Thomas from Belgium sent me his Movado Datron Diver Chronograph. It has the Zenith 3019 PHC movement, which beats at 36,000 bph.
The watch needs a service, so let’s get stuck in…
Yes, the amplitude is pretty feeble…
First look at the movement, and I can already see some abrasion.
The bottom plate looks nice and tidy.
Look at the specs of dirt on the chronograph bridge – this is abrasion, and usually comes from the auto winder.
Time to take the chronograph apart.
You can see the little specs of abrasion where the auto winder gears sit at 4 o’clock.
If you zoom in all the way on the large hole of the middle spring, you can see that it’s cracked – I only notice that when I put the movement back together.
The underside of the wheel bridge.
Now it’s time to take the bottom plate apart.
The unlocking date spring is of the old type, and I will replace that with the new one, which is less likely to break.
Even though the barrel says “Do not open”, I do, and take out the mainspring for cleaning. The more Zenith chronograph movements I do, the more I am inclined to leave the old mainsprings in, as the movements have a problem with too much power on the winding gears anyway. So anything to alleviate that is welcome.
The hour hand has lost its luminous compound, and I will re-apply new compound to both hands.
Everything ready for re-assembly.
The barrel is closed again, with the old mainspring greased.
The gear train goes back onto the plate, and all looks nice and clean.
The wheel bridge is on, and we are getting closer to a beating movement.
With the escape wheel cock and the balance in, the movement starts beating.
Now it’s time for the bottom plate.
The broken operating lever spring – no problem, as I can get hold of a new one.
The hammer also had a small crack, and I put in a new one. Good thing that I make photos available for my clients as I work on the watch, because Thomas spotted this straight away! I would only have noticed on re-assembly…
Now I can start to put the chronograph back together.
The old hammer with the little crack, and the new hammer still in its packaging.
All ready for the chronograph bridge.
And the chronograph bridge is on.
Now I can put together the rest of the bottom plate.
The old and new style unlocking date spring (old at the top).
Unlocking date spring in place.
Now the dial and hands go back on. The new luminous compound suits the watch quite well.
Now I case the movement, and only have to put in the oscillating weight.
And look at that – straight as an arrow, good amplitude, and low positional variation.Cased and ready to go back to Belgium.
hi i want zenith 3019 parts n 225
do you have ?
best regards
all the parts I have are listed at watchparts.org.uk
I’ve got the exact same watch . Keeps perfectime however a pusher needs replace and chrono function doesn’t work . Any advice I’m happy to send u the watch
Please read my faq and look at my price list.
Best regards,
Christian
Can I send u my Datron 360 for repair and pusher replacement
That’s a good job and nice amplitude, just on the little crack on the hammer it is meant to be split at that point, when you turn the hammer screw it opens and closes so you can adjusted how much the tip of the hammer touches the chronograph runner.
Yes, I found that out later 😉
Awesome watch and a job very well done.
Luv luv it! I have a couple of Movado’s with 36000 beat movements but this is really the Datron is the one I’m after! This one is in excellent condition as well! You see them on the bay in poorer condition for £1400($2300)
Congratulations, Christian, for this great job, and for gently dissuading me from having the hands painted white. The movement pics in the customer’s area are truly awesome and instead of sending my watch into exile for an anonymous repair, I became an intimate witness and partner in the process of rejuvenating this old lady. Thanks for letting me share these moments with her. 🙂
Love these older chrono movements, the date position is great, and nothing getting eaten by the sub-dials.
What is the bezel made out of? it looks a little like plastic?
Yes, it’s plastic – I don’t think they could have done the black/white contrast in any other way. Lasted well, considering it’s 40 years old!
Delicious!
That’s one that everything just looks right. And the movement is special also.
Is that date spring the same component that you had confusion with on the Zenith Cal. 400 movement? Looks to me to be the same, so presumably they replaced it across all their movements?
It’s a really smart looking watch – I really like chronos with contrasting coloured sub-dials 😉
Well spotted – it’s the same for most Zenith chronograph movements.
lovely watch, super performance too. Roughly how old is it?
should be early 70s