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TIMElyBehaviour
·So the watch in question is a Tissot T20 from the late 30’s. I got the watch in non running order. I set out servicing the movement. It was a pleasure to work on and is for all intents and purposes a high quality movement. I have had the pleasure of working on some real “pieces” in my time but the tissot was very nice to service. All the bridges fell into position easily.
a simple service and regulating got the watch to run at 4+ secs a day in all positions.
The case was in need of love and due to wear it was showing more colours than a rainbow. I have it a slight polish to make it a more uniform look but re-plating will need to happen as some point.
the dial got a simple clean of debris and dirt but was not touched up. The handset had radium lume that was in poor condition. It had fallen out of the minute track and was blooming. I removed the radium lume safely under iso alcohol and set about applying modern luminova. The colour I chose was a milky green lume to resemble radium when charged up.
The lume was aged with coffee and yellow food colouring to give it a light custard look that will complement the dial and look the part. I didn’t want to go too dark.
The crystal was acrylic and turned an ugly yellow from age. I removed it and used it as a template to find a new one. My local watchmaker friend had a bag full of crystals from this era and I ended up finding a Longines crystal that was very close. I sanded the crystal’s edges to get the perfect fit. The good thing with the replacement is that it’s glass so no discolouring but being glass, it will shatter. Take the good with the bad I guess.
last thing was I replaced the steel aftermarket bracelet and went for this leather strap which I feel complements the watch better.
All in all I’m quite happy with the end result and love this watch. It’s a keeper for me and was a great bit of fun to play with.
I might learn plating so I can get the case looking perfect in the not too distant future but for now I’m going to wear it and enjoy.
what it looked like when I got it.
Servicing the movement.
luming the hands
End result.
all charged up.
a simple service and regulating got the watch to run at 4+ secs a day in all positions.
The case was in need of love and due to wear it was showing more colours than a rainbow. I have it a slight polish to make it a more uniform look but re-plating will need to happen as some point.
the dial got a simple clean of debris and dirt but was not touched up. The handset had radium lume that was in poor condition. It had fallen out of the minute track and was blooming. I removed the radium lume safely under iso alcohol and set about applying modern luminova. The colour I chose was a milky green lume to resemble radium when charged up.
The lume was aged with coffee and yellow food colouring to give it a light custard look that will complement the dial and look the part. I didn’t want to go too dark.
The crystal was acrylic and turned an ugly yellow from age. I removed it and used it as a template to find a new one. My local watchmaker friend had a bag full of crystals from this era and I ended up finding a Longines crystal that was very close. I sanded the crystal’s edges to get the perfect fit. The good thing with the replacement is that it’s glass so no discolouring but being glass, it will shatter. Take the good with the bad I guess.
last thing was I replaced the steel aftermarket bracelet and went for this leather strap which I feel complements the watch better.
All in all I’m quite happy with the end result and love this watch. It’s a keeper for me and was a great bit of fun to play with.
I might learn plating so I can get the case looking perfect in the not too distant future but for now I’m going to wear it and enjoy.
what it looked like when I got it.
Servicing the movement.
luming the hands
End result.
all charged up.
