First Watch Repair Complete, And I'm Pretty Happy With The Results.

[PBramble]

Me too. I have a Swiss Army presentation watch no one can get the back off of.

That shouldn't be that hard with the proper tools. I own a ton of Wenger watches and have a set of tools to service them. Less than 100 bucks on Amazon. I'd bet he could do that one in no time.

 

[thor447]

What an awesome accomplishment! I'm impressed you got it going.
Takes a steady hand and a mind for gears to work on time pieces.
I have a Seiko Chronograph watch with 4 dials from the early 70's that nobody has ever been able to fix if you want your next challenge.

I know my limits! A true mechanical chronograph, although not uncommon, is a serious complication in a watch movement. To this point I have completed my first 3 levels of watchmaking classes. I have already enrolled in level four, which is 47 individual lessons covered over three courses solely about different chronograph movements. I will begin taking the class in November, and do not plan to attempt a chronograph until then. I would imagine that if I put myself to the task, with enough support documentation I could eventually get one back together, but there's a lot for me to learn and get better at before I'd EVER attempt to service a chronograph belonging to someone else.

Hit me up in a year or two..............or 10!

If you are serious about getting it serviced/repaired, I could probably point you towards a few watchmakers that are more than up to the task. Fair warning, it'd probably cost more to repair the watch than it would to replace it. Mechanical chronographs, even if they are inexpensive, are not cheap to service, simply due to the amount of parts and the watchmaker's time. I'm a member of a few watch forums where professionals and amateurs both post up their work and offer advice. Some of the professionals on there are seasoned vets in their craft, and post up some incredibly complicated and valuable watches they work on. There is one up in Washington state that does work on vintage Patek perpetual calendars, chronographs, etc. easily worth several hundred thousand dollars each. There are several pros on there than work on chronographs daily, and they post up their shop info. I can point you in their direction if you're interested, but they all have long waits to get work in their shops and a good watchmaker is expensive. Make sure you REALLY love the watch first!

 

[MilitantBEEMER]

Nicely done. It takes some real skill to accomplish what you have done. I look forward to seeing the finished project as well as pics and details from your future endeavors.

 

[dlbleak]

Very cool. I’m intrigued by watches but don’t own any fancy/expensive ones. When you’re ready for business, dad has an Accutron he needs looked at!

 

[TerryMiller]

Good luck in all your efforts. From your posts, it is obvious that this "avocation" really suits you.

I'm currently wearing a Seiko that is "I have no idea how old." A year or so ago, the wife bought me an expensive watch that was called "automatic" (read: self-winding), but it would keep quitting on me because I'm not active enough to keep it "wound up." So, the expensive watch went back to the store, and I'm back to wearing the Seiko.

I have issues with watches on occasion. Back when we were on the farm/ranch, I had to give up wrist watches of any kind of movement and had to go to pocket watches. The wife had bought me a fairly expensive one of those once, and I lost it when we were moving cattle by horseback. When I noticed the watch was gone, I went back looking. I couldn't find it at first until I gave up and headed back and then found it embedded in the sloped "facing" of a ridge of a field that had drilled wheat in it. It was invisible to me as I rode out, but visible when I rode back.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Many years ago, I had an uncle that repaired pocket watches. I was always amazed that he could work on something so small, and those were probably 30-40% larger than what you are doing. Very impressive!

 

[Bocephus123]

very nice like to have it. but im heck on watches .

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Awesome! That is one heck of a nice Seiko as well. Seiko Divers have excellent lume. Also that movement has the potential to be almost as accurate as a Rolex. I have one 4R36 that is accurate to within 4 seconds per day, unfortunately it is on the slow side. I also have a watch with the NH36 that is accurate to 4 seconds per day, unfortunately it is slow too. Nice job!

 

[thor447]

Awesome! That is one heck of a nice Seiko as well. Seiko Divers have excellent lume. Also that movement has the potential to be almost as accurate as a Rolex. I have one 4R36 that is accurate to within 4 seconds per day, unfortunately it is on the slow side. I also have a watch with the NH36 that is accurate to 4 seconds per day, unfortunately it is slow too. Nice job!

Thanks. I agree that they have really good lume. I'd put it on par (lume wise) with my Omega Seamaster 300M. At +/- 4 seconds per day, that is still within the range of a COSC certification, and is very good for a mechanical watch. Nothing to sneeze at whatsoever, and is another reason why I think that the 4R35/36 and NH35/36 Seiko movements offer an incredible value for the level of timekeeping they offer.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Thanks. I agree that they have really good lume. I'd put it on par (lume wise) with my Omega Seamaster 300M. At +/- 4 seconds per day, that is still within the range of a COSC certification, and is very good for a mechanical watch. Nothing to sneeze at whatsoever, and is another reason why I think that the 4R35/36 and NH35/36 Seiko movements offer an incredible value for the level of timekeeping they offer.

Seamaster's are awesome. I have heard that Omega is really trying to step things up too. I have heard the New Speedmaster Professionals are at +/- 1 second per day, beating Rolex at +/- 2 seconds per day. I do love Seiko's though, Like the new SKX GMT's. Many watches have good lume, some have really poor. If you really get into antique vintage watches, get a geiger counter (around $50 to $150, no need to spend more). Old radium paint particles can really mess up your work area.