This is Jason’s second watch – another diver’s watch, an Orient with the calibre 46943 movement. It’s in need of a full service, and that’s what it will get.
There is a bit of a beat error, the amplitude is a bit low, and the escapement has some dirt on it.
The dial and hands are in great shape.
The bottom plate with the day ring removed.
The auto winder assembly.
The gear train after removing the wheel bridge.
Only the centre wheel with its bridge left.
The mainspring has dried-up grease on it, but otherwise is looking good. As I can’t get hold of a new mainspring, I will use the current one.
And all goes into the cleaning machine.
I start of by putting the balance jewels back together.
And the cleaned mainspring goes back into the barrel.
The centre wheel and barrel back in place.
And the basic movement is back together and ticking.
The beat error is now perfect, we have a decent amplitude, but the graph is slightly wavy. This isn’t a new movement, and even a slight wobble in one of the wheels will lead to this. Nothing to really worry about.
The bottom plate is coming back together.
Everything ready for the day ring.
The auto winder bridge is back on.
And I can case the movement.
Beautiful watch!
Hello, Is it necessary to use a graphite grease on the walls of a automatic movements mainspring? Did you do it on this watch cuz am servicing an old orient tristar with that same movement and i dont really wanna spend some money on some graphite grease that i will use once but never again.
No, we use braking grease, which isn’t graphite based. You will need some lubrication there, and it has to be grease.
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Hello!
Is the liftangle indeed 52 degrees? I couldn’t find this info in the service sheet that I have.
Thank you!
I have no clue – as it’s not listed in the service sheet, I have to assume something 😉
My research says that Orient outsourced the Seiko 7006 as their mechanism for 46940 then 46943 (auto-wind) add-on components. This history begins in 1971 and follows thru latest.
Ref this site
https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=orient_46
Seiko 7006 LA is 53.0
I took my rotor off to let the watch die before changing out the hands and when I flipped the watch onto it’s back two washers fell out. One regular circular washer and one “snowflake washer”. I know they’re part of the winding assembly but I just can’t get them back together. Snowflake first and then regular. Also, the little part that the snowflake washer goes around comes out too. does the snowflake washer hold that part in?
And, In looking at your pictures, all my ball bearings are gone……..oops
I have a problem with my battery. Where can I find the service central. The normal service shop told me that the shop only in Kuala Lumpur. I stay in Perak
Hmmm… I live in Gloucester, UK, so I really can’t answer that question.
I want to repair my orient watch please contact me on 07932746273
Hi I have my watch orient is going one minute slow I want to repair please my mobile is 07932746263
I am glad to see that you have a mobile number. But please read our FAQ and booking pages as I have already asked you TWICE to do. Thank you.
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So the day pusher on mine recently broke and I received a replacement part from Orient. However, it seems I’m missing the c-clip that keeps it from springing back out. Would you happen to know where I can get one/if there is something out there that would work in its place?
Thanks,
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
You can buy those at http://cousinsuk.com/
Best regards,
Christian
Hi, can you tell me how you arranged for replacement pusher from Orient? Are you U.K. based? Any details will be much appreciated.
Cheers
Orient doesn’t sell parts – you have to use generic parts I’m afraid.
Hi,
Good work, would you say that if taken care of reasonably well these movements can last a long time?.
Your comment earlier seems to imply that, I hope so I have three Orients.
One final point would it not be possible to source a generic mainspring?
Jonathan
Yes, if the watch doesn’t get wet or dirty inside, the movement can last quite some time. It’s probably possible to find a mainspring that is close enough to the original.
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I had a day pusher go bad twice in 3 years, The movement is orient 46943, I tried to get the part from orient USA and they didn’t provide it. I would avoid orient, i would pick citizen 8200 series or any seiko automatic over them. I am going from a family that has dealt in mechanical movement parts since 1970.
Do you think Orient movements are inferior, in terms of the quality of hardware, to the ETA bits?
In terms of long term viability, do you see these movements wearing out faster (noting your comment about the ‘wobble’), and is parts availability an issue? (seems like you get mainsprings for most of your watches, and this Orient isn’t even particularly old).
I like Orient for their prices obviously, but also so many interesting designs and some neat complications for the money. But if the movements are sub par …
I rate ETA movements quite a bit higher than Orient. Volkswagen vs. Trabant. Both good workhorses, but the Orient was way cheaper to make, and it shows.
Lasts for a lifetime, though, so there is nothing wrong having one.
Thanks for taking the time, Christian. Always looking forward to your latest posts.
I am curios why the higher rating of the ETA movements … in general.
It seems like a sweeping statement so I’m trying to understand the details behind it…
In my view if something is cheaper to make it does not mean it needs to be rated lower…it could mean it’s made more efficiently.
So…objectively, what are the reasons you would rate them that way ??
Is it the higher beat counts of ETA?
Do you thing hey are more accurate ??
Do they last significantly longer (considering similar care/servicing) ??
Obviously all these questions would address similar-ish movements in terms of “features” …
ETA movements perform incredibly well, are hard wearing, and well made. That’s that.
Christian,
Are you happy with the 229 degrees of amplitude? That seems pretty low to me. How do you decide when enough amplitude is enough?
Did you check the endshakes of the train wheels? This is beyond my hobby level of experience, but it seems to me that that could cause both low amplitude and the “wobble”…
If it weren’t a Japanese movement, I wouldn’t be happy. But Orients and Seikos always have a pretty weak amplitude – you rarely get more than that. Considering I wasn’t able to source a new mainspring, this is as good as it gets. Compared to the ETA I did before, this is a totally different kettle of fish. With the ETA, anything below 270 fully wound wouldn’t be acceptable. And the ETA has the performance to show that…
I´ve owned and thinkered with Orients and Seikos for quite a while. I am no expert or qualified watch repairman in any way, can just talk from my nearly three decades of experience as an owner, but from just looking through the display case back or opening them, I always had the feeling that the amplitude was greater on ETA movements. It’s good to have corroboration. I am unsure how they compare to Citizen/Miyota, as I only own a couple with closed backs.
Also, the rotor in Orients seems to me a bit more noisy and rattling than on ETA or Citizens, but nothing to worry about. I love them all. One of my Orients is actually the most accurate mechanical watch I’ve owned, can easily go a couple of weeks and stay accurate within 2 minutes, it’s uncanny.
Orient also does bracelets better than Seiko in the low end in my opinion.
Lower amplitudes compared to ETA movements are normal, according to the Seiko Service Center in Tokyo, which I visited 2 years ago.
Even older Grand Seikos do rarely exceed 240 degrees.
But as long as they can be regulated quite well, I do not care about their amplitudes. Technically seen, lower amplitudes mean even less wear.
Laymens question I know but how does this watch auto wind itself!?
It’s got a rotor… I just put that in last thing after casing 😉
Ahh ok!! 🙂
>Dude..!!!