Celeste from Hong Kong sent in her grandfather’s Jardur chronograph. On first sight, this doesn’t look too promising…
Even without opening the watch, it looks like the poor thing has seen some rough treatment over the years.
The movement is marked “Pilgrim Electric Corporation”, but it’s a Valjoux 71.
I expected worse, but let’s have a look with the microscope.
Look under the teeth at the top of the minute recorder – that’s all solidified rust.
The movement has got quite a lot of water damage.Rust everywhere.
The bottom plate doesn’t look any better.
Before I take anything apart, I submerge the movement for a couple of hours in Horolene. This is extreme stuff, and you normally only use that on clocks. But for a movement in this condition, it’s perfect.
Some of the corrosion has already gone, and I can now safely take the movement apart, without too much risk of breaking anything. If you ever work on a rusty movement, make sure to soak it in acid or Horolene before taking it apart – it greatly lowers the chances of breaking off pivots.
The minute recorder jumper spring didn’t survive the Horolene and broke in two. Just a sign that is was already corroded and held together by rust. I find one for sale for USD 100, and I kindly decline. I will attempt to solder the spring later.
Not something you want to see!
The wheel bridge doesn’t look any better from the underside.
This is borderline. On a lesser watch, I would probably give up at this moment.
The bottom plate doesn’t look much better.
After a couple of runs in the cleaning machine, this does look a lot better.
The plates and bridges look pretty good, too.
The base movement is back together with a new mainspring and a new barrel arbor, and looking so much better!
Well, this is a lot better than I would have expected!
Hours and hours of cleaning have paid off.
The bottom plate with the hour recorder is looking pretty good, too.
Case, bezel, crown and the pushers are sent off to Peter at replateit.com.The minute recorder jumper needs soldering, and I save $100.The minute recorder jumper is back in place, and working nicely.
Now the hands need some attention.
They brush up quite nicely, but the bottom bit of the chronograph second hand is so rusty that it just disintegrates when I clean it.
The dial shows its age, but it would be a crime to restore it.
Peter at ReplateIt.com has performed his usual magic, and the case looks stunning.
Did I mention that the case looks stunning? 🙂 From the brink of death, pulled back from the abyss, what a watch!
Is the mainspring for the 71 the same as the 72?
Thanks pat
Hello,
I have Vintage Aristo chronograph watch with a 71 Valjoux movement. It has some water damage, but surprisingly still ticks. I have tinkered with a few watches, but this one is very much out of my knowledge. Would there be a way I could send you a few pictures and see if this is something maybe you could take on? Also, let me know what you would charge. Its a family watch and would love to bring it back to life.
Thank you for your time.
Hi,
Please help me
I have a val 71 movement but i need a case
Could you please let me know the inside height of the case ?
wow. that could be restored … amazing !!
Absolutely astonishing! I don’t know what to praise more here: Christian’s watchmaker know-how and skills or his more general attitude of respect towards products of true craftsmanship…
Wow, that is some outstanding work! I’ve got one in a bit better starting condition than that one that I keep meaning to send off, any recommendations of dial cleaning that won’t take off any of the applied paint? Mine sat in my grandfather’s then my father’s junk drawers for decades with no crystal and while it runs it definitely needs a major cleaning and I would rather not have the dial redone. Mine’s a pilgrim Electric badged movement as well.
Way to go, you are the king!
You can even purchase a new Jardur!
Found this info on the web: http://www.jardur.com/history.html
Hi Christian are you have any fear working with a Radium hands ? can you tell something about a tritium and how dangerous is that for watchmaker ????
I remove the old luminous compound with the watch hands submerged in cleaning fluid. That way, there is no dust, and thus no danger of inhaling the compound.
Ok are you cleaning your tool after you touching radium or Tritium ?
Just in normal cleaning fluid. It’s the dust you have to be careful with.
You generally wouldn’t inhale\contact enough of the stuff to cause issues. Even Christian probably wouldn’t…. as long as he doesn’t drink the fluid 😉 It’s the watchmakers that need to worry as the painter would be using the stuff every single day. Plus with the Radium in the 1920’s, the painters used to lick the brushes to keep a finer point…. which caused a lot of issues.
Tritium has a half life of 12.3 years, which means after 12.3 years, it has half the radiation than it did when new. Also Tritium emits beta radiation, which is easily blocked by the skin.
The body does have a mechanism to counter-act radiation, as radiation is something we encounter on a daily basis and there is nothing to stop it… i.e Cosmic Radiation!
As a general rule – if the watch keeps glowing when you haven’t exposed it to light, it is radium / tritium. If it doesn’t, it is phosphorescent which does not emit radiation!
Bravo! That looked an *extreme job to pull off. The watch looks great!
I am about to cry just now thinking of the care you took in restoring my Father’s watch. Thank you for documenting the whole process. My Father may have been wearing it when he went down and was captured in Germany or when he flew in the Berlin Airlift. I know it saw him through countless adventures in his 26 year Air Force career.
I am grateful for Celeste’s vision to have it restored and your skill and perseverence to do it. Betsy Kemper
Dear Betsy,
Thank you very much for posting here and adding your bit of personal history. It was my pleasure entirely to restore your father’s watch, and I hope that it will stay in the family for generations.
Christian
Incredible… I honestly would not have thought it possible to salvage that movement. It’s amazing how far a movement can deteriorate like that and be bought back into working condition. The end result must be at least a little to do with the fact that it was a high quality movement to begin with, though I doubt many watchmakers could do as good a job.
What a credit to your skills and tenacity – and I love the dial.
We’re obviously going to have to find something more serious to challenge you ….
I second that!
Out of interest, is there any part of watchmaking that you still fear? Broken balance staffs? Tangled hairsprings? ;-P
I have gotten the hang of hairsprings, but I admit that at the beginning, I was quite phased by them. Same is true for replacing balance staffs. With more practice, you get more comfortable with these jobs…
Hi Christian, just asking if you had any experience with using tea or Bergeon rustremoving solution to remove rust from watch parts?
Cheers, Min Kai (from Malaysia)
There was a very good article on this in the BHI Journal a couple of months before, and someone tried out various methods of rust removal. Citric Acid was just as good as the Bergeon remover. You can also use vinegar, or Horolene, which is also very good at removing other dirt.
Tea? That’s refreshing…
http://awatchmakersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/rust-removal.html
A fantastic job! Can not believe it was possible to salvage it based on the amount of corrosion, and that amplitude at the end? Astonishing!
I wonder if phosphoric acid would have been a bit less harsh and even more effective… I think it only works on ferric rust, but that’s what the majority looked like in the photos.
I feel an experiment coming on 😉
Wow – that looked like truly heroic measures! Worth it though 😉
The “Pilgrim Electric Corporation” is a new one on me, but they seem to have been general makers and re-branders of things.