RWG Technical

The movement is not a copy of anything..., it most certainly is not a V23 (or 72, the 72 is simply a 23 with a 12 hr counter added) I have tried all the stems possible and none fit. I finally found a Bestfit stem that was close and needed some tweeking in the lathe to make it fit...

I can't believe that this post has resurfaced after all this time. This was a great watch and I did up a couple more since this one, they are all in new homes...I don't have any left in my hands. Unfortunately the demand for PVD coating has disappeared, my last call in February to sign up for a PVD run resulted in ZERO replies, not even a bump of the post... So I deleted the post and stopped offering PVD service. I need at least 4 cases to send in for coating to cover my overhead, I had offered the service since 2009, but the demand has died for a number of reasons I won't get into on the forum. Costwise it was $375.00 to coat the complete case, which included the teardown, prep work and re-assembly.

I did the work. A lot of customization including the hand fabricated movement spacer ring and displacing the crown to line up with the genuine movement. This one turned out great and I am glad you like the results. Enjoy!

It could be many things. Most likely the balance staff is broken.

Star69 and Rosnik are supporters of domi and should be able to set you up with him, he is exactly who you need.

The problem is with the cannon pinion/gear, it is a clutch of sorts and should have friction to be able to drive the hands. If the seconds are turning but the hour and minute hands are not, that is your problem. It is not a DIY repair, either send it back or have a competent watchmaker service the movement and fix it.

Agree, ETA 7750 rotors in my experience are very loud, I haven't noted any difference in the noise between the A7750 or an ETA7750...

Excellent review, and really nice watch, a welcome change from what's normally posted. The movement is certainly one of the better chrono's, although I have not see one with the calendar work. If the calendar work is built to the same standard as the rest of the movement, you won't have any issues. Thanks for this, really refreshing.

With the rise in Gold prices, the first watches I noticed being affected were vintage pocket watches. By "being affected" I am of course referring to the sudden appearance of thousands of pocket watches for sale, with no case, only the dial/hands/movement were for sale. The case, being made of Gold, was scrapped and the owner was trying to sell of the guts... Lately I have seen a huge increase in the numbers of watches that have been also being parted out and the cases sold for scrap metal. These are high end brands with their cases missing having been sold for scrap metal and the guts are being sold for pennies on the dollar. Does anyone else have a problem with this trend or is it only me... Not that we can do anything about it, but the reality is that historic pieces are being scrapped for the price of Gold. These missing cases will never be able to be remanufactured and the watch is basically junk when only the dial, hands and movement are remaining. Other than using these items to repair another complete watch, it's nothing but scrap junk. Personally I think it's a real shame and that we are loosing historic watches, yes I know millions were made, but I also believe that millions have been, or are going to be scrapped, and their Gold cases melted down. Not like this same scenario hasn't happened before with other types of items, only to discover too late that historic pieces were lost. What do you think?

Beautiful finish, simply amazing, even at that high magnification you can see how finely finished the case was, no orange peel on this one, and I must say, the lume ain't that bad either I'm with Watchmeister, hand and finger oil works for me and give it that nice patina and ageing effect.

Have someone competent look at it, not the local shopping mall watch battery replacement guy. If you have to ask, your better off getting someone to take care of for you. Most likely it's the tilting pinion engagement that is out of adjustment, as Justasgood suggests. There is an ecentric adjustment that adjusts the depth of engagement, if too much it will prevent the chrono from running and stop the whole movement. Or, it could be something else. Have someone qualified look at it.

Looks great. Didn't take you long to get this one together...wow... Amazing what results you can get when you use the same factory for PVD coating that Panerai used...there is no comparison that's for sure. Perfect finish, perfect colour, no orange peel plastic coating effect, just a beautiful dynamic colour that you can't take your eyes off. Enjoy, especially the ageing of the PVD as you wear it and it takes on it's own patina.

A lot of incompetence and unskilled hands at work for sure... The lesson is simple, choose your watchmaker, then your workscope...

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Thanks. Whenever I receive a watch or movement, especially one in this condition, I never wind or "test" it, a general overall look will tell you it's in poor condition, winding it may cause irreversable damage. Interestingly on this one, when I assembled the train and tested all the end and side shakes, the 4th wheel had no end shake and no clearance, in fact with the bridge in place, the 4th wheel was jammed solid. I ended up having to move the top 4th wheel jewel into the bridge by 0.04mm to give it the required end shake and running clearance, and allow the train to spin freely. What I can't figure out is this: How did this happen? with no end shake and a jammed 4th wheel the movement would not run, but it had to be running at some point, so what happend to the end shake? Who or where did the clearance go and when?

It is a shame. Sadly I see the botched results of many unskilled watchsmiths all too often. It seems as if the overall interest in these technical posts is also disappearing, the forum member demographics and interest is not what it used to be, that's for sure. Either that, or most don't appreciate or understand the skills needed to make these type of parts....at one time all techincal posts generated a lot of discussion and interest with the membership, not any more...

As you can see, everything was really gummed up and black, the before pictures are as it arrived on the bench. Servicing ran about 3 or so hours, custom fabricating by hand the new cannon, hour, and seconds post took the better part of a day. When your tolerance is 0.01mm and you are turning freehand in the lathe a part that finishes up at 0.25mm, after having to drill a 0.25mm hole, it requires a delicate touch and a lot of patience. The balance c0ck looked completely out of place as compared to the rest of the movement, my only guess is that it either wasn't original, or that it was in a location that was open to cigarette smoke and dirt. It was gross...

A short pictorial of the work required when servicing/restoring a vintage Angelus cal 240 8 day movement. First up some pictures of the condition as received Hairspring coils are so dirty they are stuck to each other Somewhat dirty and gummed up Very dirty and someone installed the wrong screws holding the jewel setting in place, the correct screws should be flush, not sticking out of the setting Keyless very dirty with many particles of crap After a good cleaning we end up with the following results BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER Note not only the cleanliness of the c0ck but the new correct length screws I installed BEFORE AFTER Fabrication of longer CANNON PINION, HOUR WHEEL, and PINION for running seconds hand. In addition to the above restoration work, this project also included the fabrication of longer cannon pinion, hour wheel, and running seconds post to allow the hands to clear the new thicker dial Here’s an overall view of the new parts Here is a close-up of the new hour wheel pipe Here is the view from the bottom, the new pipe was riveted to the gear Here is the new longer cannon pin, note the dimensions of the parts Overall view of the new parts in place. The seconds post dimensions are a drilled hole at 0.25mm to fit over the 4th wheel pivot, and the post measures 0.25mm also to accept the new seconds hand. Thanks for reading

That's what I was always told and what I always have done, but then again, maybe I need an eye checkup. Forums are what they are...most times it's better to read and not participate...

Thanks for the feedback. I normally grind down and re-finish the CG's to about 50% of the thickness you have shown.

Although I haven't followed all 7 pages of this topic, I can remember once trying to disassemble a rolex bracelet, and despite being quite skilled and knowing a thing or two about mechanical items and how to take them apart and re-assemble them, and having a good assortment of tooling and experience to draw upon, the final result of my efforts was a completely destroyed bracelet that was still perfectly together, but somewhat smashed... Guess I must have glossed over the post that explains how someone is going to take the bracelet apart and replace the existing SEL, with this new one. It should be interesting to say the least, reminds me of Fliplockbuckle and the amazing posts he did, oh the things you can do with a hockey puck...

Results are good, nice job. I am not clear on some of the items you did for the mods. I would have liked to see before and after pictures of the CG's to see exactly what was done. For the dial lume, is there a reason why is the lume not smooth? It looks like the lug holes are chamfered on the outside of the lug, is that correct or is it only in the pictures? I have done many of these same mods, but what I am asked to do is quite different than what you are showing. My lume is smooth and puffy, the lugs have no chamfer and the CG's end up quite thin. It would be nice to know what is correct, or is there a variety that is acceptable. For the lugs holes, every gen I have in the shop has flat edges, no chamfer, and my '63 5508 has nice puffy round smooth lume as do all the other gen's I have seen in the shop. Is there something I am missing or doing wrong? Thanks for the insight...

Without hard proof linking all these items to the same person, it's really all speculation at this point. I don't put a lot of faith in the fact he was banned at Geeks, look around at all the other members who have been banned there...it's kind of irrelevant to what they may or may not have actually done.

Wow, he's been a member of RWG since the beginning, this is not a good turn of events if it's true...