RWG Technical

Choice is the correct word. Just like you have a "choice" as to which dealer you give your business to, I as a part-time watchsmith excercise my "choice" as to who I choose to offer my services to. This is a hobby I choose to do a few nights a week to pass my time and help others. I am not sure why some people take issue with my choice. I make my choices based on what I see take place on the forum, and how people deal with me. For example, if your a nasty person on the forum (not necessarily towards me), or if you book an appointment with me and then stand me up (this after you're sent 2 upcoming appointment reminder emails, and you still fail to respond), or if you don't have common courtesy to send me a simple "Thanks" after I help you out on a PM, your not someone I want to deal with. If you waste my time, you'll only have one chance to do it. If you actively promote or support someone who has been shown to have done shoddy watch work for members, I don't want to work with you, and I especially don't want to have to clean up their mistakes. It would be wonderful if there were numerous watchsmiths to choose from, unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case. Anyone who has been here over a year, knows too well that what is posted on the forum concerning shoddy workmanship and practices by some watchsmiths, is only the tip of the iceberg. This has been proven true on more than one occasion. The names of these individuals are well known. What really bothers me is how some members can post that someone's work has been nothing but excellent, when recent posts would say otherwise. That either means the persons who have had bad experiences (multiple ones, over many months) are the exceptions, or they are lying about their bad experience. Since it was shown that they weren't lying at all, stating that the workmanship is nothing but excellent, does a disservice to those members who don't have the luxery of our collective past experiences. As for my being sensitive, nothing could be further from the truth. I speak my mind, much to the dismay of a few members, and I do know the quality of the work I send out. I stand behind what I do 110%, and my honesty includes refunding customers money when a job turns out to be less costly than estimated, I have even sent back $5 in overpayment. That doesn't mean every transaction is perfect or everyone is happy. Take for instance the member who's watches were in house for 6 months and who sent me no less than 135 emails during that period. He was upset at me for many reasons, including having "rushed" him in his decisions, not having provided "enough" detail for his liking...as well as a bunch of other reasons...you can't please everyone I guess, not even if you answer all 135 messages. Thankfully he decided to take his business elsewhere. The reality is that anyone can put up a shingle stating that they offer lume or watch mods, the problem is that most do so without even a basic understanding or appreciation of what it takes to work on watches. Watchsmithing courses are available on-line, but learning takes a back to seat to getting at the real reason for offering a service... That is all I have to say about this subject. RG

I have some Asian ones in my stock...shoot me a PM if your intersted. RG

You should wind a manual watch until it can't be wound anymore. There is no clutch, the mainspring is fixed to the mainspring barrel and once you fully wind the spring, it can't be wound anymore. It doesn't matter if it takes you 200 turns on the crown to reach the stop, don't stop winding until you can't wind anymore and the crown won't turn. You can't overwind a watch, so don't even think of that happening. No reason to wind slowly, there are no click wheels to damage, and since most handwind movements will run for 42 hours or more, winding every day is fine. RG

I have never seen yellow lume, not even sure if RC Tritec sells yellow lume... If yellow lume is available, it can be lumed. The other possibiliity is to take C1 white lume, and add yellow paint to it, the only problem is once you get enough paint in the lume to duplicate the yellow in your picture, it's not going to glow at all... RG

Not only has the price doubled, the availability of the 2836-2 is getting worse, none are listed at Ofrei anymore, only the 2824-2 is listed, at $129 and up, for a used surplus movement of unknown condition. I listed a fully serviced ETA 2836-2 - twice, as well as a couple of fully serviced A7750's, no interest in any of them...so back in the spares bin they go... As for the original question, not worth trying to do the upgrade, better to simply buy a watch you like with the ETA inside already. RG

For all models, you have to find the mainspring click (the small lever that ratchets and holds the mainspring wound up as you wind it). Once you find the click, turn the crown and watch how the click moves back and ratchets into each gear tooth as you wind the watch. To unwind the watch, you have to turn the crown until you release the mainspring tension on the click and can move it out of the way. Take your tweezers and push the click out of the way so it can't engage into the mainspring gear teeth, KEEP Holding the crown. While holding the click out of the way, CAREFULLY release your grip on the crown and allow the crown to slip and the mainspring to unwind fully. The process is the same on all watches, the difference is the type of watch, if it's automatic, manual, chrono etc, depending on the model, some disassembly is required before you can access the click spring. For example, on an automatic watch, the automatic winding bridge and gears have to be removed before you can unwind it. Good luck. RG

I didn't know there was a demand for snowflake Tudor hands. I have a complete set (all 3 hands) of Genuine Tritium vintage snowflake hands...guess I have to dig them out and sell them... RG

Great writeup and detailed information. I can't imagine the hours you spent researching and documenting this, thanks for the contribution. RG Some of my favorites:

The efforts people will go to, to steal money from people, never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for the heads up. RG

I have a one that fits into the hole of the tube, it's tapered, and probably starts at about 1/8" to 1/4" in diameter. I only have the one, not a complete set, I think it's made by Starrett. RG

I use a screw extractor. You can buy them at any major tooling store, the extractor has reverse flutes on it, you screw it in the tube backwards, it grabs the tube, turns it and you can twist it out of the case. Works on all tubes, rollie's as well... RG

It all depends on what watches your referring to and the movements they have. If they have asian automatic movements, the hands will not fit the Swiss movement, so the swap is not possible. If it's a Asian 7750 chrono, the hands will not fit either but can be modified to fit, which takes experience and skills to do, and tools. If you have no experience in working on watches, removing movements, working under a loupe, no tools, etc, your much better to pay someone to do the work for you, the odds of success if you try it yourself, are not good. RG

Yes those cold Atlantic nights can be made all that much better cuddling up next to a cow... I wrote up a detailed owners manual for mechanical watches (under the Wiki section) to help members avoid the slapping like a cow procedure. I don't understand why the dealers don't simply use that information on their own sites instead of crap info that can damage the watch. RG

Nothing more I can add to the above, they covered it all... RG

Well...I don't think you need my feedback on "wacking your watch like a mad cow for 3-4 minutes"...and if it's a good thing or not. RG

The Venus 175 copy (mislabeled Lemania 1874 or whatever) is a very good movement and basically trouble free. Did you wind the watch, until it stops, meaning you can't turn the crown anymore? This may take 50-100 turns, but it has to be fully wound. If the answer is yes, then there is something wrong with the watch, check if it's stopping at a certain time etc, normally the movements in these are very reliable and don't cause problems, maybe it's a hand touching or something else... RG

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Great review and write up. But a bit too big for my wrists and arms... RG

Is it EVER broken...both pivots are gone... Since you have the movement basically totally torn down, you should go ahead and run it through a cleaner and start fresh with a clean and oiled and fully serviced movement. Send me a PM and we'll sort something out for a replacement one. RG

I am sorry to hear about your issues. After 3.5 years on these boards, I have come to the conclusion that there are many members who will screw other members, without even blinking an eye. In my personal case, I have (and continue) seen how so called "Modders" screw the good members of this forum out of big $$$ and are nothing but charlatan's and scammers. The only way I could remain a member of this forum, and keep my sanity, was to totally absolve myself of what some people are willing to do to others - for the sake of money. I have done this two ways, 1. by ignoring the crappy modders, and 2. by refusing to work on ANY watch that has been previously work on. There is no way that the problems you describe were not apparent and visible to the seller. In other words, they well full knew what they sold you, so why are we not calling them out so others won't be in the same position? I would say at the least, your owed your money back as well as return shipping. It's no wonder the forum is loosing good members, the sense of community and looking out for each other is gone. RG

All the tension in the mainspring is held back by the pallet stones on the escape wheel. Remove the escape wheel (or have it break and the gear disconnect from the second wheel teeth) and there is nothing stopping the mainspring from unwinding, so it makes perfect sense for the mainspring to unwind if the pivot broke off of the escape wheel. Re-assembling a 7750 is a very daunting task, no where near any other movement in terms of difficulty, or the time it takes (except for the El-Primero, that one is very difficult and time consuming to service). Unless you have assembled a 7750 successfully before, I don't envy your position at this point. RG

Look closely at the top and bottom pivots of the escape wheel, I would guess that the pivot is broken off...hence your problem... RG

I agree. Most aircraft windows (especially small helicopters and airplanes) have plexi windows, and it doesnt' absorb water. The issue is the fact that plexi ages and gets brittle and cracks with time, as well as expands and contracts with heat and cold. All of these issues can affect the seal between the crystal and the case. If you consider that the crystal just sits on the metal of the case, immersed in hot water, good chance that the plexi is going to expand quicker that the metal, it doesn't take much of a gap to get moisture in the case. RG

If it's not salt water inside the watch, you should be ok for a little while, salt water will totally destroy the movement in a couple of days. Sorry to hear you don't have anyone locally that can help you, I think I would send it out to your watchsmith on monday to get it looked at. RG

If water did get in, it probably came in by the crown and stem. If this did happen, it will go inside the movement and destroy the movement very quickly. If the watch was running fine, but now doesn't run, I would suggest you get it opened up, and have the movement taken apart as quick as you can, or it will be destroyed... No more bubble baths for you. RG