More fun sourcing watch parts 56x and 75x

So I bought a bunch of clutch wheels. Way too many clutch wheels. Mostly marked 750.1107.

Then I got this mess of mystery plates:


These arrived earler in the week.

Of course they were dumped in a plastic bag. Which was bubble wrapped and double boxed.

So what do we have here?



A mix of 56x and 57x parts with a few 33x and probable 47x/50x parts thrown in for good measue.

Almost a complete set of 55x bridges. The train bridge though does fit but does not seem to be for an automatic.

The real find though was a sweep second friction spring, and more importantly the screw. In the backgrould of one of the above photos is a 550 that was missing a few parts. So in a sense this is all for a single screw to complete a watch. The endless cycle continues.

Delving into the plates one starts finding the issues. One had a broken stem. The winding parts were all there. Sadly the screw holding down the setting lever pressure spring was broken off. When I pushed on the button to get the stem out. The spring broke at the rusted screw. Probably due to being weakened from rust.

Since this is not a quickest, most likely this plate is a 561 or 562. There are a number of 562 Date indicator guards in this mess. There does not seem to be a quickset on the date. It is really hard to tell the difference between 561 and 562. By chance someone linked the PDF writeup on these today, which was good timing. Most likely it come down to the finish and chronometer rating.

The other plate did not take the date guard. There was a separate date guard with extra holes what fit. What luck it would be a 75x plate with Day date. I found that one could identify some of the differences via the lower bridge on the barrel. This is bumped on the 55x and straight on the 56x.

The 75x also has a broken dial screw.

Into the pickle these must go.



While waiting for these parts I took a chance on another job lot of parts.



Another job lot of mixed caliber parts. The most interesting being a balance. Told seller to pack balance separate. So there was bubble wrap holding it to the bottom of the box. At least it was not still attached to the arm. I have some staffs, so this should be good practice replacing such. The bridge is for a 552, so is not really correct for a calendar caliber.



So now we have 30 years of 55x part laid out. Some only recently arrived. Wen from having just a barrel and no cover of arbor to now having 5. There are a few exta things shown. Like my box of mystery chronograph parts. And the 630 I need to assemble after cleaning.

Already the next batch of parts lots are on order.



Guess they know when they have a fish on the line. I had this in the watch list and it was offered with 30 percent off. Marked shipped as soon as I paid. More 33x parts too. Wonder if the train bridges are from the plates I have. will be interesting to see the color when they get here.

Still envious of those who can get 321 and 851 parts, but this is not too shabby if one likes omega movements. Good practice too.

Does make one wonder what it takes for parts to arrive in such condition. I guess it starts with water ingress and rust. Cases scrapped. Dials pried off the movement.

One last photograph, is that the balance came with a dial. And surprisingly two date wheels. The dial fits the case I was going to put the 565 in. So that is an extra bonus. Not the best photo as iPhones do not like shiny reflective things to focus on.

Next batch of rusty parts are here:
These are from the above auction photo. The worst ones are soaking in the Sili Kroil. I only needed one 55x/56x/75x bridge, Now I have three extras. More important I got the windy windy wheels and the little piece of foil what holds the sweep in place.

No tickey tickey parts. Do have a balance and a so so hairspring -- needs a new staff, which I have.




Got a critical datey daity part which is the little spiral thing for the pump quickset. I had the yoke and setting lever from decades ago. Those never fit anything till now. The 565 I got recently (center left in the first photo) was missing a set lever. Now I need to get another one.

The tricky part will be the date correcting yoke. eBay Highwaymen want 75 bucks for one. There was a nice set of calendar parts and dial, But the lot included two bumper movements. Someone doubled my bid. I doubled it then they did a few bucks above me. Actually I was surprised it went for a bit over 130. So now it will be back to waity waity for the day date calendar parts.

The other movement wants to be a 561. That one even has the lower part of a windy bridge. Lotsa jewley jewels in that one. Doubt though it will ever make chronometer specks again. Finding a case will also be a challenge.

Still will be more waity waity for the tickey tickey parts.

I may borrow the 550 tickey tickey parts from the watch I keep forgetting I got. Weird how I keep forgetting I got that watch, which is not missing any parts. I need to take it down to clean.

The assortments mostly came with bad forks. There seems to be four of them. For years I have had this miniature frying pan. Perhaps I might see if it works. I noticed though the rubber insulators have long since rotted away. The price is hilarious too.

There are four forks on it. One of them was the NOS fork I broke the pivot on. One is missing a jewel and another has a broken jewel.

It is hard to figure out exactly what the difference is between the 47x/50x and the 55x/56x. Bestfit shows the same pallet arbor 714/12 for all of these. The omega sheets show a different number for 47x/50x than the 55x/56x. Visually I can not see any difference. The pallet stones have the same PN.

I did also come across an old bottle of burned shellac threads. Downside is that denatured alcohol is no longer sold in the hardware store in this state. (although there are exceptions like you can get a 5 gallon can for your boat galley stove.) And Amazon did deliver some.