Service Longines calibre 12.68Z

Longines calibre 12.68ZI bought this Longines for practice. The dial has a little too much patina for my taste. The luminous compound is not original and has rust spots. Let’s see what can be done;)
IMG_0515The watch is ticking but the timegrapher can’t pick up beat rate.IMG_0519The movement looks pretty good despite some rust.IMG_0536Note that cool YokeIMG_0532It’s important to see where the different length screws go back in place.IMG_0534The click spring is mounted under the barrel bridge. Pretty cool with no wire springs on this movement.IMG_0535Nice decoration on the mainspring barrelIMG_0540The old mainspring looks good and I put it back after being cleaned and oiled.IMG_0613Movement is back together and looking good.IMG_0742After a lot of adjusting the performance turns out pretty good considering it’s got the old mainspring.IMG_0743Movement back in the caseIMG_0762 I went a little overboard with the dial cleaning and the result can be discussed. In my opinion the watch looks much better than before. I can always send the dial off to be restored (when I can afford spending money on such things).IMG_0764I’ll be giving my Eterna a rest this weekend while testing this classic Longines.IMG_0766Update: I varnished the dial to protect it from erosion as it is made of aluminium and this is the result. Looks better in real life than on the photo;)

20 thoughts on “Service Longines calibre 12.68Z

  1. The movement is great – all Geneva seal stuff, no wire springs, and everything executed nicely. This is a great watch for any collection!
    I love the way the dial has turned out, and Mitka’s varnishing is absolutely top notch. I put the dial under the microscope, and could not detect any imperfections in the varnish.
    All done with my model spray gun, and water based varnish that is diluted.

  2. Beautiful job.

    But I cannot stress this enough: It would be a crime to have that dial restored. It looks great as is, you did a fabulous job removing the staleness — but no restorations unless it’s half covered in rust!

    Let a watch show the time. In every sense. Restoration would only ruin its presence and its aura of authenticity.

    • Hi Jim

      Don’t worry I have no plans of restoring the dial anytime soon besides I’m starting to like the look of it more for every day;)

  3. great job! I can hardly believe that is the same dial – it looks totally different and much better, well done.

    I love vintage Longines, particularly the movements. They always seem to have gold chatons around the jewels. You don’t see that all that often.

  4. In the first picture there appears to be a crack on the crystal, but the crack has disappeared in the last picture. Did you change the plexy, or was it a crack on the dial varnish? In any case, very impressive result.

  5. Wow! Great job on the dial! If the cleaning of the dial of the watch I currently have in with you for service comes off half as well, I’ll be ecstatic!

  6. Hi, I think the dial looks great this way. What happened to the numbers? Did you repaint them with luminescent compound?
    Cheers
    Andreas

    • Hi Andreas

      No I have not painted them with luminescent compound as It is very tricky to make it look nice. I might give it a go when I feel ready for it.

  7. What a lovely watch to be “practising” on! The 12.68 movement series is a favourite among Longines enthusiasts, especially Italian collectors. Mitka, what materials and procedures did you use to clean the dial?

    • Hi Zi

      I have been practising on a lot of watches before this Longines and I recommend hobbyist watchmakers to only work on less expensive watches like a HMT or Racketa. For the dial I used boiling hot water a soft sponge and peg wood to remove the old gunk and cracked varnish. If any Longines enthusiast are interested in this classic I’m open for bids;)

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