Advice wanted on Grandpa's Watch!

[RichardHarris123]

Running for a hour is good, can't be anything major wrong with the movement but just replacing the mainspring is a mistake.  It almost certainly needs a service, replacing the mainspring alone will cause excessive wear on numerous pivots. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

24 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

What a paradox! Something that couldn’t be more special to one person means nothing to another. (Just a reflection!)

 

So true! My assessment is that it would take at least a full day’s work to restore this watch, and significantly more depending on what might need repairing. Sure, a professional could handle it, but would the customer be willing to pay?

Thats the problem with watches like this, professional repairers are not interested in any emotional connection you have. A job is a job and it could very easily run up a bill many times the monetary value of the watch. But that should not matter if it means so much to you. I was in the same position five years ago with my grandfather's watch in a bad way,that no repairer wanted to attempt a repair for me. This is where I am five years on, a room full of watch tools, two hundred watches and ££££s down .  But happy and often wear that internally battle-scared watch that belonged to my grandfather.

[Knebo]

I think the right advice has already been given. 1. Don't attempt your first watch repair/service on a sentimental watch. 2. The watch needs a full service, not just a new mainspring. 3. BHI list or someone from the forum maybe. 

The movement is one I've worked on and @VWatchie, too. Probably others. Nothing for a first-timer, but also rather simple for someone more experienced. Spare parts not too hard to find..

I'm more worried about the state of the crown (if you want to keep everything external 100% original). 

But winding and time setting works? 

 

[rozcoeb]

2 minutes ago, Knebo said:

I think the right advice has already been given. 1. Don't attempt your first watch repair/service on a sentimental watch. 2. The watch needs a full service, not just a new mainspring. 3. BHI list or someone from the forum maybe. 

The movement is one I've worked on and @VWatchie, too. Probably others. Nothing for a first-timer, but also rather simple for someone more experienced. Spare parts not too hard to find..

I'm more worried about the state of the crown (if you want to keep everything external 100% original). 

But winding and time setting works? 

 

Yep winding and setting the time works. To be honest, I'm not too bothered about the wonky crown, as it still works, and I'm not going to be swimming or dunking it in water.

As I said before, I've contacted my nearest BHI repair shop so I'll see what they say.

[Nucejoe]

57 minutes ago, rozcoeb said:

the watch runs and kept time for the time I ran it which was about 1 hour. 

This means your watch needs a clean/ mainspring/lube.

As advised, should not attempt the work yourself.

Rgds