Decided that the speedy homage that was taken as part of the robbery was one I wanted to replace, but this time with a black case rather than a silver stainless case. Parts arrived yesterday and today I started work on a dial. Playing with the design o…
Continue readingTavannes “clamshell” Rectangular- Crystal Replacement
Hello,
I just bought this (probably) early 40s Tavannes rectangular watch with the water resistant screw-down “clamshell design off eBay. It is rough around the edges, but the buyer accepted a pretty low offer on it, so I figured it was worth saving t…
Continue readingDo any of you use stsupply for watch parts? Update
I always try to support watch material houses when ordering parts.
But some places sure do make it hard to buy from them.
ST Supply – Watch Parts – Batteries – Bands – Tools ST Supply
Watch Parts and T…
Continue readingParts Tips
I think I’d like to try my hand making a watch. Probably a diver style for my adult son. I’d appreciate advice on where to go for parts, kits, etc. Thanks in advance.
Continue readingCeramic dial cleaning
Working on an older Elgin 16s pocket watch, the ceramic dial has cracks, like most older pocket watches do. The cracks are filled with dirt and stand out pretty strongly. So I put it in my ultrasonic tank with Zenith watch cleaning solution, for 3 min, then ran it through a single rinse cycle. I’ve done this before, with pretty darn good results. Just thought I’d share.
Don’t try it with painted dials!
Before cleaning;
Continue readingDon’t try it with painted dials!
Before cleaning;
After cleaning;[ATTACH…
Silicon Micromachining
A work buddy and I were wondering how they make silicon hairsprings.
Continue readingSegue to my desktop; I’m running tests and while they go, I’m reading “Horology” by Barry B. Kaplan, 2022, Shiffer Publishing Ltd., New York, and he outs it.
It’s a process called DRIE or Deep Reactive Ion Etching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_reactive-ion_etching where ions are accelerated in an ionized gas toward the subject and etch where not masked. Since they are accelerated toward the work by a…
Shout Out for Our Bench Guy – Memovox Content
Our Bench Guy serviced my Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox E855. I received it back from him a week ago. He hit it out of the park!!!
Continue readingI bought the watch 3 years ago and let it set until I could find someone with the professionalism to repair it. It came with the box, receipt, warranty card and some advertising.
The starting point wasn’t that great. Before pic below.
The crystal was crazed, the dial had a few dirt spots…
Jumphour Questions – FE-140-1A
Gigandet “digital” jump hour with a manual FE-140-1A
Continue readingIssue:
The minute wheel and/or hour wheel appear to “bind” at about 50-55 minutes past the hour. It’s running but the time display won’t advance.
Questions:
1) what may be causing this?
2) suggestions for what tool(s) or techniques are requires to remove the minute and hour wheels?
Thanks and regards,
Swatch Chronograph problem
Hi,
Continue readingI have just changed the battery on my Swatch Irony chrono, and now the center sweep chrono hand is off ’12’ by 2 seconds, the 60 minute counter hand is also off by 2 mins, and the hour register hand is out by the same amount when they are reset. Is this something that is easy to fix, or should I just junk the watch? Any advice would be really useful.
Junior
Waltham WW2 A-11 Hack Watch
Hi everyone,
Let me start by saying that I’m a novice when it comes to watchmaking—but I’d like to think I’m learning quickly and have the right tools for the job. What I’m still lacking, though, is hands-on troubleshooting experience.
Continue readingLet me start by saying that I’m a novice when it comes to watchmaking—but I’d like to think I’m learning quickly and have the right tools for the job. What I’m still lacking, though, is hands-on troubleshooting experience.
On the bench this week is an early 1940s manual Waltham A-11 Hack Watch from World War II.
I actually have three of these movements—each with different issues or missing components—so I’m combining the best parts in…
