sheepdoll
·So one of the first images I posted when I joined the forums was this.
There were two rusty tin cans. The other one contained a Landeron 48, which I mostly restored (then went down the rabbit hole of the other 9 Landerons I now have. (or is it 12?)(
One thing was evident when I transferred the parts to a see through box was that there was no balance. (or balance jewels. I also thought the 4th wheel seconds pinion was snapped off. (Look again -- this is center seconds.)
So for the last few months (has it really been six months?) I have been watching auctions for a 330 1327. I missed out on one with broken staffs for 35 bucks. AKA the fish that got away. Most balance completes for this caliber are in the 220USD price range.
It turned out that the chronograph was the good one and this watch was the goat.
It is possible a 28.10 1327 balance complete might fit, but those are 60 to 100 bucks. There was however a partial plate with a good balance which I also added to the watch list.
Recently I got a BIN for the partial movement at over half off. Which put it at the low end of what these balances tend to be offered for. So I impulsed it. This part came today.
Bit more watch than I need, still a good way to pack a balance complete. And it even has the jewels and a few other parts which may be of use.
So I set out to see how much a watch I do have.
Almost there. But for some strange missing parts. Years ago I bought a collection of omega spare parts. As can be seen there are a lot of 330 parts. I noticed when I opened the plastic tray that the mainspring was missing.
Thought I would need to get one. I did not want to get any more parts till I had a balance. Sure enough I have several 330 mainsprings in the cardboard box I often use as a photo background.
The weird thing is what else is missing. Most of the balance bridge is there, but for the U spring clip and jewels. Which is no longer needed as I have a complete bridge and jewels.
The stem is there with a crown (Unsigned) But no clutch. There are many stems in the spare parts department. A few staffs as well.
There is also only a single hand (minute) There are also two hour wheels in the box (one being for a small ladies watch.) The other is probably the correct one. Another annoyingly missing part is the cannon pinion. There is a real temptation to simply BIN one.
It is possible that the part jumped out over the decades. While I did take an 18 or so year break from this madness, I would on occasion open the drawers and look at things.
Most disconcerting is the absence of a barrel arbor. I keep resisting the urge tonight to simply BIN a new one as that part seems quite common.
I did notice that when searching for parts that it looks like the seller also has most of the other half of the watch listed. Which other than the few parts missing is of no interest as that would have no balance.
I may also have a NOS dial. Not sure if that would fit this or not. Looks to be from a later era late 1950s rather than late 1940s or early 1950s. (the 12 million S/N puts this movement at 1950)
I still think this would look good in a SS 2577 case. Those however do not seem to be too common, at least in the empty condition.
There is a chance the missing parts are in the trays where I found the parts to assemble the 5 A Schild watches. When ever I do find a loose part it gets placed into those sorted trays. Now I am debating if I should clean what I have and look for something close. Or simply BIN the two parts I need. As for the missing hour hand, I seemed to constantly be sweeping watch hands and screws off the floor especially when looking for surface mount resistors. (must have spilled a tray once sometime in the last 18 years without noticing I dropped it)
The smart thing would be to then sell off the extra parts, So I am not tempted to see if I can assemble two of these. But for that pesky balance complete.
There were two rusty tin cans. The other one contained a Landeron 48, which I mostly restored (then went down the rabbit hole of the other 9 Landerons I now have. (or is it 12?)(
One thing was evident when I transferred the parts to a see through box was that there was no balance. (or balance jewels. I also thought the 4th wheel seconds pinion was snapped off. (Look again -- this is center seconds.)
So for the last few months (has it really been six months?) I have been watching auctions for a 330 1327. I missed out on one with broken staffs for 35 bucks. AKA the fish that got away. Most balance completes for this caliber are in the 220USD price range.
It turned out that the chronograph was the good one and this watch was the goat.
It is possible a 28.10 1327 balance complete might fit, but those are 60 to 100 bucks. There was however a partial plate with a good balance which I also added to the watch list.
Recently I got a BIN for the partial movement at over half off. Which put it at the low end of what these balances tend to be offered for. So I impulsed it. This part came today.
Bit more watch than I need, still a good way to pack a balance complete. And it even has the jewels and a few other parts which may be of use.
So I set out to see how much a watch I do have.
Almost there. But for some strange missing parts. Years ago I bought a collection of omega spare parts. As can be seen there are a lot of 330 parts. I noticed when I opened the plastic tray that the mainspring was missing.
Thought I would need to get one. I did not want to get any more parts till I had a balance. Sure enough I have several 330 mainsprings in the cardboard box I often use as a photo background.
The weird thing is what else is missing. Most of the balance bridge is there, but for the U spring clip and jewels. Which is no longer needed as I have a complete bridge and jewels.
The stem is there with a crown (Unsigned) But no clutch. There are many stems in the spare parts department. A few staffs as well.
There is also only a single hand (minute) There are also two hour wheels in the box (one being for a small ladies watch.) The other is probably the correct one. Another annoyingly missing part is the cannon pinion. There is a real temptation to simply BIN one.
It is possible that the part jumped out over the decades. While I did take an 18 or so year break from this madness, I would on occasion open the drawers and look at things.
Most disconcerting is the absence of a barrel arbor. I keep resisting the urge tonight to simply BIN a new one as that part seems quite common.
I did notice that when searching for parts that it looks like the seller also has most of the other half of the watch listed. Which other than the few parts missing is of no interest as that would have no balance.
I may also have a NOS dial. Not sure if that would fit this or not. Looks to be from a later era late 1950s rather than late 1940s or early 1950s. (the 12 million S/N puts this movement at 1950)
I still think this would look good in a SS 2577 case. Those however do not seem to be too common, at least in the empty condition.
There is a chance the missing parts are in the trays where I found the parts to assemble the 5 A Schild watches. When ever I do find a loose part it gets placed into those sorted trays. Now I am debating if I should clean what I have and look for something close. Or simply BIN the two parts I need. As for the missing hour hand, I seemed to constantly be sweeping watch hands and screws off the floor especially when looking for surface mount resistors. (must have spilled a tray once sometime in the last 18 years without noticing I dropped it)
The smart thing would be to then sell off the extra parts, So I am not tempted to see if I can assemble two of these. But for that pesky balance complete.