On paper mot a massive watch, in practise very top heavy ... dominant arm ends us like a tennis players
Without removing the dial, hands, and disassembling the calendar parts under the dial, it's impossible to properly clean and lubricate at least 1/2 of the movement. If this watch is truly NOS, any lubrication inside is long gone - dried up over time. Running the watch will be damaging parts inside - there's no question of that. Watches running without lubrication or with dirty lubrication will result in worn pivots on train wheels, damaged plates, worn pivots on the balance, and even wear in the jewels themselves. I see it every day.
I would agree if this watch was going to be kept in a safe and never worn, then servicing is not needed, but for a watch that sees any use, it needs to be serviced to prevent damage.
Cheers, Al
First of all, I want to thank you for your interest and posting such a detailed descriptive explanation. Nice to know the details.
With respect to Rick Littlefield making a judgment to leave the dial and hands untouched, I agree with his position. Regardless of how careful one is, the act of removing hands on a watch from 1973 has a risk of damage to the dial and/or hands. The most important aspect of the condition of this watch are the hands and dial (to me). It is unusual to see such perfection in a vintage watch and it makes the watch feel special to me.
I agree that ideally one would want to clean and lubricate the entire movement. But our world is not ideal. I will not risk damage to the watch when it is unnecessary to do so. In the event that wearing the watch causes an internal component to go bad, then I will have the entire movement serviced. At that point, having a working watch will require the removal of the dial. Given no choice, the risk of damage will be accepted and the work will be done. That is the only situation that I would consider doing something risky like having the entire watch disassembled.
If he is not confident to remove the hands without risking damage, again as I've said before it's probably better that he left it in this specific case, so in that regard I agree with him too. What I don't agree with in this specific case, is saying that the watch will be fine for decades. If you now know that's not likely the case, and choose to wear the watch as if it's all good, again that's your choice.
But I am really trying to get to the heart of the matter, and that is that there is always risk, but there are ways to reduce risk to the point where it is negligible if you know what you are doing, and avoid damage completely. I often work on Speedmasters and other watches that are very valuable, some with single hands that sell for many thousands of dollars (just for one hand) and using the techniques I've outlined here, the issue is simply not significant.
Trust me there are watches that cross my bench (including some of my own) where the dial and hands are just as pristine as those on your watch, and they are no less pristine after the service is done...
Cheers, Al
You make a strong case for your position. At this point, I'll keep it in mind. I do plan to wear my watch on occasion and if problems arise, who knows, maybe I'll be contacting you.
