ? This is the new shock design tom , watch bumpers. Like bumper cars but watches, you can shake hands in a rugged manly way with a mate that has the same watch and not worry about clanging your watches together.

So a "Counterfeit function" scam rather than a "Counterfeit watch" scam !??

I find it strange that if someone has a questionable idea and has asked that you'd rather just ignore the post than give an honest opinion at the risk of hurting somebody's feelings

Nope, I think it's just that the ebay/amazon Chinese idea of "large" hand size is rather different to European large. (Or they list the same size cots as every size, 'cos they have no idea what they are selling?)

I have had a couple of folk come to me because their new chrono doesn’t work, well if they are fitted with a 2 dollar 3 hand movement and pushers that are actually just bumps on the case, well not much I can do for you. Tom

Is that because you have fingers the size of sausages.

Leave it to soak in acetone, that will soften the glue or you can use heat but that can be a bit more risky depending on how you approach it. Tom

That exact same watch is advertised both as a Business watch and a Casual watch. And probably any other keyword the seller thinks may get views! I notice all the various ad photos, with numerous different angles show the "subdial" hands in exactly the same place! That makes me suspect there are no actual extra functions.

I never used them back in the 70's & 80's I don't think they were about. If we left finger marks on parts we used Rodico to remove them. I have noticed watchmakers and clockmakers wear these gloves when taking a movement apart which is ridiculous. How times have changed.

It was a one off bit of fun and it got a few laughs. If you didn't think it funny then to you I apologize.

Yes, the screw to release the stem will be on the other side (the slotted part in any case).

Also being 10 minutes late when it’s your shout at the NAAFI bar because you screwed up earlier in the day is a heinous crime with severe punishments dished out Tom

In the past, priorities were ruggedness, waterproof and accuracy, turning up 10 minutes late for a mission isn't acceptable when the action has already kicked off.

You need a decagonal case back wrench.

There looks to be a notch here just to the right of the crown and the ST of STEEL.

Enso not all casebacks have an openning notch. The usual method for removing stubborn screwdown casebacks is cyanoacrylate glue, just regular superglue. Thin set fast , thick is slower to cure but has a stronger bond. Glue a 16mm nut onto the back, i clamp it up so it gets a tight hold, it hasn't failed me yet. A word of warning from experience, one of my first attempts removing a back like you are showing ended jn disaster, it was a false screwdown on a lucerne watch, i completely trashed it trying to twist it off lol. Just make sure there is definitely a join between the case and back.

Hadn't heard of epoxy, but I've used super glue to open a caseback like that. Superglue a nut to it. Wrench it to loosen. Use acetone to remove the super glue.

Haven't tried myself but some people epoxy a nut to the caseback and open with a wrench.

Bulova Clipper

Ah! Charlie is a Tuna!! I like it. Not sure why, but it reminds me of my fly and cow.

If you really like the '71 Charlie you can keep an eye out for the '86 Anniversary Quartz reissue for your other wrist!

Got this wonderful 1971 $8 eBay find running. Other than a broken mainspring and a crack in the crystal, it just needed a good clean up. It did have a beat error problem, but I got it adjusted to a 0.6ms BE, a 260° and positional error of +/-30s. Not bad for essentially a novelty watch probably not expected to make it much past the '70s. I think the hardest part was fitting the pallet fork without jewels. Those holes are TINY! That brass plating was 10 kinds of awful so I just polished it off for now. I might nickel plate it. Or 24k rose gold, for such an elegant timepiece.

Perhaps its time for me to set up a new search in ebay.. thus hastening bankruptcy, and more complaints about the number of watches in the house. I'll keep you all posted if I pick up anything spectacular for membership of the new branch of the budget beauties club.

You need to know at least the basics. Then the questions that You ask will begin to make sense. From what is seen on the video, the gear train and escapement look fine, but the balance doesn't rotate free. I can suppose that the thin gold colored shim that must stay under the balance cock is not in place.

Hi Jon This is great! A watch with this movement has just arrived so this is very handy. The stem is floating in and out so I suspect a setting lever spring issue as you described. Thanks again.