Daughter's watch stopped working

My daughter has a manual wind vintage Summit, purchased NOS a few years ago, which has always run well, until today. Last night she wound it normally and it ran for about 2 hours before stopping. Earlier today I adjusted the time and tried winding it again, but it would only wind a couple turns and then appeared to be full wound.

At this point it ran for about an hour before stopping, so I took off the back and saw that nothing inside was moving. If I applied some gentle pressure on the crown to start winding it would start ticking again until I released the crown.

Not long ago I tried pulling out the crown and marching the hands forward to the current time, but without winding. It ticked again for about an hour before stopping. I guess the obvious answer will be that it needs a service, but I am just curious what the likely cause of this problem will be.

bought "a few years ago".... if it was serviced then, its due.

if it was bought NOS and not serviced because it was running fine.... its really due.

time flies, until the lubricant dries up!

The seller is a well known dealer in the UK with a shop store and established internet presence. They have been trading for over a century and I've purchased other watches from them of higher value.

They had a bunch of these in stock a few years ago and said it was serviced prior to sale. Indeed it came with a 12 month warranty, which is standard with all their watches. I guess it will just need a service, but I'm just a little surprised it has stopped like this after 3 years with no prior sign of possible problems. Here is a quick snap of the movement shot this evening. It's not an expensive watch by any means, but has a certain charm.

yes thank you i can go to bed happy now..

3 years is not particularly sub standard for a watch of its kind.. its a lesser manual wind caliber

..really i dont think this is in any way the sellers fault the watch needs a service after 3 years they are not the most waterproof or dustproof cases.. (i hope you have a gasket on your caseback) by a long shot 3 years is pretty good if she wears the thing regularly... (rain, sweat, dust moisture, heat.. cold temperature changes, magnetic fields)

how often have you serviced your car / bike etc in this time thats a mechanical instrument not a microwave...

Its oils that keep a watch lubricated all oils have a shelf life.. You would not resent your vintage car dealer that sold you a 60s jeep and told you you will need an MOT in 3 years and an oil change and you may need to check your tyre pressure and refill your windscreen washer fluid..

If it is the shop in London that I think it is, I would treat their serviced statement with a shovel full of salt.

An ex-colleague of mine bought a Seamaster with a 562 movement from them and 13 months later it stopped so he asked me to look at it for him. Other than a broken mainspring that certainly didn't look only a year old, there was no end shake in the barrel arbour, the auto winding mechanism was so loosely assembled that it had trapped one of the wheels in the gap and chewed it up. The jewels were over oiled and the pivots on one of the train wheels were worn.

Perhaps one of the flay rods has gone out of squew on the treadle

This thread would make Douglas Adams proud. 😁

The dealer is in Sheffield and I'm not blaming them in any way. It cost about £75 and was a simple mechanical watch in new condition that was originally made in the 60s or 70s I would guess. This was just something with a bit of charm that seemed like a nice watch for a young girl.

Summit was a small company based in Sheffield and some internet digging turned up a thread, which revealed they would send somebody over to Switzerland, who would buy watch movements for assembly back at the factory in Britain. Any parts not deemed good enough were placed in a sub brand of watches called Leda, which I gather were then exported to the US. The Summit watches were generally sold at wholesale to local jewellers in the Sheffield area.

I may be able to find a watchmaker who can service the watch for around £40, but that would be assuming no parts would be required. It's tough to know if replacement parts would even be available at this point, though they were probably fitted to countless other watches at the time.

Buying something like a new Seiko would no doubt be more practical for daily use and I imagine it would be very reliable. I have a nice gold Garrard from the mid 60s I could have serviced, that she could then keep for special occasions.