RWG Technical

Thanks for the comments... Seriously I have no idea who did the work on the other dial, and it really doesn't matter to me. It is nice to be able to have something to compare yourself against, as I tend to be a bit anal (ok a lot anal) and am disapointed when I see the small imperfections on my dial...but from now on, I think I will be a bit easier on myself... Have a great weekend, I wont' be back till sunday night... RG

Haven't seen them yet, but I have a parcel at the post office, and will be picking it up today when I go to ship this week's work out... It may be them and the dials I ordered... Once they get here, I will post a review... RG

Fixing watches is a lonely world, I sit alone and do my work, and once the case back goes on, the craftsmanship and attention to detail is hidden from view... When I relume a watch, the situation is different, the owner gets to see my work everytime he checks the time. So as I do with the stuff you can't see (but I can see it and that does matter) I take great pride and think I can do a good job for my customers when it comes to lume work. I have never had the chance to compare my lume work to anyone else's, until tonight. It so happens I just finished an OEM dial in vinatge look, and got a vinatge one in for other work (not relume as it's already been done...ahhhem...). So except for one other time when a detailed picture was posted about lume, this is my first experience. Well I can say I am quite proud of my workmanship and skills, no words are need from now on, you can see for yourself... I have no idea who did the lume on this one... Other LUME job My Lume job Other LUME job My Lume job Other LUME job My Lume job Other LUME job My Lume job Other LUME job My Lume job I know I have mistakes and imperfections on the one I did, but I think I can say that I do a pretty good job overall... RG

Not any more, I did for years and sold many works. But I am taking a break from painting for now, as a single dad, I have little spare time - and I have a new "Frau" in my life also...so no time to paint...only time to fix watches... Here is another one I did...don't mean to hijack the thread... RG

Possible, but I don't think you can buy the new Asian 7750 alone....if you could only get the movement, sure it's possible to swap it out. Would I recommend it? I have my 13 month old 188 on my wrist today, I wear this watch 3-4 times a week, and use the crap out of the chrono's...it was serviced 13 months ago, I use it all the time, and it's got the Old Asian 7750 in it. The watch works perfect, never a problem, keeps accurate time, chrono resets to 12 every time...etc... So it's hard for me to bad mouth the Old 7750, when the one I have works great (and so do the other ones I have with the old 7750 in them...). I have only had one return of an older version 7750 after I serviced it, and I have serviced dozens of these models...one bad watch out of dozens, and this one was defective... You can draw your own conclusions based on real life examples. RG

I would not recommend replacing the Asian with the ETA on this model, for a few reasons. 1. all these models I have seen have the new Asian 7750 that is as good as an ETA in my opinion. 2. if you get an ETA, at $200-400 for the movement alone, you still have to service it at some point, so your out of pocket the money for the ETA, when it's not necessary to replace it as the Asian movement is very good. Some genuine parts fit the ETA, but not all...I have not tried part for part on the new Asian one, but I know that on the older Asian models, the great wheel and cannon pinion were not the same. I would say most of the parts are interchangeable, but not all of them. And realistically, what parts would you need, other than a new mainspring every service, or maybe a balance wheel if you dropped the watch... I would save my money and stick with the Asian one it comes with... RG

Thanks for the question and the kind words... I have never posted a "How-To" for Re-Luming for a few reasons, including the fact that there is no room for error at all, if you touch the dial with the lume, the watch is ruined. So if I posted a How-To, you can be guaranteed that people would ruin their dials and get [censored] at me for having posted it... Also, unless your accustomed to working with a loupe on your eye, trying to learn to work with a loupe, while also trying to relume a dial, is a disaster waiting to happen. If you never used a loupe, you don't realize that with a loupe on, you have no depth perception, it takes two eyes to judge depth, with only one, it's not easy to tell how far or close things are... Since I service and repair watches on a regular basis, I have trained myself to work with a loupe and can use that experience to work with lume. Also consider that I have been an oil painter for years, and that skill is very handy for reluming...here's an example of a painting I did...I have been painting for 30+ years... I used my painting skills to help me with reluming, and even then, I practiced and practiced, and then tried reluming on two of my own watches, before I attempted to do anyone else's...and I damaged both of my watches on my first lume attempt...so much for painting skills being handy.... The other thing is that I have spend countless hours teaching myself to relume, and I think I am very good at it now. I have no interest of taking my hard earned skills and giving it away to others, this may sound selfish, but I give a lot to the forum, and share as much as I can with everyone...but this one is one that has cost me a lot of investmemnt in time and money, and I am not prepared to simply give it away. Added to this, I have gotten "Hate Mail" from people who are mad that I posts "How-To" articles, because I made it look too "easy" and they damaged their watch because of me... So imagine the amount of carnage I would cause if I tried to post a "How-To Relume your watch" post... The cost of Super Luminova is about 42 + 40 (shipping) CH Swiss franks... for 1 gram, it's very expensive. You can always buy some lume, read the kit instructions, and play around with it and practice and then do your own. It can be done, others here are doing it on a regular basis, so it's a skill that can be developed, but don't expect to be able to relume a dial at the first go at it... I know this is not the answer your probably expecting, but I think my reasons are quite valid and appropriate. Sorry for the long answer but I just didn't want to brush you off... RG

I had a bag of these, for the manual and auto models, but I have given them all away to members who needed them, so I have a few left for myself, but that's it... Sorry... RG

Got your PM, but hit delete instead of reply...so here's my reply...glad it worked out for you... RG

No idea on these particular models, but all watch timers are basically the same... But the pictures are too small to see the details, if you can post big pictures so I can read the front of both units, I may be able to provide some guidance. RG

Not too techinical at all, no BS, lots of pictures and drawings and clear explinations on this stuff... But as Slick said, if your looking for accuracy, mechanical watches are not for you...quartz is the way to go... RG

Try this link. Basics 101 And then this one, Basics 102 And finally, this whole section should give you enough reading for a few hours, and answer all you tech questions... General information... If after reading this, you still have questions, please let me know...I love questions and challenges... RG

I think you got this taken care of with the great help from those who answered...excellent stuff... With any plastic ring models, I normally remove the stem before I remove the ring. This allows me to hold the movement in place as I release the stem. For reference, on every movement except for the Russian Moljina model, I release the stem in the winding position. I know this goes against the Time Zone Experts and what they say, but hundreds of watches and never a problem, I must be doing something right... Those are the words I like to hear, trying it yourself is always good, everyone starts somewhere... As someone already stated, you can't service a movement by dipping it in one-dip or any other cleaner...no matter what some say... Only way to clean a movement is to completely disassemble, clean, inspect, reassembly and oil each part individaully as it's assembled... Glad you got it to work and you had success and also that the members steped in to help you along...I was sleeping which is why I did not answer till now..... Great job, RG

I have an old one with the original asian 7750, and it's over 1 year old now. I use the chrono 10 times a day, 3 days a week when I wear the watch, never a problem... If you want to know all the details on this model, plse review my 3 series in the repair and upgrade subforum, under "Ziggy Zone", there is a 3 part series that explains in detail how the 7750 works, once you read this, you will know everything I do about this movement. RG

Broken hammer reset spring, DO NOT Manual wind or do anything else, as you risk really damaging the movement. Best to get it looked at by someone. RG

From reading your commnts, I have to assume that the seconds hand does indeed STOP when you press the top pusher, and that you can Start it again by repressing? If the top pusher works and starts and stops the chrono that means the hammer reset spring is most likely broken. Does anything rattle around in the case? If yes, then don't use the watch, as you will damage it. Broken pieces and movements dont' mix. If the top pusher does NOT start and stop the chrono, then the problem is the pusher spring that has come off the pusher arm, less of a problem, but still requires opening the case and fixing it. In either case, it does not mean a new engine, but simply a small fix... RG

Have seen many with Asian movements in them, but never one with a genuine Miyota in it... If the movement hacks, it's not a Miyota. RG

Thanks for clarification. RG

The lever in your picture is the correct one for this model of movement. Moving this lever will vary how fast or slow the watch runs. Just becasue it's the correct lever on this movement, doesn't mean it's the correct one on all movements, some are the opposite to this one and have the stud arm on the inside. The 2892A2 is opposite to this model. This arm is the regulator arm, and the way to tell which one is the regulator arm is as follows: look at the hairspring on the balance, where the hairspring ends - this is the stud arm. You never move the stud arm as this affects the beat of the watch, and to adjust the beat, you need a watch analyzer. The arm that the hairspring passes through, is the regulator one. The danger in moving this arm is the risk of touching and damaging the hairspring. The only way to avoid this is to have loupe so you can see what your doing. If the regulator arm is at the most negative adjustment, and the watch still runs fast, then it's a sign that the movement is dry and needs to be serviced, cleaned and oiled. A dry movement has more friction and this means the balance swings less, smaller swings equal faster rate... RG

That is excellent news. Now if you could get those who are manufacturing the Asian copies of the ETA 6497 to make the longer parts, as standard parts, and not the shorter ones, and make spare parts also, then this would be great and fix the problems for everyone... It would be so easy to fix this at the factory, rather than after the watch is delivered to the customer. If you need a review on anything, I would be my pleasure and I would be honored to do it... I must say that your the first one to bring much needed spare parts to the members here, and we have been crying for spare parts for a long time. I know it's hard to get them, and Jos Nana (who I consider a personal friend) has helped me in the past, but only on a one to one basis. I appreciate his helping me out, and I also appreciate and understand how hard it is for you to source these parts, and certainly am glad your willing to help us here. Thanks you for all you bring to us here. RG

I can only answer based on my opinion. If you order a ETA 6497-1 or -2 movement, it's going to come with the shorter cannon and hour wheels as standard. You can order movements with longer cannon and hour wheels (there are up to 6 lengths on some movement models), but this is a special order from ETA. What are the chances that anyone is actually custom ordering these movements, probably zero, the movements are from the surplus market. So since ETA produces the standard model, this is what they buy, and what ends up in your watch... What pisses me off, is the Asian copies of the ETA 6497 model, especially the -2 one. If your going to copy and make your own parts, why not make the longer cannon and hour wheel...and fix the problem? So we are left to order the correct parts, and they are hard to get, I guess Paneari must be using them all... RG

I have modified and installed dozens of the longer cannon and hour wheels on all models of PAM's. The hand tubes are long for one reason only, they have to be to allow the hands to clear the dial and seconds hand, and each other. Here is a typical cannon and hour wheel height above the dial face on a sandwich dial, in this example this is a Black Seal. Here's another view, in this one you can see that the minute hand is almost touching the hour one... the minute hand is almost touching the hour hand, but the tube is 0.80mm long.... If you want to eliminate the recessed pin issue, you have to reduce the height of the tube from 0.80mm to 0.45mm, basically in half. Yet as you can see here, the hand is almost touching the other one...if you reduce the tube depth in half, you won't be able to secure it to the cannon pin post... If you look at this hand from above, you can see the recessed pin problem. I have ordered hands and dials from Daviesen as I think they are excellent products, my concern is that I am getting requests to install these hands or cut down the existing ones to correct the recessed pin issue, without installing the longer cannon and hour wheels. Pictures explain the issue better than words, here is a sandwich dial with short cannon and hour wheels. Here is the same dial with the longer cannon and hour wheel and the shortened hands You can see clearly in the pictures the before and after, I think we need to see the same before and after of the cutting down the hand, or installation of the Davidsen hands. If there was no reason to install the longer cannon and hour wheels, I would not do it. I can help more customers if all I have to do is cut the hands down...but I have a hard time accepting this as a solution, when you can see above the issues and problems. Clarification is appreciated...with pictures please... RG

Anyone can reply here Joe, it's not only for me...the more feedback and views the better... I have serviced a number of these models, other than being a challenge to service, simply due to the size and the fact that the movement has the same number of parts as a 2836, they are well made and if beat and timed and adjusted - keep good time. I restored 3 genuine Glycine Airman 7 watches a couple of months ago. The small movements are all 2671's, so that project alone was 6 overhauls. In each case, following servicing, they all worked well, and with no negative feedback, I have to assume that they continue to run and keep accurate time. RG

Fantastic, I love it. Well laid out, clear easy to follow pictures, and a great informative post. Lets hope this encourages others to follow suite and do the same type of thing in their area's of expertise... Well done, thanks for taking the time to help the forum. RG

I answered on the forum...or at least I thought I covered it on the forum... I'll go read the PM again... RG