Newbie question regarding an Omega Geneve Automatic 1970

Moving this to the watchmaking topic but yea that looks rough, do you have any experience with this or just trying to Diy for the first time

I think this is one of those cases where the rubber finger condoms are more to protect the fingers from the watch than to protect the watch from the fingers!

It's a 166.041 to my eyes, therefore not a front loader and no need for a split stem.
It could be saved, but it will be a draining project (on the wallet) unless that dial is pristine and worth saving the whole watch.

It doesn't look like a front-loader. Did you upload photos of the wrong watch?

Not a split stem, not a front loader either. You may want to leave this one to a competent watch guy...not sure it is really worth it considering the state of the dial though.

WD-40????
Might as well throw sand and other abrasive compounds in the watch. Then duck tape the whole thing back together.

If you need to get rusted part free use Kano Sili-Kroil.

WD-40 is for 'Water Displacement.' Basically was created as an anti freeze.

I do like to encourage watchmaking. Best get an inexpesive watch like a benrus or bulova to practice on first. At least the 56x series is robust enough to work on. I did a few when I started out. Parts are fairly avaliable. Stems, and setting parts can be had. Use the ranfft http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&2&2uswk archives to find the base caliber. Also look for and download the data sheet that gives the part names and numbers.

Edit: ... and invest in some proper tools, like a cannon pinion puller, or hand levers. You do not want to break or bung the center wheel.


-j

+1 It is the tools ones spends so much on. Or the waiting for one to arrive as the critical ones always seem to be 'Out of stock.' A lot of these were manufactured with automated assembly. So one needs the hand version of the tool to hold or release or press things. Especially when working on something like a 351 where the pressers require micrometer adjustment screws to create the exact tensions and torques.

A watch, however, does have to be fairly far gone to be unsalvageable. I am having good luck with mine. https://omegaforums.net/threads/rust-bucket-special.148468/#post-2047327 Still have a stuck screw. One has to be quite patient to let the Kroil soak in. Or else wait for the proper tool like the Bergeon 30209 to become back in stock.

Patience is the first rule. Even so one can make a mistake. Last night I bunged a Landeron 48 minute recorder jumper, as I followed a guide which said to install before installing the operating lever. The operating lever was not restricted and bent the jumper. All happened faster than the eye can see.

Similar things can happen with the incabloc springs. If one lets one side open more than the other, then snap. Click and yoke springs can vanish into thin air or they can stay in place, only to make the part like the click or set lever dissipate never to be seen again in this lifetime.

Sometimes parts land in your hair or get stuck on clothing. Such can turn up in the strangest of places. Or never be seen again. Swiss watchmakers wear lab coats and work in clean rooms for a reason.

One learns quickly that such springs and things are the ones that are permanently 'out of stock.' or the most expensive when they do show up for sale.
-j

I worked with people who knew the inventor, and may have talked to him myself. It is not a lubricant nor is it a substitute for the correct material or substance. Hammers are also quite commonly used to remove screws. Just because something is commonly misused does not mean the that it is the best way to solve the problem.

It is because people will not follow the so called rules and take short cuts, that the Swiss companies will not sell spare parts to the users.

I or my Dad personally destroyed a cuckoo clock with it. Brass filing all over the bottom of the case. I still have the clock, and it is how I got into repair in the first place, as the clock repairer took pity on me and took me on a a student. (He and his father also taught at the local community center.)

The other personal experience was I used it on a lock. Which worked great. Until the property managers key no longer fit. (Accused me of changing the lock.) Again, the bottom of it was full of brass filings.

Unlike NASA, cheap and watch/clock repair are words that do not work together.

Duck tape, superglue and paperclips also work like a dream. Then there is a section of the Baud Brother's museum in Vaud, Switzerland, Which shows how well solder works in botching clocks and watches. Proof that almost everything is collected. 😉

There is a Canadian Comedy sketch show called 'The Red Green show.' The local PBS station used to show it, when they did not care about ratings. If it moves, duck tape it.

😁

Wow. What an exit. Stage left.

This is a global forum where people look for advice. Yes people tend to skim postings and focus on the details rather than the 'big picture.' Do they even bother to search and read the old posts, or even other posts and replies of the person to whom they are responding?

My comments are not only for the OP, they are also intended for others who may use search to look for advice. The object is to keep others from learning bad habits.

Just because something solves a problem for one person, it does not mean that it is the best solution for others. Or should the use be encouraged in this day and age of understanding the hazards of not considering the effects bad advice has on others.

Eating lead is done because, lead is sweet and tastes good. Used for centuries as a cheap alternative to sugar. Lead piping adds a sweet taste to water. WD-40 is similarly misused. Not only by the OP but by many other members of the public. There are cases were it does work well in large machinery. It works well as a coolant when machining aluminum. People use it in repair of cars. Lead was also added to fuel to make the parts run smoothly together. There may be interaction between brass and steel that does not happen when it is used with steel on steel. There are long term effects down the road that may not appear right away and can affect others.

Obvious the OP is looking for something cheap to get a watch working. This seems to imply the OP wants to do the minimal work to flip a watch, using cheap materials. Then recommend using same cheap materials to others who may not know the difference. Reccomending cheap shortcuts, and dismissing a desirable collecting item, as scrap, that is the focus of the a a group of high end collectors is not going to be a popular topic.

My recommendation is to use the correct material in this case Kano Sili-Kroil rather than something not appropriate.

It is evident from the OPs photographs that a proper case cushion and movement holder is used. The OP also states that after cleaning they do use proper lubricants. So it is a bit confusing as to why the OP does not appreciate the advice freely given with a sense of humor, after all most of this is strictly for entertainment value. Otherwise no one really cares about how the sausage is made, only the end results of what it tastes like.

🍿