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Spares / Repair watches - My habit of always repairing...

ColinC
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ColinC WRT Addict

ColinC

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Where do you stop?

Last week I dug around in my large collection of spares / repair watches to find myself a quick challenge and selected a CAMY Club Star which had a FHF 96-4 movement.  I had paid about £10 for it.

It wasn't running and after opening it up I found a few things that were not quite right...
1. The balance cock had different finishing than the rest of the movement (clearly a replacement)
2. It is missing the dial screws and the dial is held on with Rodico
3. Other CAMY watches I have seen have CAMY signed on the movement this one didn't
4 The balance spring looked out of shape
5. The setting lever spring was beginning to crack - I find this is a typical failure in this movement.
6. On the dial and on the train wheel bridge it says 17 Jewels but I can only find 15 Jewels


What I failed to notice as I took it apart was that it was missing the calendar driving wheel.

After cleaning all the parts I went about trying to get the balance to swing again properly - this was a real pain!  The hairspring was glued to the stud and the stud was friction fit to the regulator.  There was a screw to hold the stud in place but loosening / removing that made no difference.  

After many hours I had the watch ticking again and I was impressed with my work -  290º of amplitude! and not too much variation in rate and beat error in all positions

It is at this point I start to work on the dial side and notice that I am missing the calendar driving wheel...

I look at my list of watches with FHF 96-4 movements that I haven't worked on yet and choose a watch that is missing its crown and stem and where the gold plated case is badly worn and the dial is scratched (a suitable donor I thought....). I had paid about £5 for it
Inside that watch is a much nicer FHF 96-4 movement with all 17 Jewels, a balance that looks good and that can actually run before I clean it.  Of course the setting lever spring is broken!

So now what do I do now?
Do I buy a calendar driving wheel and 2 setting lever springs and some dial screws and get both watches working?
Do I put the nicer movement inside the watch with the nicer case and dial?  To be honest the CAMY dial and case are not in great shape either!

I know the concept of "sunk cost" but I spent so long getting that crappy balance to swing again I feel it would be a shame not to use it

Here are some before pics....
image.thumb.png.db69ffd8e55543dcc5639d77bf9e0773.pngimage.thumb.png.00e8fe3bb99dc34fffe3aca4a25dea63.png

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rehajm Super WRT Addict

rehajm

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If you’re a hobbyist don’t focus on sunk costs. If you’re not a hobbyist…don’t focus on sunk costs 😂…

…sorry, a bit of economist humor if there is such a thing but really it all depends how much you’d like to see the watch in good order.

 

Edited by rehajm
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Jon Super WRT Addict

Jon

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1 hour ago, ColinC said:

Where do you stop?

Such a deep question. Is there any stopping, once started? These and other existential questions are only for you to know.

I think you know what you are going to do, as you have put so much time and effort into breathing life into these watch movements

I think it's about the achievement rather than the money, as long as that isn't silly money

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ColinC WRT Addict

ColinC

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I have ordered a new calendar driving wheel and a few setting lever springs.  I guess I will keep the watches as original as I found then rather than trying to make 1 good watch and 1 lesser watch since that will leave me with 2 non original watches...

 

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Geotex WRT Addict

Geotex

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As I transitioned from being a small-time watch collector to someone who spends a fair amount of time on watch repair, I stopped worrying about "original" and am just happy with "functional" most of the time on watches like these. 🙂

Edited by Geotex
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