After seeing Christian service a Junghans ‘Max Bill’ in a previousΒ post, I decided I loved the clean dial, and to see if I could get my own. I found this poorly watch in a job lot for Β£10, and although it’s battered, the dial is in great condition (with the little bauhaus 4 :-)), and it runs. That’s a good start!
You can see that it’s been mistreated quite badly; the lugs are all over the place.
This is going to take some very delicate manipulation to fix without snapping off a lug, lets see how bad it is inside π
Quite a solid bulky movement, and a strange looking date ring. It’s located quite close to the centre, which seems to be the Junghans’ way…
Interestingly, the click ratchet is located on the dial side, seen here at about 7 o’clock. This is the first time I’ve seen that.
Quite surprisingly for a watch in such bad external condition, she looks mint inside.
Top jewels out. I put everything in a compartmentalised tray as i’m going along. It ensures i put everything back in the same order!
Balance and pallet fork out.
Wheel bridge (or ‘cock’?!) Β is off, still looking very clean…
There is a second bridge/cock below the first, and this contains two different sized jewels. The larger top jewel is set in the bridge, and the smaller, lower is seen here. Not long after this point I decide not to put everything in the cleaner, and begin oiling and reassembly…
Back together and ticking strongly, I did give the bridges a gentle clean and polish though π
Look at that finish π Not bad for a 50 year old dial. Even under the loupe there is only one tiny blemish.
On to the acrylic crystal, I don’t have the right size lying around, and don’t fancy waiting for a new one, so out comes the sandpaper…
I begin with 800, then 1200, and finally 1500. When starting with the 800 grit, I make sure I keep sanding in parallel lines (1). This make’s it easier to see when i’ve gone deep enough to remove all the scratches. Then I start with the 1200, and sand at 90Β° to the grain (2). Doing this ensures I take all the scratches out and keep the crystal’s surface even and flat (3). I then do the same again with the 1500. After that, I begin polishing…
And 10 minutes later, we have a lovely clean crystal. Now on to the case…
I start by warming it up (not sure if it helped, but it seemed logical!) and then put it on a wooden chopping board, and carefully apply pressure with another piece of wood. I take it really slowly, checking and adjusting regularly.
After a tense few minutes, I’m happy with the result. Now I can case it.
And we’re done. I’m very happy with how it’s cleaned up, not bad for Β£10 and a little time π
Thanks for the post. That find and tentative approach in both finding such pearls and in what can be done.
Thanks.
PS That dial is amazing!
It’s a testament to the solid build by Junghans’. Ranfft.de tells us this movement was made between 1954 & 1966, so the dial is most likely somewhere between 47 & 59 years old, miraculous!
That is a great find, so good that I wouldn’t have contemplated trying to restore it myself – you are a brave man π
I love that movement… always seems a shame to encase such things!
Brave or stupid maybe, one slip and it could have gone baldly wrong, although you’d have never heard about it π In this case it was pretty much unwearable, so worth a bit of experimentation.
And it is a lovely movement, just feels very solid! I’ve just had thought….my dad has a small machine shop, I wonder if there’s a market for making high quality stainless & sapphire case backs for vintage watches so they can be admired in full! Assuming the original case back is kept save so it can be returned to original condition if required π
I have seen a website where someone is selling just that… Forgot the URL, though.
I’ve seen sites selling display backs for higher end watches, but I don’t think I have seen anyone making them from scratch. Would be interested in that actually π
Very nice looking watch. How was the rolled gold case dealt with?
So far, It’s not been dealt with! After a polish it came up looking great (the last 3 photo’s are ‘post-polish’), and after a weeks daily wear it still looks pretty good, but I may experiment with electro-plating in the future. I think the options are either re-dress the surface and get it plated by a professional, or perhaps a DIY kit, to touch up the areas that show heavy wear. Does anyone have any experience with either?
What a find!
You were absolutely spot on heating the case before bending the lugs back – that’s what I do as well. That together with moving them as slowly as you can does the trick.
The dial is immaculate, and you’ve done a great job. Thanks for sharing.
Christian
Many thanks Christian.
I was quite surprised at how malleable they lugs were, but I guess they generally want to head back in the direction from which they’ve come!