ajoesmith Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 I was doing this transplant last night and thought it shouldn't take too much extra time to snap a few pics along the way to post here and give other members a look and see whats involved. I want to make it clear that im NOT a watchmaker or any kind of watch guru, im just a hobbyist and do this stuff in my free time. I started my interest in reps when i was about 15 years old when my friend had a rep Tag Heuer. I was very envious and really wanted one but at that time they were only available in asia etc... and i wasnt going on holiday anytime soon. Anyway i got my first rep, a submariner, and though it was the dogs bollox. Now i have to laugh, a 17 year old with a rolex - yeah right!!!! Well 10 years later and ive gone off rolexes and like Omega, Panerai and Breitling to name a few. Im quite technically minded and always like mechanical movements and wondered how they work. Ive recently just stripped an old asian 7750 and put it back together and it works!!!!, great sense of satisfaction. Ive had no proper training and just do this hobby by trial and error, and with a little help from RWG as guidance. The methods that i use are by no means the best and certainly not endorsed by watchmakers but they do seem to work for me and achieve the results that i want. Im doing this tutorial/pictorial just to let people see how its done. Feel free to try these methods but if your are not technically minded DONT dive in and expect to do a good job!, leave it to the pros like Mr.The Zigmeister OK so i have a Chrono avenger and wanted to replace the old asian 21,000bph movement with a Gen Swiss ETA 7750. I read on this great forum that it was a straight swap. Great!! I purchased the ETA 7750 from a seller on ebay check here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Watch-Movement-ETA-775...VQQcmdZViewItem He's a great guy to deal with and can get a better price if you take more than 1, like i did!! So just again what im doing, Im replacing an old version 21,000bph Asian 7750 with a Gen Swiss ETA 7750 On to the pics. Here is the New ETA 7750 movement and the Chrono Avenger Same again My too small table with all the tools that ill need for the job!, of course you need a beer too (in the background!!) Case back removal tool, think its called Jaxa? Case back off! Case back off! Case back off! movement holder screw no. 1, tweezers pointing to screws movement holder screw no. 2 movement holder screw no. 3 Screws off The tweezers are pointing to the crown stem removal button, im not sure of the correct term for this. Press this BUT NOT TOO HARD OR ELSE YOU'LL SCREW UP THE KEYLESS WORKS AND THEN YOUR IN A WORLD OF HURT!! Before removing the stem in the above picture, adjust the hands so its 12 oclock, this will make it easier to remove the hands. NOTE ADJUST THE TIME TO 12pm NOT 12am AS AGAIN IT COULD MESS WITH THE DATE CHANGE MECHANISM AND/OR THE KEYLESS WORKS! OK stem removed Turn the whole watch upside down and out comes the movement and dial Lift the case away as above BE CAREFUL HERE!!! For the chrono to work the movement holder has 2 small metal 'pushers' (again correct terminology? ive no idea!) these are not held in place and can easily fall out, be careful, not to lose them Movement holder and movement Hand removal tool I use a piece of paper to protect the dial, probably should use lint paper but i dont have any! Cut a v shape in it Cut a v shape in it The chrono Avenger dial has the rehaut attached to the dial and so it was very difficult to use the paper to protect the dial as i couldnt get the paper it place. I could have removed the rehaut but i didnt want to. In this case i didnt use the paper to protect the dial. I was just very careful to remove the hands. I didnt touch the dial at all with the removal tool. Not for the faint hearted! Hour and minute hands off The side of the movement there should be a device to hold the dial in place. 1 on each side of the movement. again i dont know the correct term for these but this particular movement didnt have them To remove the dial i use a screwdriver and gently insert it between the dial and the movement. Be careful not to scratch the datewheel!!!. EDIT: Please note, i only insert the edge of the screwdriver and then twist it to lift up the dial This method above also removes the small chrono hands as well! All chrono hands off Dial off New ETA 7750 movement to be installed Im also replacing the dial, the new dial is still a rep dial but better than the old rep dial In this pic you can see the dial holder 'things', not sure what they are called. Dial in place, can you spot the problem?? Again another pic can you see? Plastic tweezers for the next job and the hand press 30 min chrono hand on 12 hour chrono hand on Second hand on Second hand ticking ok Second hand ticking ok Hour and minute hand ready to go on Hour hand on using the hand press, NOTE before putting the hour hand make sure the time is set to 12 o'clock. I use a piece of tissue paper to press the hand back on so as i dont mark the hands Hour hand on and testing to see if its on the right place Minute hand on, all seems ok Chrono second hand on Checking to see if all is aligned ok, all is OK Blow off any dust :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajoesmith Posted April 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Ready to put back into the case, also blow off any dust on the inside of the crystal Movement back in the case Movement holder and chrono pieces chrono pieces back in the movement holder Holder in place Movement screws screwed in. At this time i also check to see if the chrono is working correctly or not. actually the 30 minute chrono hand wasnt installed correctly and when i started, stopped and reset the movement the 30 minute chrono hand flew off. I had to put it on again Crown and stem back in place Case back on Wrist shot, GREAT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shultzie Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 wow... That is one informative post. Quite the effort. Thanks for taking us all along on that trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxmilian Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Very nice writeup thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Thnx for this very informative post! A few months ago I swapped the rep 2824 for a new ETA 2824. Wished I had this guide at that time. Funny to see that the principle is the same. I made all the mistakes which you warn here for: forgot to blow off the dust from the dial, then forgot to blow off the dust from the crystal, then noticed that there were fingerprints on the dial since I didn't use the tissue, then didn't know how to place the hands back since I didn't know to set the watch at 12 before taking off the hands etc.. You don't want to know how often I had to re-open the case. And did I already mention that I screwed up the keyless work by pushing too hard, hahaha?? Would be nice to pin this item in the technical section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chubbchubb Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 This is a great post, thanks Joe... I've done the same thing a few times already and unless you have a step-by-step guide like this one, you're sure to pay the price. It's little things like paper to protect the dial when removing the hands, tissue to protect the hands when installing them... That's why (in addition to collecting gens) I love collecting reps... I would never dare to do that with one of my gens.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplehd Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Awesome job, but quick question. Did you have to replace the hands? I thought if you swapped the Asian 7750 for an ETA 7750, the hands (especially on the Chronos, would not fit on the ETA movement). Again, awesome job ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 A fun and successful project! Nice pictorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Did you have to replace the hands? I thought if you swapped the Asian 7750 for an ETA 7750, the hands (especially on the Chronos, would not fit on the ETA movement). The hands of an old Asian 7750 will fit on an ETA 7750. However, the hands of the new 28.8 Asian 7750 won Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitimany Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Excellent guide. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajoesmith Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Thanks, glad you liked it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Great post Admin note: Pinnable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torresp Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Excellent, I was waiting this post since my start in RWG and TRC. Awesome job. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronus Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Great write up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Great post. Hopefully that will inspire folks to do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajoesmith Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 Maybe im just plugging my own thread but i think this should be pinned! Admin/members what do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 Maybe im just plugging my own thread but i think this should be pinned! Admin/members what do you think? I think it's useful, apart from the bit that uses the dial to remove the subdial hands. Sure, you can do that if you're replacing the dial, but otherwise isn't there a risk of marking the dial and/or pinging the hands across the room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrgod Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 A good tutorial, which could well be pinned. Shame that it is only the old Chinese 7750 movement which is a straight swap with ETA. If I remember correctly, Ajoesmith also made an excellent tutorial for freezing the 6 o'clock subdial on Venus 175 copy movements. I has been very useful for me. Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Which Bergeon hand remover do you have? It looks liket the #1... Which one should I get the #1 or #6? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredman Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Brilliant............... thank you for all the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidbaecken Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 Hi there, excellent article, congrats!! One question though: I thought the hands lugs of an Asian 7750 are 0.20mm compared to 0.25mm of an ETA 7750. Does this matter??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogfalls Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 Great job and excellent tutorial! Just I silly question How can I know that the watch is in 12pm and not 12 am before removing the hands? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwhitesox Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 @Skidbaecken this is the old slow beat 7750 so the hand sizes are the same as the ETA 7750. You just wind the time through a few revolutions until you can see when the date changes to find out what time 12:00pm is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogfalls Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 @Skidbaecken this is the old slow beat 7750 so the hand sizes are the same as the ETA 7750. You just wind the time through a few revolutions until you can see when the date changes to find out what time 12:00pm is. Thanks bwhitesox! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidbaecken Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 what to do if you want to change a 28800 asian 7750 with a lug size of 0.20? the eta I have is for 0.25 hands but the hands on the rep obviously are fitted to the 0.20?? I guess most project with new reps will have this issue. Any experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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