Hi John,

Just a a few thoughts...first if you are not doing this all the time, then yes I can see that a watch where all the pivots just fall into place would be a big thing, but if you do this every day, the watches where this doesn't happen are no big problem. I rarely spend more than a few seconds putting pivots into place, so a watch where they fall into place is not a big bonus for me.

I can't really say why other watchmakers you have talked to say that the other makers are more difficult...they are all simple lever escapement watches so there is no great mystery here. Perhaps it's access to parts, or just a lack of familiarity causing them to spend more time on a watch compared to a US made watch that they service all the time. Certainly if I have an unfamiliar watch come in, it's more time consuming because I will have to pay more attention when disassembling and assembling, I probably won't have a new mainspring in stock, so I will have to spend more time finding and ordering one, instead of just pulling one from my stock of parts. I also may not know the
specific quirks of the movement, so I might not check the right things first time through, again needing more time.

But don't confuse time spent with difficulty, as those are two very different things. For example servicing an ETA 7750 is more time consuming than servicing an Omega cal. 861, but it is no more difficult to service. It just takes more time since there is just physically more to do. A Rolex 3135 is more time consuming than an Omega 2500, but I would argue the Omega is much more difficult due to the co-axial oiling requirements.

On the Omega/Longines question, if we knew that they were the same lignes sizes, that the spacing between the jewels was exactly the same, etc., then we could say that there is a possibility they shared a common base, but pointing to the general layout (common) or the shape of the stud and regulator (also common) is not enough to draw any firm conclusion in my view.

Cherrs, Al

 

That Elgin at the start of this is certainly one of the most beautiful movementsI've ever clapped eyes on. And thats a hard thing for me to say since I have severe Hamilton bias in the collection.

I do think the 922s were prettier than the 950s though......

 

I am with you on the 922. There were a lot of nice 12 size American movements. I love the 922 and almost all Hammies but I am partial to this little Patek like SouthBend.