Photo & Videos on page 2 - Just been practising on a 21J Breitling, and chuffed with myself

[SSTEEL 0]

Ok guys, just for you, heres some photos from today. In this instance I uncased the movement, removed the hands, and refit the hands, and then replaced in the case. Time elapsed from start to finish, an impressive 10 minutes Just to note, this 21J don't have a hacking movement.

 

Video of working movement before work..

 

 

 

Refitting hands..

 

 

And final video showing all is working

 

[SSTEEL 0]

welldone man, tis sure a good feeling when it goes back together and works

 

Sure is mate.

 

Well done mate, good on ya ! I've done one myself so far but putting the hands back on always freaks me out :suck:

 

I know what you mean, its really tricky, and difficult with a loupe in one hand. Looking forward to my work bench light magnifier arriving, which should make close up work so much easier.

[hacker2 0]

Watch smith in the making??? Congratulations, cheers for the pics!

[SSTEEL 0]

You are welcome, I will be doing this a few times before I work on my franken Carrera, but right now I am waiting for my hands press, and bench magnifier to turn up.

[J.Eric 693]

Awesome Job!!

 

Good Work!!

[SSTEEL 0]

Cheers, quite chuffed, it was a lot easier second time round. The most time consuming is replacing the second hand. Need to invest in the Magnifier headset me thinks.

[J.Eric 693]

I built a loop holder head gear thing like the pros use, but I used a metal coat hanger instead.

 

 

[LightGeek 25]

Awesome! Last night I spent almost 4 hours changing the date wheel overlay on a GMT IIc. Needless to say I learned a lot...

[Dumspiro 0]

Thats impressive..

 

I bolluxed up a springbar in a strap and fixed that today

[SSTEEL 0]

I built a loop holder head gear thing like the pros use, but I used a metal coat hanger instead.

 

 

Thanks mate, but still a problem for me wearing glasses, unless your creation holds the loupe in front of your eyeglasses ?

[LightGeek 25]

I built a loop holder head gear thing like the pros use, but I used a metal coat hanger instead.

 

 

Thanks mate, but still a problem for me wearing glasses, unless your creation holds the loupe in front of your eyeglasses ?

 

I take off my glasses when using the loupe. Are you far sighted?

[SSTEEL 0]

No, I'm short sighted strangely enough, but really struggle with micro sized objects.

[J.Eric 693]

I built a loop holder head gear thing like the pros use, but I used a metal coat hanger instead.

 

 

Thanks mate, but still a problem for me wearing glasses, unless your creation holds the loupe in front of your eyeglasses ?

 

I actually never tried the loupe with with my glasses. They generally stay in the car for driving, so they never make it to

 

to my workbench. Actually, I am gonna try it out..................

[J.Eric 693]

Yes it fits over my glasses, but doesn't make much of a difference since I am near-sighted? (I can never remember the difference)

[Hazz 0]

Good work my man, proud of ya !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LightGeek 25]

Yes it fits over my glasses, but doesn't make much of a difference since I am near-sighted? (I can never remember the difference)

 

Near sighted. Fuzzy far.

Fat sighted. Fuzzy close.

[SSTEEL 0]

Cheers guys, its all a learning curve, and a recommended process for everyone to work on a cheap watch first before venturing onto your projects.

 

@LG correct on the differences in short, and long sighted. I have ordered one of those head gear magnifiers, so will see how I get on with that for now.

[TheSav 2]

Nice work. Placing the hands troubles me too I've practiced on a cheap movement but my fat fingers don't help. I'd be interested in how your headset works for you as I may try one too.

 

I think j.erics creation belongs in the "trust me, I'm an engineer" thread

[SSTEEL 0]

Feeling confident I decided to take a look at my late grandfathers Sekonda, which has never worked since he passed.

 

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the balance wheel, and hair spring were damaged somehow, no idea how, but knowing my grandad, I guess he tried to fix it, but failed lol.

 

So, in knowing this, and having looked for replacements, my searches yield no results, (apart from this similar functioning Sekonda on the bay of flees) so decided to do a full strip down, screw by screw, part by part until I got to the caucus/chassis.

 

It was an unusual watch with two crowns, the one for winding, and time setting, the other for a GMT type hand, but instead of GMT function, it was for an alarm. A mechanical alarm. I remember as a kid my grandad showing me this alarm, and it was like James Bond time hearing it go off. It was a loud unwinding sound.

 

During stipping the movement down, i found the little weight that caused the vibrating, unwinding sound, and was a real treat learning the inner workings of this watch. Here's a couple of photos.

 

Photo of hand stack in case I could fix, and put back together..

 

 

And here's how I ended up..

 

 

In memory of my late grandfather, I shall use the dial on a 21J movement I have spare, and make a homage with it

Edited May 17, 2013 by SSTEEL