Help I am addicted to eBay ...

Did it again;

Yesterday I missed out on some lots, with conservative bids.


Was sort of looking forward to playing with these parts. I have a bunch of misc bumper parts. Mostly I wanted the case.

So of course I went for the rebound. I have become quite fond of these 550 movements. So in the last second I hit the bid button and won this instead. About the same price I wanted to pay for the other one.



So if one misses one, there is always something else. I have been wanting a SS cased automatic. Down side it is not a parts puzzle.

Of course I am never satisfied till I get a loose parts assortment.



A couple weeks ago I wound up with a 660 rotor assembly (which is smaller than the 671/681) I already have a lot of ladies movement spares. These are not as fun to work on as the larger 28mm movements.

Now comes the waiting.

This mornings haul, from the 99cent no reserve seller.

I bought other misc 342 parts from the same seller a few weeks ago. I think some of the parts I am missing are in this lot. Most interesting is there are two minute hands in this lot. I think the other only had an hour hand.

Funny how this works. I was desperate for a 470/505 sweep pinion, and paid max price a couple weeks ago. Now I have three more on the way. Probably willl not need them but that is the way collecting (Hoarding) works. Decided to go for the crystals. I used some of my generics this week. Probably will not fit anything, but the price was right.

Missed out on a 501 connie project. That will be a thread of a different color.

This weeks binge. I need the case clamps to finish the 2577. Could not resist the quartz stepper motor. I think I have three levels of bidding. Min placeholder bid, I really want it, and I do not want someone else to have it. This is a good example of all three. The only Items I need are the case clamps. Over the last few months I paid premium with long waits for 470/550 parts. Then these come up and I get them for minimal bid. I did not get the click springs. (which fly off to conventions in foreign lands.) Which only bothered me after the auction ended and they went more for the minimal placeholder bid.

The motor, is an outlier. I wanted the packaging as much as the part. I got two watches working. So do not really need it. I have not tested it yet. It is more the anticipation. The looking ahead to the possibilities.

I was unsure if I could recover the winding pinion on the 500. Curious how when I bid this one I got the other one out undamaged. This is a part what is good to have on hand as it is most likely to be damaged. I have also been finding pallet forks in short supply. So one can never have too many in the spare parts department. Cannon pinion also tend to go missing a lot. Finding the right height can be a bit of a challenge.

I keep thinking I have enough projects. Then something will come along which is promising a challenge. Where one puts the puzzle together. The "Candy Sparkle" has been ticking since 2AM. There is something so satisfying when the parts fit together and the watch comes to life.

Now if I can just find motivation to start sewing straps for them.

This one did not last long. I grabbed it as soon as I saw it.
Interesting that it was not an auction. Were this a NR 99cent start, it would probably go for two or three times the amount. A single part especially the minute jumper (which is the part I need most) can easily sell for this price.

I think this is the same seller I got the Val-22 from after watching it nearly a year. That one is still in pieces, since there was a mix up on the replacement center wheel. Somehow I have not been motivated to install that wheel. Went down the 500/550 rabbit hole instead. Not to mention some side tunnel explorations of quartz movements.

Curiously I went overboard on clutch wheels last week. Not one of the parts this mess is missing in this lot.

A few months back I did get a bunch of misc parts. So the watch breeding program is progressing.

If I was clever, I should re-pivot some of the tick tock parts from the other val project watches, what were replaced. Not sure why it is so hard to fix the swing over microscope mount on the lathe, then replace the foot treadle. I guess the robust supply of parts feeds the addiction. Which gets a fix with the waiting and refreshing the tracking state several times a day. Zooming in on the photographs and anticipating the puzzle being assembled.

... and so the endless cycle continues ...


I needed the strap hold down ring. Now I have another case. May have a useable movement, but no dyle and hands. When will it ever end. And why can I not breed 861 or 321 movements or cases?

The Val-23 third wheel arrived in the mail. And I only ordered it Monday. Stuff I ordered last week is now due tomorrow or the next few days.

This weeks impulse. Amazed that it went for my minimum bid. Not really antique. A lesser known caliber, which is the quickset date version of the non automatic 601. Sadly someone already snagged the quickset parts. Probably why it went so low.

I am still waiting for the Canadian parts, which is the set lever pressure spring. This watch does seem to contain that part and less that that part alone. Many of these parts are compatible with the 550 and the 563. I did get a train wheel bridge for this series and almost bid for some plates which I think were 610 the non quickset. Of course, as parts watches go this has that part. So it really is treading water.

This is also an example of how poor photography makes for an unattractive auction. I almost did not bid thinking this was a ladies caliber. I do not think this is a well known or popular movement.

It might be possible to cut the missing quickset parts on the fiber laser. I have been playing around with scanning in the data sheets and tracing over them with lightburn.



These graphics look to be hand traced for engraving rather than photographed The shading is too uniform and there is distinctive contrast. Most likely these were done with an optical comparator as the watchmaker was expected to lay the part over the graphic.

The online and faxed versions do not have this sharpness. Even using the phone as above adds distortion. The USB microscope photographs are saved as .bmp which does not seem to be supported for upload.