ETA 1260 - performance badly degraded after servicing balance jewels.

[Neverenoughwatches]

18 minutes ago, ChrisInOz said:

AAAAAIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

I've BROKEN THE BALANCE !!!!!

I fixed the problems with the regulator arm,  set the boot correctly,  got the hairspring back into reasonable shape.  The movement looked to be running better,  so I took it over to test it on the timegrapher,  only to accidentally catch the balance wheel against the jaws and break off the top pivot.

What a clumsy fool. I am totally disgusted with myself.

 

It's easy done chris, don't beat yourself up. You now have the opportunity to learn something new, an often required proceedure.

[ChrisInOz]

7 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

Don't worry, Chris! We've all been there, and it's a part of the learning process. You never stop making mistakes, but gradually, you develop strategies to minimize the risks.

The way out here will be to replace the balance staff. However, that's something that requires quite a few tools, such as a staking set and suitable punches. Perhaps the easiest way out will be to try to source a balance complete (balance wheel + balance staff + balance spring) from a donor movement if one can be found.

Thank you for the encouragement.

I do have a staking set, but I have yet to learn how to use it.  It is a K&D 18R set with a mixture of different brands of punches,  some K&D and some Levin.

I will look for a donor movement too.

I was servicing this watch in order to give it to a friend who admired it,  so I would like to repair it if possible.

[Klassiker]

Don't be so hard on yourself. We've all been there! One slip and hours of work down the drain. It's in the nature of the job/hobby. A huge sense of satisfaction when you finally get the job done is the other side of the same coin.

That top pivot was scrap anyway. 

5 minutes ago, ChrisInOz said:

I would like to repair it if possible

And you will, even if it takes longer than you hoped. Now you are going to learn how to replace a balance staff. All good!

[mikepilk]

We've all done it Chris. The pivot looked bent anyway, so you would have needed to change it - I have heard rumours of people straightening pivots, but some have also claimed to have seen unicorns 

If you search Ebay for 'balance complete eta 1260' you will find some. Make sure you get the non-Incabloc version

You will see some Renata balances, the number for the non-inca version is 164

Edited March 26 by mikepilk

[Neverenoughwatches]

9 minutes ago, mikepilk said:

have heard rumours of people straightening pivots, but some have also claimed to have seen unicorns 

There are two grazing in my back garden right now Mike, one is looking kinda frisky, so I may be buying Swatch out when the offspring  arrives. 

[RichardHarris123]

3 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

There are two grazing in my back garden right now Mike, one is looking kinda frisky, so I may be buying Swatch out when the offspring  arrives.

That's nothing, a rocking horse has just taken a S$%t in my garden.

[mikepilk]

10 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

There are two grazing in my back garden right now Mike

I do occasionally see unicorns around Watford, Rich . They come in to the gardens to scrounge peanut butter sandwiches, which they are very fond of.  It was in the distance, and they move quickly, but I got a pic of one doing that just recently 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, mikepilk said:

I do occasionally see unicorns around Watford, Rich . They come in to the gardens to scrounge peanut butter sandwiches, which they are very fond of.  It was in the distance, and they move quickly, but I got a pic of one doing that just recently 

Ah.. but there is only one,I have two going at it like..........unicorns.

1 hour ago, RichardHarris123 said:

That's nothing, a rocking horse has just taken a S$%t in my garden.

Bag it up Rich and slap the log on ebay.

[ChrisInOz]

7 hours ago, mikepilk said:

You will see some Renata balances, the number for the non-inca version is 164

Thank you.  You anticipated the next question I was going to ask.

I noticed several of them available in various places, and various brands,  but I'm not sure how to identify which are the non-inca versions among them.

This one,  for example: would this be a non-inca version?

Also,  I have an old specification sheet for the movement, downloaded from Cousins,  that gives a part number 721 for the balance complete,  but there seems to be a whole range of completely different balances that are sold under this number.  Can you help me to understand the significance of that please. 

[caseback]

3 hours ago, ChrisInOz said:

Thank you.  You anticipated the next question I was going to ask.

I noticed several of them available in various places, and various brands,  but I'm not sure how to identify which are the non-inca versions among them.

This one,  for example: would this be a non-inca version?

Also,  I have an old specification sheet for the movement, downloaded from Cousins,  that gives a part number 721 for the balance complete,  but there seems to be a whole range of completely different balances that are sold under this number.  Can you help me to understand the significance of that please. 

If you search online for "Ebauches SA Dictionnaire Technologique" you'll find a catalogue with the parts numbering system. The specific part you're showing has "DAnc" under the 721. That tells you that it has a non-hollowed out roller for a shock protection system. 

On ebay you can also see Renata parts that will tell you on the package if it is for a shock or non-shock protected movement by mentioning "inca". The Renata catalogue can be found as a pdf online (cousins uk for instance) as well and tells you you'll want Renata 164:

Edited March 27 by caseback

[ChrisInOz]

54 minutes ago, caseback said:

If you search online for "Ebauches SA Dictionnaire Technologique" you'll find a catalogue with the parts numbering system. The specific part you're showing has "DAnc" under the 721. That tells you that it has a non-hollowed out roller for a shock protection system.

Thank you for the information.

Just to make sure I understand correctly,  does "non-hollowed-out roller"  mean that this part is NOT for a shock protection system. The English translation is a little ambiguous.

The German text appears to say "lever disc not countersunk for shock protection"  which would imply that this is the right part for me.

[caseback]

1 hour ago, ChrisInOz said:

Just to make sure I understand correctly,  does "non-hollowed-out roller"  mean that this part is NOT for a shock protection system. The English translation is a little ambiguous.

No, it shows that there are apparantly 2 different versions for use with a shock protection: one with a hollowed out roller and one which has a non-hollowed out roller. You need the simple 721, so without the DAc or DAnc added.

[ChrisInOz]

5 minutes ago, caseback said:

No, it shows that there are apparantly 2 different versions for use with a shock protection: one with a hollowed out roller and one which has a non-hollowed out roller. You need the simple 721, so without the DAc or DAnc added.

OK, that's clear now.  Thank you again. 

[ChrisInOz]

On 3/27/2025 at 2:01 AM, mikepilk said:

You will see some Renata balances, the number for the non-inca version is 164

 

On 3/27/2025 at 1:58 PM, caseback said:

On ebay you can also see Renata parts that will tell you on the package if it is for a shock or non-shock protected movement by mentioning "inca". The Renata catalogue can be found as a pdf online (cousins uk for instance) as well and tells you you'll want Renata 164:

My thanks to you both for the assistance. 

I have ordered a Renata 164 balance complete from an eBay seller.

As a training exercise I also plan to replace the staff on the existing balance.  Looking at the online Ronda catalog,  it seems that I need the 2971 staff for the non-shock balance,  so I have also ordered one of those.

Fairly sure I don't have one of the necessary punches,  and one stump for my staking set.  

I would welcome any advice on the best techniques for removing and replacing the roller and hairspring.

 

[caseback]

13 hours ago, ChrisInOz said:

I would welcome any advice on the best techniques for removing and replacing the roller and hairspring.

 

I'd say these are questions on which the search function will provide you with all the info you need. 

[ChrisInOz]

5 hours ago, caseback said:

I'd say these are questions on which the search function will provide you with all the info you need. 

Thanks. I have found some excellent threads now.  I will study them in detail.

[watchweasol]

Might find this helpful in your quest

dictionary_ebauches_sa.pdf

TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf 3395_ETA 1260.pdf