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Hi. For a while I've been wanting to capture the data from my cheap timegrapher. Finally got around to it, creating an application that runs on a Mac and a cheap USB camera. The App reads the numbers on the screen and logs them in a file every 1 second, displaying the results on a chart. Tooting my own bugle, I think it's bloody marvellous and makes it simple to see what's happening over minutes and hours. Also makes patterns in the performance visible. At some point I'll turn it into a sharable application. Any ideas for functions? Amplitude Track Rate Track

Hello, I just got this vintage Vostok Komandirskie watch. It will become my first experience to take apart and start to learn. While opening there was this loose part underneath the date dail. I am awaiting the delivery of my watch repair screwdrivers, but wondering if somebody already would recognize this (broken?) part. Thanks for thinking along.

Hi everyone, I’m relatively new to the watchmaking world. So far, I’ve successfully worked on around 10 Russian watches and a few Swiss ones. I’ve had a couple of watches that were initially non-runners, and I’ve also had to source a few replacement parts, but so far I’ve managed to overcome the problems I’ve encountered. I’ve now started working on a Tissot 794 movement, and surprisingly, I had no problems at all with the dial-side assembly. Without following any particular guide, I found the assembly quite logical, so that side is now successfully completed. However, I’m having some doubts about the automatic winding mechanism on the other side. To me, the way it is behaving doesn’t seem quite right, and after several attempts I’m still not happy with the following situation. I’ve attached two pictures of the automatic winding mechanism. The automatic winding itself works fine — the mainspring winds in both directions without any problem. The issue is with manual winding through the crown. When I wind the watch with the crown, I can clearly see that all three wheels in the automatic winding mechanism are turning as well. This makes the crown noticeably harder to turn, and because of the gear ratios, the smallest wheel spins very fast and produces a kind of high-pitched whirring sound. My understanding is that this shouldn’t happen. Of course, the rotor itself does not turn, because it is not directly connected to these wheels. What concerns me is that in this situation, the

Hi, I am a complete amateur when it come to watchmaking. I have recently had to reseat the keyless works in this movement. I have had some issues seating the hour wheel as it was not meshing properly and not driving the calendar works. Can you please give me some guidance as to what I am doing wrong? The calendar wheels are turning but the day disc is sitting way too high. The hands were also very tight when I took them off.

Hi! Currently, I happen to have two Lord Elgin watches, both with AS 1716-17 movements, both with multiple issues, including one with a cracked rotor and one with a rotor with bad bearings. I'm wondering how the bearing/gear is attached to the rotor. It appears to be pressed in. Assuming this is the case, do I have any chance of swapping the good bearing from the cracked rotor into the good rotor with the bad bearing? I do not have a staking set. In this photo, you can see the cracked rotor and both sides of the bearing/gear. I have a NOS replacement rotor on the way, and would love to save some coin by salvaging one working rotor from these two broken ones. Thanks!

I found one of my late dad’s old watches in a box of his things. To my surprise it actually runs. I’ve been wearing it for six months or so. It runs a minute fast per week. I’m torn what to do with it. I love the watch but have thought about getting it serviced. It would be nice to have it keep proper time and receive a new crystal. As near as I’ve been able to determine, it’s from around 1964. I get mixed dates regarding the end use of radium. The luminous hands have dark areas which makes me suspicious. Any suggestions and opinions are welcome.

Hello I am having the most fun trying to install a balance into a Seiko NH36 movement. I will have it oscillating no problem, but when I tighten the bridge screw down it stops. I will even slowly tighten the screw until it stops, back it off slightly, getting the balance to oscillate and then further tightening the screw before it stops again. In my limited experience I have never come across a balance that has been so difficult to install and align. I have looked on YouTube but haven't found and direct videos that can help me. What could possibly be going wrong to have the balance spinning freely but then when I try and secure it with the screw it just stops? It's almost like the bridge needs a shim. Has anyone else experience such difficulties when trying to install a balance? Thank you in advance for any help that can be provided.

Hey there, I have a reasonably old Thomas Russell and Sons pocket watch that my late Grandfather had alongside some other watches. Sadly unlike some of the watches, I noticed this one doesn't want to run, so I thought I'd take it apart as it wouldn't seem to hold power when winding, despite there being what I would call healthy levels of resistance and a lack of scary sounds when winding (to the best of my knowledge). Despite the lack of scary sounds, I also noticed there was no clicking when winding. When first opening the watch back, I noticed that the balance span nicely when provided any inertial forces, but didn't get effected by winding the crown. The cross for the barrel seemed to be oddly happy to move, with no tension in the main spring, and apon taking the barrel bridge off, I noticed that the stop finger wasn't there, and happened to be nicely sitting in the bridge (not good I'd guess). My assumption being that at some point there was a rather sudden letting down of the main spring, and it underwent some torsional shear stress ☹️ After dissasembling the watch I also noticed a fairly mangled driving wheel, which seems to "work", but is either likely worth replacing or to have some sharp toys used to clean it up. I'd greatly appreciate some advice on how to go about sorting this all out. I should probably take appart the barrel to check for further damages, but seems to work, but simply can't hold any power due to the lack a rachet mechagnism. If there is any extra i

Dear all, I am currently working on servicing an Alpina 490 watch, which I bought for pennies without the stem and crown. It is not a particularly attractive watch, but I have a soft spot for vintage rectangular movements! I already have the stem, but I have found that the crown will be more of a problem. The case is of the type where the crown tube is inserted into slots in both the upper and lower parts of the case. The outer part of the tube has quite a large diameter, around 3–4 millimetres, and it is supposed to fit into a recess on the inside of the crown. (The crown pictured is borrowed from another Alpina 490.) Sourcing such a crown seems to be next to impossible. I found that I could fit a tube from a similarly constructed Soviet Zvezda watch (I have plenty of them) into the case, and the whole tube-and-crown combination would suit the watch quite nicely. The "only" problem is that the Zvezda crown has a larger thread size than the Alpina stem. The stem is tap 8, while the crown is tap 10 or perhaps 11. So, what to do? We Czechs love to improvise, and although I realize that improvisation is not the recommended approach in horology, I came up with four ideas: Glue the stem into the crown with epoxy. Make a tiny tube from soft metal foil (aluminium or brass), line the inside of the crown thread with it, apply Loctite, and screw the stem in. Solder the stem into the crown. Try to find a stem that would fit the movement and have the correct tap size. This is probably th

I found these very evenly spaced beads of lubrication on the inner side of my watch dial window that displays the GMT hour. My question is whether this is intentional ie did it receive epilame treatment and lubrication intended to make contact with the thin lip of the GMT hour wheel? or is it unintentional creeping of lubrication from somewhere else? It looks too precise to be unintentional, but I wanted to check if this is in fact a technique used sometimes?

I'm currently on my first movement with Novodiac protection on the balance. Movement is an ST 969N. I've removed the end stone from the mainplate side of the balance (I never know if that is top or bottom) and have been trying the get the carrier and spring back in the mainplate for cleaning. I may eventually get it back in now to go in the cleaner, but there is no way I can see me getting the spring back in with the end stone installed. I think I need to get the correct tools for this. So, can someone recommend between Cousins branded, Horotec and Bergeon please. I think in this movement they are going to be the same size Novodiac as the ones in the 2824 but I don't know that for certain so I'll probably end up buying both sizes. The Cousins branded ones are half the price but they also look different, not having any shaping at the end to fit in the spring so may be more challenging for a novice to use. The Swiss ones are dearer but not outrageous and I'm only buying them once so will get them if they are actually better in use.

Hi guys. What's the best way to remove this crystal?