I have a lovely SM300 date with a black date wheel, I'd like to change it to silver, as I have a couple of nos ones.

I can remove dials, change hands, that sort of thing, not too much else, is it beyond my abilities?

 

It is tough to tell what your abilities are and if you are willing to damage your watch. I found swapping the date wheel on a 565 for a SM300 fairly easy and straightforward. I enjoy tinkering on watches but know I will never come close to the skills of a watchmaker. If you question your abilities then have a professional watchmaker do the work for you. Or wait to swap it and practice swapping date wheels repeatedly on practice movements before jumping into a watch you care about. Just my amateur opinion.

 

Easy for a watchmaker, but given the things that have to be lined up when reassembling I'm guessing (because I don't know you or your skills) that this would be too much for someone who doesn't work on watch movements regularly.

Probably best to let a watchmaker handle this for you.

Cheers, Al

 

Sure it's safe if you have a watchmaker do it for you but remember that the joy to have it done by yourself is so great.
Try and learn. Sometimes it costs money but it's only a part of the game

 

How I change a date wheel on any movement.....

1) Put watch and replacement date wheel in pocket (preferrably inside some type of container)
2) Get in car and drive to watchmaker's shop
3) Hand watch and replacement date wheel to watchmaker with instructions to swap date wheels
4) Leave shop
5) Get phone call from watchmaker when watch is done
6) Drive to watchmaker's shop, pay, and strap my watch to my wrist

Voila!!!!!

 

Thats how i did it! and it works every time.

 

Do what i do ,have a go, muck it up, and spend several more time and money to get it fixed by a watchmaker.

 

Watchmakers charge a whole lot more to sort out a mess and to finish a job than they do if you give them the whole job to do. To say nothing of the cost of having them replace the parts you wreck or lose while you experiment. Having said all that, I'd be glad to show you how to do it. I live in Canada. Bring it on over and we'll have at it!

 

Haha done this like 3 times

 

Yup, just what I did, now off to a watchie.
Doh!

 

Once decided that I would be able to change a broken wheel on a speedy reduced movement.



Unfortunately I was not able ;-)

 

I like how you have your magnifying glass ready to apprecate the damage you've done. Luckily your Rabobank indentifier is there to check if you have sufficient funds to have it fixed.

 

Are those tweezers of fire tongs? They're huge.