Ever had it serviced?

JimInOz · May 22, 2015

Archer
Only advice I can give with regards to cleaning dials is...only clean it if you are prepared to destroy it.

Cheers, Al

I take your point Al, in this case though I felt the risk was worth the result. Only doing the blank areas with the gentlest pressure and purest water. I certainly wouldn't attempt it on a vintage Omega dial for example (well, not after my first disaster some years ago 🙁).

j.allen
Cleaning the matte finish dial is tough because almost anything you do will make marks and it's difficult to remove anything. A shiny/lacquer finish is equally troublesome because you don't know how it will respond. For one never use alcohol. Even water can leave marks and rubbing can break it down.

When I disassemble a watch the very first thing I do after uncasing the movement and removing hands is remove the dial. It then goes in a separate covered tray by itself. It's only taken out when the dial is ready to be put back on. Doing this there is no new dust and debris and there is no chance in damaging it or making new marks. I often see a beautiful dial with a few eye sore scratches and dings and wonder about the carelessness it took to make these. Scratches from removing the hands are irksome because these can so easily be avoided.

👍
Totally agree with your method, my dials go straight into a new ziplock bag for the duration of the work.
And I use similar bags to remove the hands and find that doing it this way, marking the dial is all but totally eliminated.
Cost of ziplock bags?
$3.10 per 100. (or $11.50 per thousand, if I ever need that many!)
Cost of peace of mind?
Priceless.

STANDY · May 22, 2015

Expect a knock on the door if you start buying zip lock baggies buy the thousand 😒

JimInOz · May 22, 2015

STANDY
Expect a knock on the door if you start buying zip lock baggies buy the thousand 😒

Ever on the job Andy 👍

Only somebody in your line of work would think of that 😁

Archer · May 23, 2015

JimInOz
I take your point Al, in this case though I felt the risk was worth the result. Only doing the blank areas with the gentlest pressure and purest water. I certainly wouldn't attempt it on a vintage Omega dial for example (well, not after my first disaster some years ago 🙁).

👍
Totally agree with your method, my dials go straight into a new ziplock bag for the duration of the work.
And I use similar bags to remove the hands and find that doing it this way, marking the dial is all but totally eliminated.
Cost of ziplock bags?
$3.10 per 100. (or $11.50 per thousand, if I ever need that many!)
Cost of peace of mind?
Priceless.

If a client asks me to clean a dial, I will only proceed after they acknowledge that they know it might end up looking worse than when we started. Usually if I tell someone we should not clean it, they will listen, but some people insist.

Some dials can be cleaned easily and without any risk of damage, but they are of a specific type...others you simply don't want to touch if you can avoid it.

For protection, of course it's not just for the dial. Hands, dial, and if applicable date indicator are always put in containers appropriate to protect them (as well as other disks like day, month, or moon phase). Plastic bags are better than nothing, but I personally prefer a hard plastic case as you see in the top left of my tray here:

I use the plastic round containers that new movements come in for this. The one for the dial is from an ETA 6497/6498, and the smaller one that the date indicator is in comes from a smaller 11.5 ligne movement of some kind - likely an ETA 2824-2 or 2836-2 I bought in the past for some purpose.

For hands I prefer to use the containers that a new full set of hands come in, so there are slots for each hand and a piece of foam to hold them in place, like below:

If you don't have or can't get those (you have to order a full set of hands to get those from Omega), then using a small plastic container with a fan folded piece of paper inside works well too:

Cheers, Al

JimInOz · May 28, 2015

Well it's all done and I've reached the end of the road with this one and I'd like to thank all those who provided comments and advice along the way. It was appreciated and more importantly, educational.

So, in summary.
Strip, wash, clean, replace parts, lubricate, assemble,test, regulate, wear.
Parts replaced were:
All seals except for the glass seal (couldn't find a new one) which was cleaned and re-lubricated.
Barrel and mainspring assembly.
Hour and minute hands (second hand was cleaned and re-used).
Crown and stem assembly.
Seiko fat spring bars.
Black NATO Strap.

I've been wearing it off and on for the last week and it's gained less than a minute over that period so I'm happy with that.

Today it goes back to the new owner so a final pic to close this out.

Stewart H · May 28, 2015

Well done Jim.

The acid test is, would you do it again?

UncleBuck · May 28, 2015

Stewart H
Well done Jim.

The acid test is, would you do it again?

Whaddyasay James?
Fancy a project ?

PatrickJ · May 28, 2015

Frunkinator
How long should a manual and an auto really go before servicing?

Should be around five years

JimInOz · May 28, 2015

Stewart H
Well done Jim.

The acid test is, would you do it again?

Well, my confidence level is building as I do more and more. I even started on a little manual that @STANDY sent me, and it looks like @UncleBuck has something in the pipeline 😁

STANDY · May 31, 2015

Hope you have fun with the watch I sent, how's it look inside.

JimInOz · May 31, 2015

STANDY
Hope you have fun with the watch I sent, how's it look inside.

Not too bad, a bit of rust on the stem, some dust and gunk inside but not a lot. The mainspring looked to be badly rusted but I founf out it's only old dried grease. Might get back to it tonight if I thaw out.

UncleBuck · Jun 1, 2015

JimInOz
. Might get back to it tonight if I thaw out.

You might need to increase your anti-freeze mixture!

STANDY · Jun 1, 2015

JimInOz
Not too bad, a bit of rust on the stem, some dust and gunk inside but not a lot. The mainspring looked to be badly rusted but I founf out it's only old dried grease. Might get back to it tonight if I thaw out.

Falls under the service history unknown banner @JimInOz

JimInOz · Jun 1, 2015

UncleBuck
You might need to increase your anti-freeze mixture!

I'm trying Lagavulin as the new anti-freeze.

Seems to be working, but my dexterity skills are now lower than required for detailed watch tinkering, can't figure out why 😗

Geo! · Jun 14, 2015

That's a really tidy job Jim!

I like the look of the crystal press that you're using, what make is it?

Cheers,

Geo!

Flingit1200s · Jun 14, 2015

Thanks for sharing you processes Jim. I find it fascinating. 😀

JimInOz · Jun 15, 2015

Geo!
That's a really tidy job Jim!

I like the look of the crystal press that you're using, what make is it?

Cheers,
Reply
Geo!

I can't remember the make, I got it from a local supplier (Brisbane is local compared to USA or EU). I just tried to check their site but they are temporarily off line.

The movement is extremely smooth, almost a hydraulic feel to it and the whole thing is well made. I suspect it's an Asian clone of a German model (see it being used here)

Here are some pics, one with a pair of tweezers for scale.

Geo! · Jun 15, 2015

Thanks for the info Jim, especially with the added pictures. I forgot to ask, does the upped die rotate when in use, or is the shaft keyed to prevent rotation?

JimInOz · Jun 15, 2015

Geo!
Thanks for the info Jim, especially with the added pictures. I forgot to ask, does the upped die rotate when in use, or is the shaft keyed to prevent rotation?

Good point Geo, it is indeed keyed, so the shaft acts like a piston, no twisting moment at all.
As I said, I am impressed with this little tool. Not Horotec or Bergeon quality, but so close for a tinkerer that it doesn't matter.
Nowhere near the cost of those two either, that should appeal to any canny Scot!

😉

Geo! · Jun 15, 2015

Thanks again Jim, I appreciate you taking the time. All I have to do now is find one! 😀

Ever had it serviced?

JimInOz

STANDY

JimInOz

Archer

JimInOz

Stewart H

UncleBuck

PatrickJ

JimInOz

STANDY

JimInOz

UncleBuck

STANDY

JimInOz

Geo!

Flingit1200s

JimInOz

Geo!

JimInOz

Geo!

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