This little alarm watch was sent in as part of a larger lot of watches won at an auction by a customer. The watches condition was unknown until it arrived with me but after a brief examination it was clear that it needed some tlc to set it running right again. The movement inside ( AS 1931 ) was rather soiled in excess oil and although the alarm function worked the main movement did not run. The hairspring was quite badly contaminated and in need of adjustment, the whole watch would need stripping down for cleaning before work could begin in servicing the watch. As can be seen in the photos above the excess oil had seeped through to the dial in quite a large amount, someone somewhere had gone a little over the top on trying to get this watch running ! Time to strip the movement down and get it cleaned up >> Once the movement was clean and the hairspring thoroughly decontaminated the assembly & lubrication could begin. The dial side is a little more fiddly than your standard movement but there were no broken parts or damages involved so it was straight forward to get the watch back together again. Unfortunately i forgot to charge my camera battery so i have no photos of the reassembly but i will remember for next time :)
With the watch fully assembled the movement was running good again and the alarm also working well. The glass was given a good polish to remove the scratches and a new strap fitted to finish the watch, overall a nice little alarm watch fit for purpose again ! :)
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This lovely little gem came in for restoration and was in dire need of some tlc in order to get the movement back to running order. The movement in question is quite well known for its rarity and parts for them are like hens teeth, repairing the movement is always quite nerve racking as with the parts being so hard to find you never know what it might need. The 390 calibre was actually designed for Rolex/Tudor by FEF and was based on the manual wind movement the 380, but with the addition of a Automatic rotor and winding system. Stripping the movement down i found a few wear issues that would need to be addressed but i was hopeful the movement would come together. >> Part of the strip down >> With the movement in the cleaner and the dial away for refinishing the hands would require some new lume, the old lume is stripped, hands cleaned, and then new lume prepared for application > When fresh lume is applied it may appear to sit too high and later interfere with hand setting but its worth remembering that as it dries it contracts so the bulging actually becomes flat. Once the hands were fully dry/cured they had contracted down nice and flush so no problems with hand setting. Once the movement was out of the cleaner it was time to reassemble and adjust to get the watch running again with good timing. There were some parts that were quite worn but overall the movement came together and was running with some good timing results. The wear & tear would have longer term consequences but if treated carefully and worn occasionally the movement should be set to last quite some while. The casing was given a clean and light polish as well as the glass getting a light buff to knock out the light surface scratches, a new rear gasket and some grease should also help to keep moisture away. With the watch fully assembled it would have to be tested again to find any issues but after some adjustment the watch ran fine and it was fortunate despite the wear & tear that it run as good as it did. With a fresh dial , lumed hands , and a good polish all over the watch was looking much better and ready to be returned back to its owner >> Im sure this watch would be a welcome addition to anyone's collection, just a shame its not in my own !! :)
Brought in by one of my regular customers for a service and a clean up is this stunning Rolex Oyster Perpetual, with a solid calibre 3135 automatic movement that has yet to have a service in its life :) The movement was running and with good timing but a service will help to keep things fresh and improve on an already good rhythm. The casing and bracelet had a few scrapes but the bulk of this would be sorted out with some light polishing and re graining of the bracelet links. The sapphire glass had some gunk around the cyclops but nothing the ultrasonic would not get off. So lets get underway and take a look at the watch >>> With the movement safely out of its home it was time for the case and bracelet to have a nice long soak in the ultrasonic. Years of build up can really dull down an otherwise stunning watch but a few minutes in a nice warm cleaner will brighten up this casing. The original gaskets had seen better days so these would be replaced once all work is complete and the watch ready to be sealed back up. Time to break down this movement for cleaning..... The movement stripped down showed to have only minor dry oil deposits but no wear or damage, this watch was well cared for during its first ownership. With the movement cleaning away the casing & bracelet underwent a multi stage process of cleaning and graining to bring back the shine and pop of when the watch was new. With casing parts all done and sealed away, new gaskets arrived ready to fit, it was time to assemble the movement with some fresh lubricants...... With the movement all back together and running smoothly it was time to replace the gaskets and fit the whole watch back together ready for a new potential owner. With some effort this Rolex has now got some shine back in its face and a super smooth movement all freshly lubricated and ready for anything :) This little gem was brought in after having attempted to get a reasonable quote for repair with a jeweller only to be met with extortionate demands. Having sent the watch off to JLC prior to visiting me the owner was met with a estimate of £3000, yes that's right £3000 for a rebuild & service. Id like to say im shocked at this price but it has become such common practice these days that nothing really shocks me coming from a high street jeweller :( With the watch in hand it was time to pop the hood and see what exactly was so wrong that it could warrant even half that cost....... With the back off we see a nicely finished P480c manual wind movement, and after a couple of winds the balance swings away albeit with timing issues, so nothing as yet to justify the cost, may be its on the other side ? The dial appeared to be quite stuck in place despite loosening the dial screws and the reason being that someone had previously stuck the dial back on using superglue.......yep superglue :( The dial feet clearly broken in place from previous service ( i use that term loosely ) and then to cover the horror it was superglue'd in place. With the glue getting into places it shouldn't this was going to require a fair amount of careful hand cleaning as well as a good spin in the watch cleaner. Time to strip her down for first machine cleaning...... After machine cleaning it was still not enough to shift the superglue so some careful hand cleaning was required to remove the glue residues and deposits. Once back through the machine i was happy the watch parts were clean enough for reassembly and so the watch could be rebuilt and tested. With the movement re built the watch was wound and checked on the timegrapher, timing showed to be excellent and easily able to keep up with modern mechanical watches :) There were a few issues where glue had got into jewel holes and other such minor problems but with all these sorted the watch was running away beautifully. Timing was within 10 seconds a day with amplitude of 250+ and a beat error of 0.3ms i can't complain at that ! Quite why it would have cost £3000 to get this working again to good standard i will never know, but im going to assume pure greed on the part of the jeweller. With the watch back together and working perfectly there was one happy customer ready to collect her. The watch had been the customers fathers and was of great sentimental value, so i was only to happy to pass on the good news that the watch that meant so much was now in good shape and could be enjoyed once more :) |
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