Working on (tiddlywinking away) endstone jewels

[JeremyLaurenson]

I am basically done restoring my dad‘s Tissot, but I had all kinds of trouble with cleaning and replacing the balance end stones.

i had one set ping away to be lost forever… Luckily I had a parts movement and could replace them.

This seems to be a major area, where a microscope is practically a must, but I am really interested in some help in techniques to use for cleaning, replacing, and also where I can buy the jewels “separately”

I also had trouble with the other set where the balance wheel would speed up, and then slow down, and then speed up again, so that the timegrapher could not keep track of it

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 minutes ago, JeremyLaurenson said:

I am basically done restoring my dad‘s Tissot, but I had all kinds of trouble with cleaning and replacing the balance end stones.

i had one set ping away to be lost forever… Luckily I had a parts movement and could replace them.

This seems to be a major area, where a microscope is practically a must, but I am really interested in some help in techniques to use for cleaning, replacing, and also where I can buy the jewels “separately”

I also had trouble with the other set where the balance wheel would speed up, and then slow down, and then speed up again, so that the timegrapher could not keep track of it

Hi Jeremy,  firstly pinged parts are not always lost forever. There are tricks to aid recovery of them, for metal a magnet , for jewels a uv torch works well. Finding lost parts is the king of all solutions to this problem. Next a microscope makes life easier for lots of service and repair techniques. To follow on for me i hate losing cap jewels they can be a total pain to find, my solutions are to minimise the risk of loss and to have a backup plan for replacing them if they cant be found. Unless you are a well skilled pro or long time amateur using tweezers to move jewels always presents a risk. Many use a method of stick to rather than grasp hold of, rodico or something similar over tweezers. Personally i use a retractable pencil with a pegwood insert instead of lead. The pegwood has a hole drilled at the tip and white blutack pushed into the hole. Theres a post somewhere with a picture. Seems to stick and hold really well, when the jewel is returned home any residue from the tack is dabbed or polished off. I never put them in a cleaning machine, i like to keep them within my sight. Remove pop them in seperate mini glass jars of ipa, when ready to replace ( one of the last assembly tasks ) take out of the cleaning jar, clean and polish on watch paper, buff with chamois, oil and put back in their relative positions. A good trick is a cove proflie cut in the end of pegwood, this then encapsulates the jewel so you can polish and buff its flat side safely. Some use a leather buff stick on top of the jewel, i prefer not to lose sight of the jewel, they have a habit of vanishing into thin air. For replacement i just have a self sorted selection of different size caps, you need a good accurate bench micrometer to do this. And lastly are the newly installed cap jewel right way round, flat side facing in ?  The stop starting could be any friction related issue and just coincidental with the jewel change, or you did something without realising during that work 

[JeremyLaurenson]

All is good- I had a duplicate movement for parts and switched in a “fresh” jewel. 

Very much appreciate the tips- I’ll go hunting

[Malocchio]

At 9:21 I clean a cap jewel with watchmaker tissue IPA and a jewel picker

At 3:22 cat invades the workbench. The only highlight of this video. The title of the video is "Servicing an ugly watch" in Finnish. 

Edited January 6, 2024 by Malocchio

[JeremyLaurenson]

Magnets! Eek!

Well, @Neverenoughwatches it worked! Found the spring-in-a-haystack

Now I just have the cap jewel of the balance endstone to find... I may have to settle for letting it enjoy it's journey 

[Neverenoughwatches]

15 minutes ago, JeremyLaurenson said:

Magnets! Eek!

Well, @Neverenoughwatches it worked! Found the spring-in-a-haystack

Now I just have the cap jewel of the balance endstone to find... I may have to settle for letting it enjoy it's journey 

Cheap uv torches are about a fiver, turn off the lights and go looking for little ruby glinting. A found ruby is one extra in the stockpile. Any children or grandchildren that can be deployed on recon missions ?

[JeremyLaurenson]

Argh! Another one got away while I was specifically practicing handling them.

It seems that some UV lights are better than others. Does anyone have an amazon (preferably US) recommendation for a big ole honking UV flashlight that lights up jewels well?

One of mine is pretty blah while a smaller one thats attached to a laser pointer as a novelty seems to light them up better.

 

Thanks in advance

 

J

 

Found it! But I still need that recommendation.

[spectre6000]

You get better at not pinging parts over time. Microscope helps tons.

I clean cap jewels by placing them on a piece of watchpaper, folding it over, and rubbing it around with my finger. Then flip it and do it twice. It usually stays with your finger, and you want to get both sides. This is quick, easy, requires no weird tools, and the paper keeps the jewel from getting away. Just gotta be careful not to crinkle the paper itself, as that can be a flinging mechanism.

I once spent the better part of an evening searching for a click spring or some such. As I was throwing in the towel, I took off my glasses to rub my eyes or something, and there it was on the INSIDE of one of the lenses! I was looking right at it the entire time! Right in front of my face. Not right UNDER my nose, per se, but right nose adjacent.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

19 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

You get better at not pinging parts over time. Microscope helps tons.

I clean cap jewels by placing them on a piece of watchpaper, folding it over, and rubbing it around with my finger. Then flip it and do it twice. It usually stays with your finger, and you want to get both sides. This is quick, easy, requires no weird tools, and the paper keeps the jewel from getting away. Just gotta be careful not to crinkle the paper itself, as that can be a flinging mechanism.

I once spent the better part of an evening searching for a click spring or some such. As I was throwing in the towel, I took off my glasses to rub my eyes or something, and there it was on the INSIDE of one of the lenses! I was looking right at it the entire time! Right in front of my face. Not right UNDER my nose, per se, but right nose adjacent.

 

I would claim to find them in the strangest of places. Once in the tub while having a bath, god knows where it was hiding about my person.

[spectre6000]

I think bath tub beats inside of glasses lens for the mental image that must be avoided.