In this past month was this 1st gen Angelus Alarm watch, a true classic and quite a rare find however it was in rather desperate need of TLC in order to get it back to recognisable condition. A full restoration would be needed and this would take time to do right.
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Above we see the earlier AS 1568 movement ( Later 1930/1931 ) with the nice large lettering Angelus and cosmetically in fairly good shape. The stem setting was not quite right and later on we see why but for now lets break down the casing.
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Removing the bezel we see years of sweat and grime that finds its way into every nook and cranny, this will all come off after a clean in the ultrasonic before light polishing.
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The dial whilst original is a shadow of its former self and will need to be refinished, a nice paint and print job will do wonders for the face of this little cricket :)
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Its not the first time this watch has been under scrutiny, the alarm hand has had two previous paint jobs, neither of which were finished well. A thorough clean off of the old paint, light rub on 3000 grit float glass before a good coat of red enamel.
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The date disc has also seen some rather shady attention and the numbers have been hand painted on, we shall have to see about changing that for a new one.
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Removing the dial we see why the stem setting isn't quite right, the setting lever spring has fatigued and so will not function as it should. Further strip down below for those interested ;)
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After some effort the watch came together nicely, the movement runs within a few seconds a day and the alarm has a nice healthy thump to it so you won't be late for anything ! The cosmetic work took a little longer but was worth it in the end, hr & min hands re lumed, dial refinished, casing lightly polished, and finished with a new glass and a basic strap to get it going. Someone somewhere is going to love this watch, fresh clean looks with practical functionality. The 1st gen watches are hard to find so if you can find one then they are worth collecting as their value will only go up. Enjoy :)
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Coming soon.......Seiko 6139 , Omega Chronostop Cal 865 , Seiko DX 27 Jewel, be sure to check back in the new year for more blog posts :)

Just in this past week or so was this slightly neglected Seiko Slimdate featuring a stunning 30 jewel automatic movement. Seiko collectors eyes light up when it comes to the fancy and famous pieces (Pogue, 62MAS, SKX etc ) but there are plenty of great quality pieces that are very under appreciated and certainly worth collecting.

This gem is not a customer watch but one i found at auction and it seemed in fairly good condition for a gold plated Seiko as most tend to be badly worn. The styling is simple but smart and originally this line of watch would have been intended for the businessman of the era but could easily have been worn for evening occasions as well. The watch is fitted with a high quality 30 jewel automatic movement in the form of the calibre 840 ( Suwa Large 1963-1969 ), although there were higher jewel counts available i think 30 jewels is plenty enough.

Below is a series of photos during the strip down, we can see an advanced auto winding mechanism when compared to the single stage gearing of the more modern 7S26 style movement calibres. Also visible is the indirectly driven seconds pinion as you would find on high quality Swiss watches of the same period ( or even today for that matter ). Note also a small winding gear for the watchmakers benefit in order to manually wind the movement prior to testing :)
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As is fairly typical after years of use the crown has seen better days, so this would need to be changed for something new. Finding originals can be hard work but thankfully there are a good amount of generic crowns that can work and are of equal quality.
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After some TLC and a good service the watch was finally ready and boy did it shine ! Im not a fan of gold watches but sometimes you can just admire something for what it is and this Slimdate is one of those things. Feel free to view the gallery photos >>
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I could not source an original glass for this model but luckily i did find a nice flat glass with an attractive bevelled edge to give it that extra wow factor, sadly this is harder to show in photo form than real life :)

More blogs to follow so check back soon !

** As some of my regulars may have noticed there are some changes being made to this site, in order to make things simple i am streamlining some of the content into a less is more format. You will now find some older content is missing and new simpler headings now exist, this is an ongoing process which will hopefully make for a better and easier to navigate site.  There will also be some additional changes to come over the next few months to freshen up the site so look out for them :)

In order to share more of the projects and work that i do i have decided to keep new future blogs simple with less chatter, only exceptional jobs with interesting features will have more content. You can also now follow me on Instagram & Facebook for updates on all projects and also alerts to new stock on welwynwatchparts. Instagram is a new feature but one i hope i can use to share the parts of workshop life that would otherwise go unseen here on WW.

In for service is this rather fetching Rolex featuring a simple but very well decorated 1602 calibre movement. The 1602 is a great little calibre, coming in at just under 21mm wide and only 2.35mm tall this movement is ideal for slender evening/dress watches such as this Cellini. Although not as hi beat as some Swiss counterparts this little gem sings away happily at 21,600A/h.

Time to strip it down for a clean >

​With the movement cleaned it was time to assemble and lubricate it

After testing and adjustment the movement can have dial and hands re-fitted, notice the movement retainer is also finished to the same level and detail as the movement itself.
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Well they say good things come in small packages and this Rolex Cellini certainly does not disappoint. Hopefully this will find it self a nice happy owner who can enjoy a quality timepiece that's not too loud on the wrist.