RWG Technical

The reason that I suggest you hand wind a new watch when you first get it, is to charge it up before wearing it. Once your experienced wearing a mechanincal watch you know your wearing habits and how well the watch charges up when your wearing it. For a new person to mechanical watches, if they did not wind the watch, and swirled it enough to get it going, depending on their level of movement while wearing the watch, it could stop running in a few hours...and they may blame it on a defective watch, when in reality it's simply run out of power. My basics 101 is written and intended for someone new to mechanical watches, the warning is there to wind s l o w l y to protect the click wheels, but I also recommend that it be fully wound before wearing it to avoid having it stop and the owner thinking it's defective. An automatic movement gets power from movement, the more you move, the more it winds. If you sit still all day, it's not winding... Maybe I need to clear up that section of the information to make it more clear. RG

I am heading out for the evening, no time to add comments, except glad they made it home well. I'll fill in some details later on... RG

Yes, that would be how I would see it... RG

The oils are not affected by running or not running...they will evaporate after about 5 years and will need to be cleaned off and replaced with fresh oil. If the watch is serviced correctly, then it won't make any difference to the wear or lack of wear if the watch is running or not. If the watch is dry and not oiled correctly, then the longer you run it this way, the quicker it will wear out... No, pulling the crown out, is similar to having your car in gear (automatic) and pressing on the brake, while revving the engine...the car is not moving, but the engine and transmission are under strain. When you hack the movement, your stopping the balance from swinging, the balance is the last item in the gear train, and all the pressuer from the spring, through to the balance is still there and being felt throughout the gears and pivots. Probably better to let it run down and stop, no spring wound up, no stress...and it's better for the spring as well, as it gets to "rest" when unwound. RG

Easy, just buy the stem that fits the crown, in this case, 1.20mm stem, and the problem is solved. RG

If there are any spots left, I will take 2 (TWO) please. I installed the first run AR crystals last night, and they look amazing, hence my decision to do my own. RG

Yes indeed, and poor lume. RG

Damn Seagull ST-19, a watchmakers' NIGHTMARE...never break, never cause problems, never see any for service...curse you Seagull !!! Maybe I can sit alongside the Maytag repairman and we can share war stories. RG

January? I can't recall what movement was in a watch I worked on last week... let alone 2 months ago... If your letter stated that it had a ETA 2893-2, I would normally let you know if it did not have anything else in it. RG

Well done...and glad you got it sorted out. This is the only model I am aware of that the lume falls off like leaves in autum...strange. RG

There could be any number of reasons for this problem, including a loose or not cliped in balance cap jewel etc... or simply an old movement. The lack of servicing on a movement means that things get all gummed up and sticky, the pallet stones and the escape wheel are really prone to this, and this could be part of, or the problem... I think you need a second opinion, what I would want to see is the basics first, put the watch on an analyser, and let me know the readout and what it says. That will tell you immediatly what the problem is with the watch, balance wheels bent, are not the problem from what I can see, checking the movement readout is the first step any watchmaker should be doing when he gets a watch that has problems. Just like putting your car on an analyser, and finding out you have a shorted plug wire, putting the watch on the analyser is the normal procedure. You dont' even have to open the case to do this check. Here's what you should see (or a modern version of this), this is an analyser. RG

Yes, but he said it runs for about 15 minutes at a time, and then stops, a hairspring problem would not stop the watch, it would run fine, just fast all the time...which is why I suspect there is more to it than that... RG

After the UK trip, The big Fruit is next on our list. RG

Unlikely that regulation is going to fix your watch. There are two parts to regulation, beat and rate. Beat is the alignment of the parts, and if out, will show itself by a watch that is hard to START once it's stopped, once it starts up, it normally keeps running. Rate is the speed of the movement... If your beat was out, it would be hard to get going, but would normally keep running. Moving the regulator arm from one extreem to the other, may give you 10-15 minutes a day of adjustment, your at that limit already. You have a bigger problem, and adjustments will not correct it, I would say your movement is either worn out, damaged, or in serious need of a servicing. It's no where near a $25 fix no matter what the problem is. RG

Thanks for the kind words, I'll take a "Boddington" if you like. My "assistant" will be in the UK in May for a few weeks, it's her home turf and she feels the need for a early spring. RG

All the Swiss ETA genuine 2892A2's have the blue screws on the autowinder bridge, which is the blue ones you see in this picture. The Swiss ETA genuine 2824-2, 2836-2 also have blue screws on the autowinder bridges...a common practice with ETA movements. That one certainly looks genuine, check the regulator pins, a removable pin, a la ETA...not riveted a la asian... RG

I just lumed two FM Contistador (?) or whatever they were, both had Genuine ETA 2892A2's... So they are out there. RG

Seems as if your the expert, and absouletely correct. Position is irrelevant to the oils and their location in the watch, capillary action holds the miniscule oil amounts in the jewels, it can't move or migrate anywhere else once applied. A whole watch requires less than a drop of oil for complete lubrication. RG

Great post, I know more about AR coatings that I ever did. Well done. RG

This is not a copy of an ETA anything, this is a totally different movement, no parts are compatible with the ETA (at least not the ones I tested). I have been seeing this movement for a long time in our reps (first noted it a year ago) and have serviced a number of them, as well as informed the owners of what was inside, it's a good movement, nice fit and finish, and works great. I dont' see any issue with this particular movement, none I have serviced have been returned for warranty. If memory serves me, the SW200 has been discussed before. If you look closely, you can spot the giveaway on it, whereas the ETA uses pins on the bridges that fit into cooresponding holes in the mainplate, the SW uses holes on the bridges that fit into pins on the mainplate. Without any markings, you can immediatly see that it's not an ETA. It's not an "Imposter" but a high quality Swiss made alternative to the ETA's. Certainly not a show stopper if I got a watch with this inside, and most likely an error from the dealer, after all, it looks the same as the ETA, so does the "AR" stamped movements I see all the time as well...there are many variants out there... RG

If the 2836 has the "normal" height parts, the longest ones available are 0.50mm longer and should be long enough to clear the dial face. All three have to be changed, the hour, cannon, and minute wheels. RG

It was clean, sort of oiled, but not worn out anywhere that I could tell...looked like a new ETA without the markings. RG

Same thing happened to my SMP Chrono. I replaced the tube and crown with a Genuine Omega one, problem solved. Here is that post. Omega SMP crown/tube replacement RG

Mainspring replacement was the mainstay of many a watchmaker 50+ years ago...not so today. I have replaced two broken mainsprings in the past 24 months, one was on a 6497 due to a failed spot weld on the bridle, the other was on a 2836 that the bridle broke where it connects to the mainspring, most likely a defect in manufacturing or assembly. I have never seen any modern mainspring with rust on it, even the one from the 2824 above, was pristine, no rust... They are non magnetic, and rust free from what I see. Same for the hairspring, non-magnetic, so forget the magnetism causing a hairspring to touch coils and run faster, you can't magnetize them anymore. RG