Sent in by a returning customer this Oceanaut is in need of a good service and repair to the automatic works. Quite a common issue found in many automatics is the rotor wildly spinning when the watch is wound manually, usually the cause is a reversing wheel that's had its day or simply the lubrication has thickened and is stopping free motion.

I never get tired of servicing ETA movements and the 2824 is one of my favourites, it is very simple but demonstrates how an automatics should be made. With such a high beat movement it won't take much to upset the good running order so with the movement stripped and cleaned its time to get it back to good order.

When reassembling a movement its good to check free motion of the drive train before adding any lubrication to the pivots, this will show up any finer issues that one or more of the gears may have. Fortunately this movement is in excellent condition so no issues with the base movement, below i show the shock system used in this particular movement and the way in which the parts are disassembled for lubrication. ( Shock System is KIF )

With the balance jewels cleaned and lubricated the balance is checked for any issues before assembly is continued. Below is the remaining reassembly of the base movement >>>

With the movement running well it is now ready to be re fitted with the dial and hands and then re cased. The casing has had a good clean as well just to remove any possible contaminants.

With the watch finished it is ready to be returned to customer ready for wearing once more. A nice watch well executed :) 

The Rolex Submariner is truly a classic and much sought after wristwatch, although they come in various guises they are a tool watch designed to be used and used well. This incarnation comes in the stainless steel and 18 kt gold flavour but having spent most of its 19 year life on a building site it was long over due a bit of TLC.

The casing and bracelet had seen better days and this would require some careful clean up to get it back to decent shape. The movement ( cal 3135 ) was working only on & off and with poor timing which indicates something is not quite right on the inside. 

Given the cost of servicing for a Rolex these days the customers main concern was getting the watch back to good order but within a budget, two words which do not really match is Rolex & Budget but nevertheless onward we go......

Having taken  a fair amount of knocks over the years this casing and bracelet are going to require some careful cleaning and preparing for the many stages required to return this back to good condition. The use of two very different metal types ( steel & gold ) and two differing types of finish all add to the time it takes in restoring such a timepiece. 

The bracelet and casing will be stripped down and each part will be given some careful cleaning before being separated into their own trays to be worked on each at a time. Various techniques are required to get the two tone finish required.  To see results skip toward end of blog.

With the movement free from the casing it was time to get to work on finding the source of the problem, which fortunately wasn't to hard to spot. As can be seen in the photos below the ratchet wheel had somehow lost at least three teeth which had sheared off and were floating about the movement. The mainspring/barrel was also not looking overly healthy but a clean up and new mainspring would help resolve that issue. Unfortunately the loose teeth had caused some havoc with the other movement parts and as such would cause problems during reassembly.
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Below is the full breakdown during disassembly for those who are curious to the inner workings, the photos may not be in correct order and some may be missing but you should get a good idea of the workings :)

Movement stripped down and each section has its own tub.

With the movement stripped and in the cleaner the casing parts could then get some of my attention.
Below are some photos of the casing /bracelet and bezel during the first stages of refinishing.

With the movement clean it was time to get her back together, this movement requires very specific lubrication and these are not cheap but fortunately i have a near full assortment that will cover whats required. Unfortunately the loose teeth from the ratchet wheel had caused a few issues but with careful work the movement should work quite nicely, baring in mind were trying to keep costs down here so the choice to replace parts outright would have broken budget. Below is a breakdown of assembly :)
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All watches are different and some require more love than others, this Rolex was in desperate need but after several weeks work the finished watch is nearly ready to be returned. The movement despite suffering from some damage was keeping excellent time as you would expect from such a high end piece. The final polish was yet to be done but below are some photos of the watch once complete and reassembled for accuracy checks.

Now the only trouble is keeping the finger prints off her :)

With the sub taking up so much time i was unable to get much uploaded this month but look out for more restorations in the coming weeks :)