Paul sent this watch over from the US. He went over the handlebars of his bike whilst wearing it, and it stops intermittently. The crystal could do with replacing as well …
A first look at the Venus 178. Quite different from the 188 we have seen here before. It has a similar hour recorder construction to the Omega 321, e.g. the barrel drives the hour recorder constantly, but when the hammer stops it, a clutch slips. This means that the hour recorder doesn’t “jump”, but it continually moves.
Very low amplitude, and erratic beat rate.
The winding stem is rusty, and I will replace it.
I work my way through the chronograph layer.
There is a fair amount of dirt everywhere, and no oil. So I don’t think there is any damaged from the bike accident, but just time for a service.
The bottom plate with the hour recorder mechanism.
Quite a bit of rust around the winding stem. This watch is by no means waterproof, and never will be. No case back gasket, etc., so it was never meant to be worn anywhere near humidity.
All clean and ready to be put back together.
Before I can put the barrel back in, I have to put the lower support with the hour recorder back in.
As usual, I put in a new mainspring.
In this photo, you can see the clutch wheel that is pressed against the barrel by a spring.
The base movement is back together and ticking.
Now that looks a lot better than before!
After a couple of hours, the chronograph is back together and adjusted.
The new winding stem has arrived, and I can cut it to size and fit it.
Lovely – now I want one 🙁
Hi,
I have a Breitling Navimeter 806 with Venus 178 movement.
Unfortunately I have a lot of work to restore this nice watch. For some reason, somebody took off all the chrono part. and also some parts are missing from the hour counter…
I managed to identify most of the missing parts, but I cannot find this one.
Please help me identify the part number and if it is possible, please tell me where can I find it
[IMG]http://i67.tinypic.com/52cakg.jpg[/IMG]
Have you tried to find the parts sheet for the movement?
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Hi Christian, wondering if you can help. I’m trying to attempt replacement of my missing crown and stem only to find that the retaining screw spins freely. I think there must be something missing inside as I can’t lock the stem in place. Would you know what could be missing under the operating lever? Thanks in advance.
I need some photos here – please send some high-res photos to christian@watchguy.co.uk
Looks nice Christian. Will look forward to wearing it some more. Here is a link to the Jim Clark (60’s Formula One driver) and his Top Time.
http://www.automobiliac.com/automobiliac/2012/6/25/jim-clark-and-his-breitling-top-time.html
Hi Christian,
Great watch. Just a small point, i notice after cleaning, you always put the balance wheel back on the top plate to start off. I tends to put the balance wheel last, only after fiddling all the gear wheels in positions in the jewel holes on the bridge. I always find the balance wheel obstructs my manoerving the escape wheel in position, then the pivot, wind the mainspring, making sure all the wheels move by me moving manually the pivot side to side, and the balance wheel last. Am i wrong in sequence in doing what I do? 😉
Hi Mun,
I only put the balance on the plate for cleaning, and leave it there after cleaning to put the balance jewels back in. Once that is done, I remove the balance, and assemble the movement in the same order as you do.
Thanks, great to know. At least i am not knowing something unusual all this while. 😉
I want one also – stop showing them to us!
Is all the gunk on the stem grease or disintegrating gasket..?
Mostly rust!
Me too!!!
Can feel an itching coming on:-)