Thomas sent in this watch, and told me it just stopped working…
Yep, that movement stopped working alright 😉 The rust damage is quite extensive, and will stretch to the keyless works as well. The water probably came in through the crown.
The case back has some rust on it, but as it’s stainless steel, that will just have come off the movement.
As expected, the keyless works are affected as well.
The wheels will need some cleaning as well.
The gear train and pallet fork aren’t affected, so that’s good news.
The plate itself isn’t damaged.
On top of the rust damage, the mainspring is broken. My guess is that after the movement stopped through the rust damage, somebody desperately tried to get the watch going again.
A new mainspring. All the rusted parts have soaked in acid for 2 days, and I have then cleaned them with a brush.
Now that does look a lot better!
I have a bit of a beat error, so I have to take the balance out again to adjust that.
With the acid, all rust is removed, and only a black substance is left, that can be removed with a sturdy brush.
The keyless works came up nicely after the clean-up as well.
The movement is cased. Compare the case screws with the first photo…
The stainless steel case back looks as good as new again as well.
Very nice indeed!
Dear sir.
Congratulations on the beautiful work.
I inherited a watch like that. I’ll keep it for my grandson. You could tell when it was made. In the machine we have the numbers 14713-9 and 1838990.
Maybe you see this. Maybe not. But probably 1960 ish. You can look up the numbers online.
Great repair,
How do you get the movement out of the case? Removing the glass, or through the back?
Best regards,
Frederik
Remove the glass bezel ring, and you can lift it out through the top.
hey Christian,
good work there mate. I admire your blogs all the way here in New Zealand. You, sir, are doing lot of ood to horology enthusiasts all around the globe.
I have some questions re cleaning the watch that has been “half-eaten” by rust.
Question 1 – what acid do you use to clean the rust and how long you recommend leaving the parts in the acid?
Question 2 – What would you recommend to do if the screw are rusted and wont come off? would you dip the whole watch (minus balance staff & escapement) into the acid or use some other technique to undo the screws? I have tried taking them off and either the screw head breaks off or the the screw notch looses the depth.
thanks in advance
Ash (Auckland, NZ)
Hi Ash,
Thank you for your kind words.
I use either vinegar or citric acid (lemon juice is fine). Leave the parts for as long as it takes to take the rust off – this might take a couple of days. You can help with a little fibre brush.
If you have rusted in screws, the acid won’t dissolve them. You have to get out the big guns. Make sure you have everything taken out of the plate (all screws, shock springs, etc.), and dip the plate in alum (Potassium Aluminium Sulphate) solution (make a saturated solution with warm water and the alum powder). This might take a couple of days, and the speed depends on the temperature and saturation of the solution. After some days, the rusted-in screws will have completely dissolved.
Hi Cristian
Great site congrats
With regards to the above watch I have to ask you two things
Do not think that the amplitude is too low for a new mainspring ?
Also the lift angle for the caliber 268 is 49 and not 52
How you adjust the bit error?
Can you do it without take out the balance?
Thanks
Yannis
Hi Yannis,
A couple of things here – you have seen what the watch has been through, so that amplitude for a partly wound movement is pretty good.
The difference in amplitude through adjusting the timegrapher from 52 to 49 degrees is not worth the time doing it, as it’s only a couple of degrees. It’s all about adjusting the beat rate and beat error, and about a steady beat rate.
You adjust the beat error by turning the collet, and you have to take out the balance to do that, as I did with this movement.
Thanks
Can you show us in steps how you adjust the collet?
It will be very helpful for amateur watch addict like us
Thanks
Yannis
Hi Cristian
Great site congrats
With regards to the above watch I have to ask you two things
Do not think that the amplitude is too low for a new mainspring ?
Also the lift Ngle for the cLiber 268 is 49 and not 52
How you adjust the bit error?
Can you do it without take out the balance?
Thanks
Yannis
That’s quite a nice re-dial I think. I guess it was done by MJ Leach in Kent (found by googling).
You are right. It was Mr Leach (Wrotham, Kent) who sold me the watch in 1993! Amazing that you worked that out.
The owner
It is a real joy to watch Christian do his magic in the workshop:)
A great looking watch – there should be more mechanicals with sub-seconds available I feel.
It is good to know that even a movement that appears so badly degraded by rust has a chance 🙂
What a coincidence, the rusty watch which I asked your advice about last month was almost identical! It was an Omega with a Cal. 511 (basically the same but without a second hand) and rusty in exactly the same places, literally! Even the patch on the case back! In that case the owner said he’d briefly, accidentally, worn it into the sea 🙁 Good Job Christian!
Any serious WIS in the UK who doesn’t use Christian as their go to service guy should have their head examined.
I live in the states and have my own watch wizard (plus there’s Al Archer for certain types of work and projects).
Shout it from the rooftops for Christian “WatchguyUK”!!!!!
I think that’s a tad strong 😉
There are other very good watch repairers here in the UK, and Al is of course top notch!
Amazing Job! With all this rust the movement looks great after you have done your work. What acid do you use to achieve that effect?
Lemon juice! You can also use strong vinegar, citric acid,…
Hi, this is the owner. I greatly appreciate the effort that Christian made to salvage my Omega. I am not aware how the water ingressed, but I had virtually given up hope that it could be repaired after a well-regarded local watch specialist declined to take it on. A colleague at my work recommended Christian and he seems to have worked his magic.
Many thanks Christian and “lykke til” Mitka
I have an early 60’s 268 Omega also, has proven to be very accurate. What’s your verdict on this movement Christian?
It’s a great movement – simple, sturdy, reliable, and a good performer.
Very nice piece! I guess the owner was unaware of the water ingress?
Having just picked up a Lemania 239A with Cal.3000 movement I can see just how closely it and the Cal.283 are 🙂 which came first though?
Great work Christian (& Co. now too, congrats!)
B
edit: cal.268, sorry 😮
The Lemania came first. Omega uses quite a few movements that Lemania designed.