RWG Technical

I guess vortx didn't find our reply's of any value or use since he's not made one reply... Back to the topic at hand Freddy, we had a great summer, but as always it seems to be too short and not warm enough. So much for global warming...

Could be the shoes...most likely it's having drilled through my finger once (drilling a sheet metal hole, while holding it together...)I am a bit gun shy when it comes to hand holding and drilling. This one case was the hardest metal I have ever seen, it could barely be cut with a dremel cut off saw, maybe it was 914 or something, whatever it was, it took a nice shine when all done.

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Good job, can't wait to see the finished results...

Irrelevant...lack of interest...

Either the crown or the is not gen or one is damaged. The crown looks gen and the threads look fine, so I would say you have either a 6mm tube or a rep one...

Glad to be of help.

Keep in mind that any automatic watch has some type of clutch to isolate the rotor from the mainspring and allow the crown to wind the watch. The rotor to the mainspring is a geared up set of gears, many many turns of the rotor are needed to turn the mainspring one full wind. When you use the crown, no matter the type of automatic movement, you are driving these gears in reverse, a SLIGHT turn on the crown, has the gears closest to the rotor, and the clutches, spinning like mad, that is where the damage is caused...it is not designed to run in reverse. SLOW winding and only enough to get the movement running is the best long term care you can give your automatic...

I will be away from the forum until the end of October. I have shut off my PM while I am away.

The quickset for the day/date needs to be inspected and fixed. Unless you have watchmaking experience, best to have someone who is qualified fix it for you, this is not a DIY project.

Setting the time on any watch wears out the cannon gear. The A7750, if unserviced, is especially prone to this problem due to defective cannon gears that tend to slip.

Download and print the ETA datasheets from the ETA website for the 2836 (if you haven't already), they show clearly how to get at the hacking lever under the winding bridge. Rotor comes off, then the autowinder, then the mainspring gear, then the mainspring plate. Parts from different calibers are not interchangeable you are going to have to find a 2836 lever. $300 - that is about twice as expensive as it should be for a full service on an automatic.

They are similar in design and function, but not interchangeable. 2892 hacking lever is under the autowinder bridge, 2836 lever is under the winding bridge.

No idea what the model of that movement is. It certainly isn't a ETA or 6497...

I doubt that mixing would be causing the uneven glow, it would most likely be uneven application, ie thickness and width. Typically the best lume you will get is applied somewhere else than the rep factory. Yes I offer lume application, send me a PM for more details. On the vintage, most of the ones I do are fairly bright depending on what base I start from. As soon as you mix a colour into the basic lume mix, you dilute the glow.

Possible, but where do you put the extra barrel? There isn't any spare room on a 6497 to fit another barrel the same size as the original one, which is what you need to get the extra reserve... Something doesn't sound right, pics will clear it up. No macro lens needed for the pictures we need, just a clear in focus picture of the movement at the highest resolution your camera has. Make sure it's in focus even if it means being 2-3 feet from the watch, you can then crop the picture with any photo program (I use paint which is standard with windows), post the picture of the cropped shot and we'll have a look see...

I would like to see this as well. The 6497 is mechanically designed to run for 48 hours, I am really curious to know how they doubled this run time, it's like saying your car suddenly gets twice as far on the same gas tank and engine...

Best guess: The hacking lever has come out of it's slot in the clutch wheel. Since it's very thin and small and made of brass, the odds are that it's now crushed and will need to be replaced.

The best lume is genuine Super Luminova from RC Tritec in Switzerland. This is the same product as all the high end genuine manufacturer's use. The brightest glow is C3, mixing lumes will not produce a more even glow. If the lume is applied correctly, you will have an even glow no matter what colour you use.

Good info, thanks rmcsherry.

Great write up, can't wait to read the final summary. Thanks for taking the time to do this up, very interesting and informative.

@vlaletom I have access to as many 616 balance staff's and stem's that you will ever need, if you find that either of yours is broken or missing, just let me know. No problem replacing the balance staff either, I have done it many times. Many of the Cortebert's I buy have broken balance staff's, this is a common problem on vintage movements, not only Cortebert's. As long as the hairspring is not broken and still usable, it is repairable.

Well done.

I believe that there is only one supplier of hairsprings in the world, part of the Swatch group of course. Given that the tooling to make pivots and the tooling to make wheels (gears) cost in the hundred's of thousands of dollars each, and you have to make many thousands of movements to even try and recoupe your costs, it's really unlikely that they are making anything for this movement in house except for maybe some of the plates and bridges, and the decoration on them.

Beautiful collection, love the gator strap, it really sets the watch off.