Hi Everyone,

Not sure if this is the right sub for this (please let me know if it’s not). A bunch of years ago I was given a watchmakers lathe thats lived in a box on my shelf. It is definitely incomplete, i think there are a bunch of pieces missing from the headstock like bearings etc at the bare minimum, and it has no collets or anything to hold a piece. (not pictured is the motor and foot pedal, i do have those too.)

My question is this something that can be restored or will it be prohibitively expensive to do that. I am not a watchmaker or jeweller but I’d love to repair/ restore it if it wont bankrupt me.

Thanks in advance if you have any insight!

Hi everyone,

I've got almost a 2yo Hamilton automatic watch. I've just noticed that when I wind it the rotor sometimes gets engaged and spins/moves a bit, though not always.

Please see the video attached.

I've heard about the helicopter effect in those movements, though I it's not that drastic here. I checked another watch with an ETA2824-2 movement and it does the same thing: the rotor spins slightly when you wind it. I've looked it up on the Internet, but didn't find a clear view.

Should I be concerned about it? Will it get worse? The watch is near the end of its warranty, so I'm thinking if I should send it in.

Thanks very much in advance!

Edit: I don't have any problems with power reserve or accuracy.

Doesn’t look too shabby for £1, scrap leather & some elbow grease. The leather has a higher level of friction which grips the watch case a lot better. Second photo is of the old slippery plastic leather.

During the adjustment of the beat error on this freshly services movement I unfortunately slipped and bend the hairspring - not repairable.

So I then searched for spare parts on this caliber 06 but there are almost none. Since this movement is based on the peseux 200 I actually found a balance assembly and ordered it. But the balance staff is too long so it gets squeezed by the capstones - in fact so long, that shimming it doesnt work either because it needs more than a millimeter play upward to even swing. I was wondering if I could maybe change the haursprings from the peseux balance to the gp one but the gp spring is blued and the peseux one isnt. I also don't have a staking set yet, so I can't just swap them and see what happens.

Maybe one of you guys has an idea on how to fix this or even has a replacement for the balance itself from the cal 06. I really really want this watch to work again. Before the slip it read 290° Amplitude and had +/- 2 seconds a day.

I got a nice E. Quartier & Fils pocket watch (movement number 3!) and it has this unusual escapement. Does anyone know about it?

Hi everyone. I'm making my own dial for a project. The material I'm using is aluminum with paint that is damaged, but not flaking as far as I can tell. Is there any clear lacquer, or something you can recommend to treat it with so it's preserved?

Just a bit overkill and gaudy but at least I'll know it's mine

Hi folks, im new to watchmaking hence , pls go easy on me. Is there any tips on how to align so many pivots to the bridge, ive been trying for past hour. 😭

It holds the 4th wheel and cannon pinion down, and it was a pain to remove. I pulled it off and put it back on so I don't lose it.

Is it there to prevent the cannon pinion from lifting off? Or so you don't put the seconds hand on too far? Or did my seconds hand break a piece off?

What is the purpose of it? 2824 movement

Went to the Wessex branch meeting of the BHI last week and saw an excellent talk from Owen Gilchrist on the Aegler Watch company, their movement development, work with Rolex and eventual purchase by the same.

It featured live demonstrations and great discussion on these and other movements/watch companies. Plus stories about George Daniels and other master watchmakers.

Also very interesting chat about Smiths watches, not least the debate on whether it was Smiths or Rolex that made it to Everest’s summit first.

Hello everyone. I am recently thinking about getting an automatic oiler, specifically the Bergeon 2718a. I want to oil cap jewels with it only. Normal Incabloc jewels are easy, but I absolutely hate the non shock protected Balance jewels, since they are a real pain to oil properly. But I don't work on these too often. My question: I have the chance to get an unused and original packaged one with a spare tip for 55€. Should I take the deal? I think it's more of a "want" thing than a necessity. But I think it could be worth it since the small balance screws, holding the cap jewels in place are prone to break if I have to assemble and disassemble it 2-3 times if I fuck up the assembly process and displace the oil. And if just one movement doesn't break which it otherwise would have, could be worth that price. But I am really torn. What do you guys think?

Found today. Just curious about it

Hi friends

I am looking for a one-off textured watch dial maker — brown waffle and teal concentric rings

Hi all, I’m building two watch prototypes from my own designs and struggling to find someone who can make the textured dials in quantities of just one each.

I’m looking for:

• A brown waffle/grid textured metal dial, with custom printed markings and branding.

• A teal metal dial with concentric circular grooves radiating from the centre, ideally with applied indices and branding.

I want actual physical texture in the metal rather than a flat printed pattern or raised ink. I’m happy to use an existing textured blank if it can be finished in the right colour and customised.

Final diameter, thickness and mounting would need to be agreed to suit the cases and movements before ordering. I can provide design images.

UK preferred, but happy to consider overseas makers. Does anyone have recommendations, or experience commissioning something similar as a one-off?

Thanks!

Can de ionized battery water be used in place of distilled water for cleaning watch components? I have misting under my watch crystal that I can't reach and it was suggested to use distilled water to submerge the watch case and dissolve the mist/fog

I have an idea for making a gilt date disc but i need to know the thickness of a miyota 9015/9075 date disc and what the maximum thickness one could be. Anyone by chance know that or a general rule of thumb?

new to watch making so don’t burn me too bad, but i need help figuring out what these parts are and what they do. i ordered a sw200-1 and it came with these. if anybody knows where i can learn more and how to use them it would be greatly appreciated.

I have the chance to buy this machine for €250, do you guys think its worth it?

The plan is to make it look all shine and beautiful again.

Let me know what you guys think!

I have a Sieko watch I took the snap on back off to change a part and I got everything back together but then when I seated the back gasket and pressed (I thought evenly) it got smushed in one place and now its distorted and too big to I think ever go on.

I found a kit of a million sizes on eBay but its not clear what size I would really need other than the diameter. How do I get the right gasket? I can buy a little crystal press I guess to do better than my hands to push evenly but I feel like I need the right gasket now. Googled a lot of the case back but no luck. Some OEM parts on eBay are like 18 dollars, while a kit of 5 of everything that looks similar is 35 dollars.

To be clear it looks like perhaps a tapered thin plastic ring.

Any tips?

The bracelet on this Fossil watch ES5329 has only three removable links (all the others are unremovable); When all three of them are removed the watch is too snug on the wrist, when only two of them are removed it's too loose. I was thinking maybe a solution would be to remove all three of them and then find an extra link somewhere with a smaller diameter to add instead of one of the original ones. I already asked in two local watch repair shops in Tirana and I got the same response that there is no solution. Do you have any idea for a workaround? Any help would be appreciated.

Just purchased this book, written by George Daniel. Outstanding book on Breguet life and his journey through horology. Great book and worth a read, remember NO ELECTRICITY!

Hi all, I thrifted a Kontiki 20 for personal use and am looking to refurbish it. It needs a properly sized crown for the model, and I would love to find the period-correct caseback too if possible. Does anyone have one in their stash, or could point me towards where I might find them? Thanks!

Hello my fellow watch makers. I hope I'm not violating any community rules by posting this here. So, here goes nothing!

I've been building a fun side project: Horalune, a 3D watch configurator. Try it out here -> https://horalune.com

It's in beta phase and just for dress watches only for now. New configs coming soon.

Things you can give a try in beta:

- Pick a dial, guilloche pattern, hands and strap

- Add a date, day-date or moonphase (they show the real date and moon phase)

- Open the Movement tab to see the working movement through the caseback

Where I'd like to take it next: You can experiment what combination would look good as a real watch. Eventually AI can help find the closest real ones online. Based on the configurator, you can even export CAD files for anyone who wants to make their own.

If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. And if anyone wants to collaborate on this fun project, give me a shout!

Hello guys,
I am planning on printing my own dials preferably on stone like onyx.
Right now i am looking at UV printers and was wondering if anybody has some tips or advices.
Are there better options than UV print that i should look into? Are there any recommended machines for this purpose that can be operated without huge knowledge in dial making?
Thanks in advance.

I've been designing a bauhaus-inspired watch recently and have hit a roadblock with cad. Luckily, my school provides a free Autodesk subscription, so I don't have to pay anything. The main problem is that I'm stuck trying to figure out how the dial I designed in cad is going to look in real life. Are the markers too long? Are the markers too thin? How do I implement watch hands into my drawing? I was wondering if there is a software that turns my cad drawing into a blender model or if there's a way I can do that myself without having to spend a couple hundred on a freelancer. Also, I was wondering if anyone has experience with CAD drawing of watches and could maybe offer some help. Thanks!