cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
17046
The trials of a small-time watch & clock repair business, Part 3
COULD YOU GET ME A SCRATCH-PROOF CRYSTAL? I CAN BARELY READ THE TIME
Maybe you ought to be more careful with your watch - even the crown is all scratched up!
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MY SON IS IN PRISON.
HE SAID HE HAS LOTS OF MONEY TIED UP IN HIS WATCHES.
HE TOLD ME "MOM, SELL THEM AND KEEP THE CASH".
HOW CAN I GET THE MOST MONEY FOR HIS COLLECTION?
I'm sorry, I'm not in the buy / sell business; I only fix watches. Sorry.
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MIKE, WE'VE BEEN NEIGHBORS A LONG TIME.
CAN YOU GIVE ME A GOOD PRICE TO REPAIR THIS, OR HAVE I LEFT IT TOO LONG BEFORE SERVICING IT?
Carl, you left it too long between services. It's worth about as much as that pay telephone stock you sold me back in 1980...
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MIKE, I'VE BEEN WEARING THIS WATCH FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. CAN YOU GET A NEW MOVEMENT? IT'S ERRATIC SOMETIMES
Dan they stopped making replacement movements 15 years ago. Can't you get another watch?
I LIKE THIS ONE.
Okay, I can buy an eBay watch from Japan for $80 and swap the movement into yours... how does that sound?
GO FOR IT
Dan, this watch is so nice why don't you wear it instead of your old one.
MIKE, WHY WON'T YOU SWAP THE MOVEMENTS FROM ONE WATCH TO THE OTHER?
Dan, the $80 watch movement is 1.5 mm thicker, don't ask me why! The case is thicker on your watch, the new movement won't fit, the stem is too long, etc etc etc
The dial diameters don't match,
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I SCRATCHED THE CRYSTAL TRYING TO PUT THE BACK ON.
How did you do that?
WITH A VISE GRIP PLIERS. HOW DO YOU CLOSE IT WHEN IT DOESN'T WANT TO SNAP SHUT?
Like this
Ah, I see.
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MY BREITLING HASN'T BEEN SELF-WINDING FOR A LONG TIME
That's because your rotor bearing exploded and all the little balls are floating in the movement, and you lost a Rider Tab on the bezel too. This is going to have to go back to a Breitling dealer. They won't sell me the parts.
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Darn it! I lost the cap jewel locking spring @!()**(&%
IS THAT AN IMPORTANT PART?
Yes, and it's very hard to find.
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WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY DAD'S POCKET WATCH?
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MY STRAP BROKE AND THE MONTBLANC BOUNCED ON THE TILE FLOOR. IT DOESN'T WORK ANYMORE! WAH!
It needs to come out of there and go over here.
And among other things, you have a screw loose (no offense intended).
I got it out okay
Luckily I have other similar movements to use for reference to save time adjusting it again
That looks good enough
One big happy family.
Thanks for reading.I got it out okay
Luckily I have other similar movements to use for reference to save time adjusting it again
That looks good enough
One big happy family.
Cazalea
The trials of a small-time watch & clock repair business, Part 3
COULD YOU GET ME A SCRATCH-PROOF CRYSTAL? I CAN BARELY READ THE TIME Maybe you ought to be more careful with your watch - even the crown is all scratched up! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY SON IS IN PRISON. HE SAID HE HAS LOTS OF MONEY TIED UP IN HIS WATCHES....
They come in every form and fashion.
I remember when we started TimeZone back in the stone ages there was a watchmaker’s blog (even if the word blog was not invented yet) telling the everyday tale from the work bench. I miss that - and your post really brought back memories from then. If you...
And/or how many got their watch start on TZ
Looks like it was about 2002 or 2003 for me there.
I can almost guarantee those rider tabs were designed to fall off once a year
..so the owner had to return to the AD. Pretty smart.
The lift angle of a Unitas 6497/8 movement is 44º. It might be worthwhile . . .
. . . re-running that timing test.
Thanks, I did
Changing the lift angle changes only the accuracy of the amplitude measurement, but not the timing.
My current watchmaker has his timing machine . . .
. . . set to 52º, and doesn't bother adjusting it unless told otherwise. It might not make much of a difference if the lift angle is off by a few degrees, but some movements are notably lower than 52º, like the cal 321 in early Speedmasters at 40º. Art ...
I read that some of the Omega co-axials are 30º
But I tested my Laine just to see how it looks, and that's the readout I inserted into the original story.
