Matthew sent in his grandfather’s watch to see what we could do with it…
Nice case back – “Made and cased by Swiss Precision Watchmakers” 😉
Inside lurks a 30 jewel Felsa 1560 – a very nice movement indeed. Bi-directional auto winder, shock protection, escape wheel with cap jewels, …
The dial looks pretty terrible, and has a lot of discolouration. Around the middle, you can get a glimpse of what it once looked like.
The movement is in good condition.
The bi-directional autowinder – well constructed, with jewelled wheels throughout.
The old mainspring is still pretty good, and I can’t find a proper replacement, so I will clean it and put it back in.
All the parts ready to re-assemble.
With a lot of TLC, I carefully clean the old varnish with warm water and vinegar. This takes a good half hour, as you have to be very very careful not to damage the print. Around the edge, some of the printed second markers stick to the old varnish and come off, but you can’t have it all.
Once the dial is clean, I dry it, and varnish it with a model spray gun and water-soluble varnish. Once that is dry, I apply the luminous hour dots.
The hands get new luminous compound as well, but there are limits of what I can do with polishing.
Now I can start on the movement.
The gear train with the central second in place.
Not too shabby – as I said, this Felsa movement is pretty good indeed.
The case was re-plated by Peter from replateit.com,and, as usual, he did a stunning job.Compare that to the first photo 😉
Howdy,
I realize this is an old thread, rolling the dice for an answer. I have a Felsa 4009 25j
with this type barrel. Perplexed. Never seen one before. For one thing what is the most safe way to open?
Have been looking for help servicing it with little success other than the admonition that spring is problematic to reinstall after cleaning. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Could just leave it be, but would like to clean it without botching it.
Enjoy your site by the way.
Thanks.
John T.
This type of barrel construction is more common than you might think. You just open it. And you just close it when you are done. No problem to take the mainspring out and to clean it.
Not quite sure why you think this could be problematic?
Hello Christian, I know you did this watch 5years ago but if th can remember or may be you have had another one of the similar caliber with the same 2 piece mainspring.
Did you use braking grease on the barrel ?
I have found that these 2 piece mainsprings just slip like mad and never wind up fully, I only get about 6hours power reserve.
I would be interested to know how you have found these original mainspring to be for yourself. All the best thanks 🙂
I always use braking grease on automatic mainsprings, if they have an extra bridle or not. When possible, I try to find a one-piece automatic mainspring that fits the barrel.
Hi. I have a similar Allaine watch, which was also my grandads. It has Allaine 25 Jewels automatic incabloc on the dial. It could do with a similar service / renovation, it is running and the face is discoloured. If you don’t mind me asking how much did this one cost?
Hello and Help ! I have a question about a Felsa 699 ( 690 base model ) .The watch ran a bit sluggishly so I ultrasonically cleaned the watch in L&R cleaner and rinse. I am at a loss but after oiling and assembling the watch is running at the speed of light . The hairspring is clean and no coils are sticking together but the balance beat looks like it is gong 100,000 BPH or faster . To give you an idea the minute hand is going around like the sweep second hand . I did demagnetize it and still no better . The double third wheels rotate easily-is this the problem . Any advice will be appreciated . Thank you , Anthony
Your pallet fork doesn’t engage with the escape wheel – that’s my guess. Either you broke a pivot of the escape wheel, or of the pallet fork.
Thank you but I checked the pallet and escape wheel both and they appear normal. The balance rotates extremely fast similar to that of a high beat motion of a timer with a undersize balance. Is it possible that somehow the mainspring is transferring too much force-mainspring wasn’t changed ??
In that case, it’s the hairspring. It’s either magentized, but probably sticking together. Check under a microscope.
Okay thanks for the help but I took my time and thought it through and am a bit embarrassed by what I figured out . I had one of the wheels upside down-I can’t believe it would even run like that .
Hi,
My girlfriend’s grandad has this watch where can I find your price list to get it restored? Its in working order just wanna get it polished?
We don’t polish. Never a good idea.
Hi Christian. I have a treasured Allaine watch that used to belong to my Grandad. It’s was serviced not too long ago but recently fellow the top of a cupboard and stopped working. The hands have fallen off aswell. I’ve been given some ridiculous quotes which I just cannot afford. Could you let me know your fixed/hourly rate please.
Hi Thomas,
We have a price list on our web site.
Best regards,
Christian
Thank you for a great page i stumbled on your site just now when i am assembeling the same movement
Hi,
I just wanted to say that it would be great if you could put before and after pics at the end of your posts especially where the dial has been restored or the case replated so that it is easier to see the change.
Apart from that, another excellent article as usual !
I mean before and after pics together at the end of the post…
belo trabalho gosto de tudo que se refere a reparação abraço
Hello!
It’s not the first time I am asking this. The third wheel is double: two wheels and a pinion. I understand that it’s for the seconds hand not to jump 4-5 seconds when you set the time backwards.
Could you please elaborate on that? Or how to deal with it (clean/oil) to work properly? I sort of cleaned a wostok 2609 with a similar double third wheel, but at the end, the seconds hand still jumps when setting the time backwards-forwards. Maybe they got loose and there is not enough friction between those two wheels… I don’t know.
Thank you,
Bogdan
Bucharest, Romania
Hi Bogdan,
I lightly oil the clutch surface with Moebius 9012, which did the trick in this case. The clutch has to move pretty easily.
Very nice to see the Felsa 1560 getting The Watch Guy treatment …
I have 2 of the 1560 movements, one with 25 and one with 30 jewels (that’s what the dial says) … any idea of the date for this watch ???
The dial is also super, nice number shape with the sculpted chapter area, very much of the age, a style not seen any more …. shame.
Hi late 50’s . These were high class watches in their day!
“The old mainspring is still pretty good” – it does say ‘unbreakable’ on the dial and on the back 😉
Although, as I understand it, it actually means the watch cant be over wound 🙂
30 jewels eh? Those Swiss Precision Watchmakers didn’t mess about.
Nice job on the dial.
The real question is, how many of those 30 jewels are functional, and how many are for show? 😉
25 of them are and the other 5 are for decoration around one of the wheels I have the same watch as well. 🙂
I think I’ll put it on a nice Tan Leather strap with a deployment clasp. It was originally on a brown leather strap with buckle and not a expanding metal bracelet. Any suggestions for a good supplier of leather straps?
Thanks Christian, really looking forward to getting the watch back and wearing it. Certainly an improvement over the starting point and very glad that the movement was worth the effort. First class service from you as usual.