I know this kind of thing is usually reserved for Archer Watches but I wanted to share a few thoughts and observations from servicing a recent Speedmaster with the 1861 movement. I know some of this has been covered by Al in the past but repetition is always a good thing in the context of education!

When servicing a movement something that needs to be checked is the alignment of the escapement components. For some reason the Swiss call this the 'division of the escapement' which is something I never really understood. Alignment makes more sense to me.

Below we see the movement after it has been cleaned with the escapement and balance set up in their respective positions. I like to check all of this after the initial cleaning as it makes everything easier to see without the presence of dried up oil, etc. That also plays tricks on the end-shake of components.

This isn't exactly the order, or way I would check things in but it serves as a general guide for what should be done.



Once the movement has been cleaned we can check individual parts for wear. If you look at the pallet fork below it seems that it isn't completely clean. There appears to be a brown powder on the horns of the pallet fork. This has been discussed previously by Al and is generally accepted to be old epilame. This is interesting as the horns of the pallet fork should never be treated with epilame and neither should the pivots. This watch hasn't been serviced since new so it's very intriguing to see this debris here. I doubt the Omega factory is coating the complete pallet fork with epilame but who knows. Perhaps the debris is caused by something else.

This does bring up an important point about cleaning, however. Just because a watch has been through a 4 cycle cleaning machine doesn't mean that it will come out clean. This watch was the 8th watch through the machine since the fluids had been changed so it was within tolerances (fluids are changed after every tenth watch).

I don't own an ultrasonic watch cleaning machine, it's only rotational and usually, I put all my movements through a separate ultrasonic machine to pre-clean them and also brush components like the escapement with a small artist's paintbrush to remove any particle. But this exercise was to show what can happen if you just do the bare minimum of using a Swiss, high quality, brand recommended cleaning machine. Like most things in watchmaking, more is required.

Cleanliness is of the utmost importance for watches to run at their optimum.



Here we see the impulse jewel which engages with the notch between the horns of the pallet fork. We can see the presence of small brass particles, possibly from wear on the pallet fork. Again, cleanliness is of the utmost importance and clearly, this watch is not clean.



If we examine the inside of the notch of the pallet fork we see an indentation. This indentation is caused by the impulse jewel referenced above. The impulse jewel is made from synthetic ruby and is much harder than the pallet fork material. In this case, the pallet fork will always lose out and be the part that wears.



A new pallet fork is needed. Will the watch run with this part re-used? Yes, of course, but it won't run at it's optimum, and changing or repairing worn components is absolutely essential to ensure years of faithful service.



Here we see the new pallet fork installed. It hasn't been cleaned yet, it still needs to be run through the cleaning machine. New components should rarely be used straight out of the packaging. There are exceptions, but the pallet fork is not one of them.



Here we can see the new pallet fork with its flat, polished surface ready to receive an impulse from the impulse jewel.



So we have seen the importance of cleanliness and checking for wear, now we can delve into the world of alignment, or division.

It is good practice to have the escape wheel tooth to meet the pallet jewel in the center of the jewel, or as close to it as possible. This is pretty basic watchmaking 101 and something that is adjusted and checked during a WOSTEP final examination. The below picture would be considered sub-par and points would be knocked off for this alignment.

Even though the parts are engaging we need to take into account the end-shake. Both the pallet fork and escape wheel are resting on their bottom pivots (when viewed from the movement side). These parts must have end-shake (up and down play) to allow for freedom of movement. If we lift the escape wheel at this point the tooth will be even further up the pallet fork and will risk having that complete contact. Is this watch in its current state passable? Yes. It did leave the Omega factory like this after all. However, it can be made tighter. It's similar to beat error. 0.8 may be acceptable but I don't know too many watchmakers that wouldn't even attempt to get it closer. It's a pride of work thing.



It may seem like a simple fix - push the escape wheel down further and the problem is fixed. Yes, that would fix the problem but the pallet fork and escape wheel aren't the only factors to consider the alignment of. We also need to look at the alignment of the pallet for and impulse jewel.

In the below photo we see that alignment. We can see that the impulse jewel is not in the center of the pallet fork notch. We can also (kind of) see that the guard pin is not in the middle of the safety roller. Again, this would have points knocked down on the WOSTEP final.



So what now? If we move the pallet fork upward whilst maintaing the correct end-shake we solve all of our problems.

You can see in the below pic that we know have a nice alignment and plenty of safety room wth our pallet fork jewel and escape wheel tooth. One problem solved.



We can also see that at the same time our pallet fork and roller jewel alignment is centered and exactly where we want it. The impulse jewel has come down ad the guard pin and safety roller is centered. If we only adjusted the escape wheel independently we would still have the problem of the pallet fork/impulse jewel alignment.



This small aspect of a mechanical watch really highlights how inter-connected watch movements are. It also goes to show why one thing can't just e repaired if a watch is acting up. I have customers ask if I can 'just fix this' or 'just adjust that'. The answer is always no. Everything is connected. It isn't the fact that watchmakers want to just charge for a complete overhaul, it comes down to the fact that it just can't be done.

I hope that this post explains that a little better and you have learned something too!

 

Great post, hope to see many more.

 

Thanks! They take quite a lot of time but I’ll try my best!

 

Good to see you made the jump over here!

 

Very informative, thank you for taking the time! Enjoy reading such post very much