Longines 12.68z? need parts Frankenwatch?

Hi to the membership, I recently bought another 1930's Longines watch, it was sold as having a 12.68z movement and it does appear to be that, it is missing the hairspring and has a broken balance staff from a cursory inspection, the description was a sector watch but I do not think that is correct but thought it could be called a Bullseye dial watch?

I am thinking of having it repaired so I bought a balance staff for a 12.68z Mvt, I am looking for a hairspring, is there an expert on these around that could set me straight on.
1. is it definitely a 12.68z mvt, I can not find the usual markings
2. could it be a bullseye watch?
3. where can I get a hairspring for it?
.4. would I be better off looking for a complete replacement balance wheel?

I seem to end up with a lot of odd ball watches that need a bit of work but I guess that comes with the territory of buying from eBay. So any advice or help is appreciated and if you do not want to post here you can write to me at powerclocks@hotmail.com

All the best for the New Year from Australia
Graeme

Hello Graeme,
I remember that rare early Weems you found and you had struck gold with that— but you cannot get lucky every time and I’m sorry to say this one was not your lucky day.

It is indeed a 12.68, but its dial is refinished in a 1940s style, it’s hands are incorrect 1920s replacement hands on a movement from the late thirties, and if it is missing the hairspring and a balance staff it is missing some of the most valuable parts of the movement.

In short, I’m sorry to break the news to you, but you bought a lemon which is worth only the meager sum of its parts— and it is absolutely not worth the significant labor costs required to reconstruct a balance, or the time that your project entails.
I hope it was very cheap.
if you cannot return it, the expense will have to be chalked up to what we call a “newbie tax” and be considered a learning experience.

What we can advise in this situation is to read very carefully @conelpueblo’s very nice sticky thread entitled “how to fish”.
You need to take a step back, and make sure you do research and study before you commit more funds to buying another watch. Broken watches may be very expensive to repair these days; parts are becoming rare, and “projects” are unadvisable in many cases.

That being said, yes it is a bull’s eye dial.

Best regards and happy new year!

Thanks for the info,

Thanks for the information, I was already thinking it was pretty much one for the experience bin, the dial looked too fresh for the period.

It does not owe me much, way more than it is worth but still an affordable loss. I can recover some of it, even being honest in reselling it after I get it running, I have a really good 2nd gen watchmaker that likes to tinker without the usual costs. His parts inventory is massive, I have seldom taken him a watch he did not have parts on hand to fix.

So the movement is correct, the dial is probably original but refinished, I do note the 3 and 9 are out of position but it is nicely done, I have to wonder why anyone would go to so much trouble to set up for refinishing a watch dial and not line things up properly. The hands are wrong and perhaps the case in not correct, ah well not to worry, I have lost more on the Pokies.

I already have a drawer that is steadily filling up with what you could call botched buys, I need to stay with the clocks I usually work on, at least I can do 95% of the work myself.

I still have the Weems. I like to wear it on occasion when going out and to club meetings, I like to wear something special on occasion but have lusted after a 1960's gold and stainless bubbleback Rolex for some years, perhaps this year I will find the one that forces me to just say stuff it I'm buying that one but the one thing that always seems to stop me is the Fakes, I would not buy one these days, even an early one without the Original Documentation and case, even then I would have to take it to be certified as all correct before I would lay down the bucks, so far I have never seen one that would fill the bill, I did however see one I almost bought on the boat shop on an Ocean Cruise, the wife stopped me on that occasion but it came with all the Rolex papers and fully serviced by them, I still think about the one that got away.
Graeme

Having a watchmaker who will be keen to tinker without the usual costs is a game changer obviously if he can get this movement serviced and running.
When a dial is refinished we don’t call it “original” around here, but I like the case (despite some apparent soldering on the lugs), and the movement is consistent with the case.
The dial and handset would then be the key problem.

I can’t even think about all of the watches that got away, I try to focus on those I have, and I guess I am quite lucky in that sense.