We’ve not been very busy posting lately, but that’s mainly because we are very busy at the workshop. Also, as you can always check out what we are working on at any moment in time, we felt that most our readers are using that feature to see what’s happening.

Today, I’m posting a more technical post, which might benefit my colleagues, rather than my clients. Anyway, it’s probably interesting to see what can be done.

Broken pivots are a regular occurrence, and on the left, you can see the two autowinder wheels from a Heuer 12 movement. The one on the left has a broken pivot.

If a part is available for reasonable amounts of money, buying a new one is always the best solution. But if the part isn’t available, or very expensive, a repair is in order. Continue reading →

My aversion to dial spots (those little adhesive dots used to glue on dials) knows little bounds. It’s a shoddy job, the dial can still turn with time, and in my book, it’s not an appropriate repair. On a £2 quartz movement, dial spots might be appropriate, but on anything mechanical, I’d rather not.

Above, a dial with broken off feet. You can still see some remaining dial spots, and, in preparation for the new dial feet, I have marked the centre of the feet on the dial. I use a sharp needle and a pair of tweezers as a ruler. Continue reading →

If you repair watches, you know the feeling of your heart sinking when removing a chronograph sub-hand and the tube stays on the runner, and the hand comes off without the tube.

Once the dial is off, you can carefully remove the stuck tube with the hand remover, and with a bit of luck, it doesn’t fly 10 yards through the workshop. Continue reading →

The question of using an autowinder for watches that aren’t worn has been discussed long and wide, but without a general consent. This is where I want to put some arguments forward … Continue reading →

This happens a lot, and a lot of poor watches die this way. Water gets in, and you don’t quite know what to do…

Mark did the right thing, and after putting his watch through the washing machine, he sent us an email and asked what to do. Time is of the essence, so we gave him the right advice.  Continue reading →

As I had a Vimpel on the blog a while ago, I got an email from Slovakia, asking me if I wanted to buy a gold case Vimpel. The lad asked for £450, which was pretty ridiculous, and I offered £150… Continue reading →

I normally don’t do this (e.g. just replacing a balance staff without fitting it into the movement), but Thom asked nicely, so I took on the job. If he would have lived in the UK, I would have invited him to do it himself in my workshop, but Sweden is a bit far …

I used to turn the old balance staff out on the lathe, but I never liked the process, as it’s so easy to get the graver into the balance…
Continue reading →