Source for Chrono parts?

eBay and patience.


The old guys could make any needed part. I think this changed in the late 1930s when there was more globalization and industrial standardization.

That said, since the 18th century there were places what specialized in parts. By the 19th century America had this down to a science (Statistics.) Subcontractors made the common stuff like springs, pinions and gears. Most of these followed standard scaling and tooth counts.

I have an old repeater what my mentor told me to go through the back room and find a similar gear set. I could never match it. So now I have trays of parts to sort through as I started buying stuff by the job lot. The serious folk do a lot of leg works, tracking down retired watchmakers estate sales and charity shops. This requires a lot of leg work and travel. Also helps to be an early riser and somewhat immune to dead ends and disappointment.

I probably should get that old box of repeater parts out and see if there is something close on the bay. I tried making a new pinion for it as it had been in a fire, and was still wet when I got it. These things could also be school projects, although I think such follow standard textbook patterns. I also fell into the trap of wanting to fix that watch before I worked on others. So I probably wasted 18 years not doing much with watchmaking. Other than to fantasize about it.

20 some years back (seems more like 30) I played around with CAD/CAM to make models of the old watches. Manufacturing methodologies lend themselves to mass production. Software goes obsolete and becomes more and more highly specialized and proprietary. Making one off parts is simply not productive. Even if it remains an interesting proposition.

I got equipment to grind file and lap out parts. Would be easier to make a watch from scratch (or a dozen) than to replicate a missing part for a watch made a century or more. Most of this material has made it's way into steampunk art projects. Sold by the gram or the the pound.


Somewhere I have an omega pocket watch what needs at least an escape wheel. Probably could find such in a dive down a rabbit hole. Ranfft has a decent parametric search, so one can determine the plate layout. That will give a good idea for the region where the watch was made.

There really is no way to search through 230 or more years worth of materials which have been accumulated by many people over the centuries. Some in old warehouses others in closets and drawers. Most of this is not worth the time. Billions of watches have been made, with millions more made each year.

One either has the passion for the hunt or one does not.

You need a coupling clutch spring...

It wouldn't be a terribly difficult part to make...but you have to find a watchmaker who is willing, and a customer who is willing to pay.