2813 replacement for my Stuffed Spectre

[ShovelnTC 31]

May not be interesting for all but I thought I’d put a little account of my replacing a movement adventure up as it’s a first for me.

 

I’ve done a dial change and a couple of hand changes but this is the first time changing a movement.

 

So I bought a budget Spectre for my Son as a Christmas gift.

 

I normally buy my watches with minimal complications and get A2824/36 wherever possible but bought the budget version as I had no idea if he was even interested in one so didn’t want to throw around $300 at it if he ended up using it as a paperweight.

 

To my surprise he absolutely loved it as he is a huge 007 fan but after wearing it for less than a day he noticed it was losing large chunks of time throughout the day.

 

I investigated possible issues as far as my limited knowledge goes and it was found that he uses a magnetic Tagger for the shop stock so after some suggestions from our members I downloaded a phone app and it indicated significant magnetism, to confirm this I tested all of my watches and only one other showed any sign of magnetism.

 

So I bought a cheapo de-magnetiser and tried it out.

 

Well that thing does actually work as my 16610 LV which was showing around 70 secs a day out but showed after de-mag around 20.

 

I used it on the Spectre and although it did show a significant improvement it was still showing a VERY unstable reading and it didn’t keep much better time with a reasonable loss sometimes, only to find a huge loss a few hours later.

 

So I had ordered and received a new 2813 some time ago but held off until I had de-magnetized it.

 

During this time I bought the better version of the Spectre and gave it to my Son who was thrilled not only to get his Spectre back but to have received a better version.

 

So after stuffing the leyless on my BK and giving up in disgust after seeing how difficult it was to remove/replace the DWO I had given up on any more tinkering and being that I had bought the new one for my Son I thought I’d try selling the Spectre as a fixer upper but there were no takers after 24 hours (I’m not known for my patience) so I decided that I may as well have a go at the movement swap.

 

So we start with a whole but not running so well Spectre

 

 

 

So Here's the new engine!

 

 

 

So first up I removed the Rotor, this has the usual stick on deco which sort of looked good and the Spectre has an open caseback so thought I better have a go at replacing that on the new movement.

 

 

 

 

 

To my surprise and delight it fitted right on and worked as it should, going good so far!

 

Next being particularly careful I removed the stem being VERY careful to use the correct sized screwdriver to prevent over pushing the release button and she dropped out easily, I noted during this replacement that the stem removal/installation seems much easier on the 2813 than on the 2836/24 but maybe it’s just my inexperience.

 

Next removed the movement and holder from the watch which was the easiest I’ve done probably due to the plastic holder.

 

 

 

 

 

Now came the hand removal, this step has given me a bit of trouble on the three or four watches that I’ve done before and even using the presto type removers I always seem to slightly bend or mark the hands and this time was no exception, the hour and second hands came off with no damage but I did bend the minute hand.

 

 

 

 

 

The dial came off easily so now we’re ready to get serious.

 

 

 

 

I had a bit of trouble getting the dial onto the new movement as I couldn’t seem to get the feet into the offset holes but after a while and loosening the screws a little more it slipped into place.

 

Re-fitting the hands is always nerve-racking and I had to bend the minute hand back in to shape which was a little difficult due to the folded pyramid type pressing of the hand but went on with a little more mucking around.

 

The real difficulty came with the second hand as apart from simply not being able to see the base of the second hand and the pinion pin (if that’s what it’s called) even when it appeared to be on and reasonably secure (wouldn’t fall off even when the dial was inverted) it was completely loose and could spin freely around the dial, so doing what I knew I shouldn’t do I pressed hard to get it down as much as possible which seemed to secure it more but still seemed to move more easily than it should.

 

Anyway after a little time tweaking the hands for dial/other hand clearance she was ready to check.

 

I fit the stem and crown (original plastic one that came with the new movement) and checked the time setting first, it seemed to be binding so fiddled a bit more, released and re-fit it a couple of times and after several spins it came loose and turned the hands as they should although this is still a little “grindier” than any of my other movements.

 

So at this time I noticed the dreaded second hand stutter, it’s pretty noticeable and does it between the 1.00 O’clock and 6.00 O’clock markers but after some google and forum search time I found that this can be a common issue (I thought it was only with the Myota’s) due to a loose pinion shaft spring? or some such rot so I thought that there is no way I’m getting into that so decided to put it back together.

 

So the reassembly went without drama and I re-tested it on the hairspring ap and it came up at around 18 sec a day error which I thought was pretty good for a new un-regulated movement fitted by a rank amateur.

 

 

So I’m actually starting to feel a connection to this fella so I may keep it for now at least.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So thanks to those members who wished me luck as it appears your thoughts worked.

 

Cheers, Mark.

[ortiizz 0]

Excellent read! Gives me more confidence to tinker a bit myself. Was actually thinking of buying it, when you had it listed, but was a little hesitant due the mvt change. Good to see you got it working. Enjoy!

[BadPickle 2,792]

Well done Mark, top job :thumbsup:

 

It's easy to fall out with a watch and just hide it away in the back of a drawer when it's not performing as it should, but once you pluck up the courage to do the work it just all falls into place nicely.

 

[Mr_B 2,401]

Great read, glad it all worked out mate :thumbsup:

[Nikosaldente 630]

Great!

It's nice to see it ended well!

Bravo!

[NCRich 13,792]

Nice work! Gets easier, but I still crawl about on the floor occasionally looking for parts that went flying.

[Clinical Trial 13]

We need an Aussie tinkerer.

 

 

PM sent.

[greg_r 82]

Nice work! I agree btw - refitting seconds hands is teh suck. Glad it worked out though!

[ShovelnTC 31]

Thanks for the comments guys, the extra benefit is I now have the old buggered movement that I can tinker with for education purposes without worrying about buggering it.

[gmchris 68]

Sweet as! thanks for this- I am now inspired to replace my Casino Royale PO movement instead of binning the watch. Cheers.

[BM284 1,522]

Great read - thanks for posting....I may one day move onto the re-building of a watch!

[GenTLe 1,510]

Good job. Just avoid to press hard on the second hand: you can seriously push out the jewel at the other side, unless you have a movement holder with the pinion support.

[ShovelnTC 31]

Good job. Just avoid to press hard on the second hand: you can seriously push out the jewel at the other side, unless you have a movement holder with the pinion support.

 

The second hand pinion did seem to be "springy" does that sound logical?

[Cubic Hare 494]

Good one Mark, there's something satisfying when a project like this works out well.

 

Cheers

[GenTLe 1,510]

Good job. Just avoid to press hard on the second hand: you can seriously push out the jewel at the other side, unless you have a movement holder with the pinion support.

 

The second hand pinion did seem to be "springy" does that sound logical?

 

Yep, it is a common configuration, even some Rolex ones have it:

 

Same story, you need a support below the second pinion to properly seat the hand, even more than on the jeweled movements like the common ETA ones

[TRANSPORTER 1]

Nice work mate, now comes the expensive time of buying new tools and then more tools and more equipment, only advice I would give, and only because I didn't see one in your photo, is get yourself a good quality movement holder, will make your life easier later on whentinkering abit more, all I can say now is enjoy.

[10:10 Watch Repair 1]

Nice work mate, now comes the expensive time of buying new tools and then more tools and more equipment, only advice I would give, and only because I didn't see one in your photo, is get yourself a good quality movement holder, will make your life easier later on whentinkering abit more, all I can say now is enjoy.

And perhaps some reading glasses.