RWG Technical

Just a heads up from the bench on a couple more watches to avoid. 1. TAG Grand Carrera seconds at 3 Caliber 17 On the TAG, there are a number of problems and issues: - It can't be serviced, subdial hands are actually "disks", the disks can't be removed which means that the movement can't be serviced, so when it stops working you can simply throw it away, unless of course you don't care about the subdials actuall working in which case the disks would be frozen in place after servicing. - No room for the hands...design problem, no space between the crystal and the dial for the hands. As delivered the hands were practically touching each other, with less than 1/10mm between each of the hands and the dial face. The amount of space between the crystal and the dial is about 1/2 of the required distance to allow the hands to clear each other. The only way to actually have the hands not touch the crystal, is to install them with about the thickness of a piece of paper between the hands, without the required clearance between the hands - you are going to have problems. 2. Porsche Flat 6 chrono - No room for the hands... same issue as on the TAG only worse, on this model it was impossible to secure the movement to the case with clamps without the chrono seconds hand touching the crystal and preventing the movement from running. New clamps had to be fabricated, the screws could only be partially tightened, and the movement had to be secured with small dabs of epoxy holding the clamps and screws. There is no reason to not manufacture the watches with the proper and required hand clearance. My recommendation, consider these the same as the "Seconds at 6 models" - stay away from them, or if you insist on buying one of these models, do so knowing that you will have problems...

Do NOT buy any movements from them, they are JUNK.... Everything else seems ok.

Very informative, thanks so much for the details and good pics.

It's called Karma, you treat me well and I do the same in return... Email on the way...

It looks great. The only missing item is you need a center cap to fill that hole. Send me an email and I'll make one up and send it to you... Love the strap.

You know where the real money is...in making replacement parts for all the older caliber movements. If you tooled up and started producing these movements and made the parts available, you would make a fortune. This stuff is impossible to get, I don't know why no one has thought of tooling up and making all of the classics, 1030, 1530 series, V23, V72, etc... Surely the patent has long expired on these many years ago... And I agree freddy, what's the point or purpose, finish is nice, but it's not important when you can't see through the caseback.

I like the pics as well, seems to always look more interesting and impressive in pictures... The lathe is quite small, the bed is about 14" long, and the stand it sits on is about 14X18", the motor you see is about 8" high. Collets (the thing that holds the parts in the rotating head) start at 0.10mm with one every tenth of a mm, up to 5.00mm, I don't have much use for anything much larger than this. Unlike a machinest lathe, there is no cross slide, the cutting tools (gravers) are held free hand on a tool rest, similar to what you would do on a wood lathe, although at a much smaller scale.

Looks like a copy of the ETA 2824/2836 with a different balance bridge. Slight change to an existing movement...

You're welcome. The lathe and all the accessories that you need are going to be in the thousands of $$$ and the staking set can be bought used for a few hundred dollars. The problem with the lathe is the amount of practice needed to be able to use it, or even sharpen a graver correctly so that it cuts. Your best value is to find someone locally who can replace the staff for you.

What tooling to use will depend on if the staff is riveted or press fitted. If its' rivited (most are) then you need a lathe to cut the rivet off. Then you need a staking set to remove and re-install the staff, of course you need a new staff. As well, where is the collet and hairspring and roller table, do you have these parts, if they are missing you won't probably find a replacement one. The reference given is much better than anything I could type. If you haven't replaced a staff before, buy 2 of them, because you'll most likely break the first one you install... Example of one I just did on an Elgin...

I think it's a genuine ETA. The markings look genuine to me. ETA has been making this movement for almost 30 years and it comes in 5 versions and the parts are made all over the world. I don't think we can tell for sure by small changes in the gears etc, shape of cutouts, number of holes etc, simply because there are multiple variations of the quality of the movement. Parts change over time due to service experience, different manufacturing plants produce different variations etc... I can order the same ETA part from my supplier, and get two different finished and shaped parts, it all depends on when they were manufactured. The copy ETA's are simple to identify, they have terrible lazer etched markings under the balance, or poorly stamped ETA and movement caliber. The ETA ones are clearly stamped and easy to identify. 30 years of improvements without any factory data to check against, leave us only guessing... ETA movements are not rare like we think they are, millions and millions are available, if you give me enough money I can buy you 10,000 ETA 2836-2 movements tomorrow...all genuine...

It can be tricky to install, you have to seat it on the post and then press it down to snap it in place, normally it wants to fly off in space...

Very nice and wonderful collection, it doesn't get much nicer than this. Congrats and wear them well.

Too bad the watch didn't collect airmiles...it sure has been across the pond a few times Glad you like the results, it is a great watch.

Pushers are either held in place with a screw, or a "C" clip. The problem is where is the screw or C clip, most times it finds it's way into the movement and will cause damage. You need to find the missing piece and put it back in it's proper place.

I guess gym shorts and a tee shirt are out of the question, although it would certainly intimidate the opponents when you show them how "tough" you are. "Go ahead, make my day..."

Is this a chronograph movement or does the second hand run all the time when the watch is running? Your description sounds like you have an indirect center seconds hand movement. On this movement when the hand is going down, towards gravity, it tends to jump around...when it goes up, against gravity, it is smooth. If you turn the watch upside down the problem shifts from one side to the other. If this sounds like your watch, you don't have a problem, it's normal and can't be fixed...

Great story and great post. Thanks so much for sharing.

It isn't paint, the screws are blued by the application of heat, just like a gun is "blued" so are the screws. Replacing them with silver screws is the only fix.

I have noted this issue as well on many of these models. The problem is that the movement stem tube and the case tube are slightly out of alignment. It is a manufacturing defect. I have done some testing, with the movement out of the case, everything works perfectly smooth with no friction or resistance. When you put the movement in the case, you can see that the holes don't line up perfectly, when you insert the stem, the misalignment causes a bit of friction, which causes the resistance when winding, setting the time etc. As well as a problem when you screw the crown down. It won't cause any issues with the movement and as long as your careful it should not be a cause for concern. Certainly try to be very careful with the screwing down of the crown so as to not damage the case tube or crown threads...

The problem is not the fact that you sent in a 7750. It's not that bad of a movement, your issue is one of un-skilled labour. Sorry to hear about the problems, hopefully no one else sends in anything to this clown. If it makes you feel any better, at least it wasn't the antique vintage family heirloom that the other member had sent in, and which was completely ruined and destroyed..

Being an artist as well, the best explaination I can offer is this: You may be a great painter and skilled with Acrylics, moving over to oils you have to start all over again. Same if your an oil painter, moving over to acrylic, you have to start all over again. The skill set from one is not transferable to the other. I use oilers for the lume application, a good mixture of lume is the consistancy of snot, on a cold canadian winter's day playing hockey...

Understand completely on the cost of SL being an issue. The real issue is that SL and what you are using now have no relationship. Even if you produce good results, you won't be able to transfer that experience to using SL. Given that there are no lumer's in the EU, and with your artistic background...a kit of SL, along with practice, may well pay off in the end...

I love Dave's writing, thank's for this.

If the water came in through the stem, it will work it's way into the keyless works, and then under the dial to the motion works and gears... Salt water will most certainly start destroying everything in a matter of days, the only possible hope is to flush it as Dems says, with fresh water, you want every drop of salt water to be washed out. No matter what you do, it's most likely competely ruined. If it was mine, I would flush and completely fill the case with fresh water, and then seal it up. No oxygen should mean little to no corrosion until you get it looked at.