Information resources

[EdB]

Hello everyone!

 

New to Horology and was wondering which sites provide service sheets? I've checked esslinger.com and cousins.uk but found limited information. 

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance. 

Regards,

Ed...

[JohnR725]

9 hours ago, EdB said:

cousins.uk but found limited information

You found cousins limited?

What information are you searching for or which watches perhaps?

[watchweasol]

Hi You could also try Wm S Mccaw. thewatchguy. Dr Roland Ranfft these are but a few where information can be found.  As mentioned by JohnR725 cousins where there  are plentiful techsheets..  If you want  general service data/training  heres a few attached to get you started.

By the way Welcome to the forum      enjoy

1831920544_ToolsfortheHobbyist.pdf TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf Witschi Training Course.pdf

[EdB]

JohnR725, 

Should have read Cousins.UK, limited information found regarding timepieces I'm currently working on. 

 

Watchweasol,

Thanks for all the .pdf files. I'm fairly well supplied on tools and consumables. I am currently taking Mark L. repair course. I've completed both the first and second levels. I wanted to get a couple of movements under my belt before I tackle the 3rd level. 

I am currently working on a AS 1430 and a AR 1010. I found issues with both so I'm working those out currently. I bought several movements on eBay as practice units and I'm currently in conflict with purchasing replacement parts for the movements due to they were cheap to acquire and the replacement parts will cost more then the complete movement. 

Current Projects:

AS 1430 harispring complete - broken pivot, and twisted out of shape hair spring. 

AR 1010 - Pallet upper pivot broken. 

 

I have purchased a Weishi 1000 Timegrapher and a Magna-Flux Instantaneous Demagnetizer for testing after overhaul, as well a a digital microscope for inspection / cleaning (manual / ultrasonic. 

 

I am having some trouble finding suppliers for watch parts other then Omega / Rolex. 

 

I do understand that all information for vintage movements is not available and a general oiling technique is ok to use. But what I would like to find are the one's that are available that show oiling guides, part numbers etc. 

 

Regards, 

 

Ed... 

 

 

[JohnR725]

34 minutes ago, EdB said:

I do understand that all information for vintage movements is not available and a general oiling technique is ok to use. But what I would like to find are the one's that are available that show oiling guides, part numbers etc. 

Vintage and watch repair tends to have a different meaning than other places. For instance American pocket watch parts is all sorts of information available for parts for those. Even the watch companies had parts books Elgin had parts books 100 years ago They have really nice pictures lots of descriptions. This means the physical American pocket watch original parts books are still out there typically on eBay and a lot of it's been converted to PDF's.  But a lot of information just was never converted to PDF's or just never existed at all.

Then there is the modern documentation still exists it's out there but we will never see it. Rolex all their documentation's online secret username password and knows what else to access. Supposedly you can't even copy it which I find it doubtful because worse case you can photograph that. But with a lot of the companies especially the Swiss they don't like us they don't like anybody so all the documentation is hidden you need access. Then amusingly when you download a lot of that stuff it's all watermarked. Typically all of the modern Omega stuff every single corner is watermarked with wherever it came from they want to know if their documentation is out there.

Then the other thing important is understand what you're searching for like going to cousins search for the word "working" Yes just search for that one word and you will be rewarded.To help you out I will give you the link here

https://www.cousinsuk.com/document/search?SearchString=Working

You're looking for number 40 by the way that's your lubrication guide. Unfortunately this is not all the work instructions there's a lot more hiding behind their passwords and firewalls.

 

34 minutes ago, EdB said:

I am having some trouble finding suppliers for watch parts other then Omega / Rolex. 

Are you trying to say that you can find parts suppliers for Rolex and Omega? Typically most people have hard time getting those parts because those companies don't like the independent watchmaker and their parts are not readily available.

Out of curiosity what country are you located in as that would have an effect on getting parts?

One of the sites mentioned by watchweasol Is the link below. If you look they have technical documentation this they sell at a very reasonable price.  the bestfit books are really outstanding reference source. Considerably cheaper to get the PDF that it is to try to find the physical books.

https://mccawcompany.com/product/bestfit-encyclopedia-books-111-111a-digital-download-pdf-version/

Here's an interesting source you can click on the items and get so far but unfortunately you need a membership. So for a mere $150 a year you can attempt to download all of the documentation.

https://www.awci.com/member-center/technical-guides-references/