RWG Technical

Some PO's come with very good lume, maybe even super lume or close to it. So your comparison is indeed correct, a standard PO is very good out of the box. I agree that the posts are misleading, that is why I have gone out of my way to clear that misunderstanding up, and posted a number of items on glow, time elapsed photo's, stated over and over that the initial glow lasts for only a minute or so, but that with super lume you can see the watch all night etc. Standard rep lume, taking the PO out of the picture, is no where near super lume, you just happen to have a PO with very good lume on it. RG

If I relume hands, the only difference you may note, is slight scratches on the hands from removal of the old lume. Examples of hands that have been relumed. RG

Questions would be: Are you certain it was lumed with Super Luminova and not something else? How much lume has been applied, a skim coat or thicker application? I have compared Super Lume to Rep lume, and there is no comparison at all, the rep lume dies in no time, the super lume glows all night. The quantity of lume is directly proportinal to the glow, small dots don't come anywhere near the glow of a thick sausage PAM dial, or a sandwich dial. Like any other mods, lume is a personal choice. Kruzer has compared all his watches (that I have lumed with super lume) to the genuine ones, and in some cases my lume is brighter than the genuine watches. Bottom line is simple, the genuine manufacturer's use and supply many watches with "L SWISS L" meaning Super Luminova on the dials, if it was crap, why would they still be in business and why would the gen's use it? RG

I am getting multiple email inquiries about the status of the AR Crystals from Chieftang's latest run. To keep me from having to send out multiple emails, please note this: I have not received the crystals, as soon as I do I will be re-installing them and shipping the watches back, just like I did the last time. I want these out of my shop as much as you do, when you get your shipping email, you'll know your watch is on the way. Thanks for understanding. RG

Oh, and on the lubrication of these gears... Keep in mind, lubrication is there to prevent wear, the further away you get from the mainspring, the less tension and thinner oils you use, the escape wheel uses a miniscule amount of oil. If you even slightly oil these gears, the movement will come to a grinding halt...nothing other than watch oils should ever be considered, graphite I have only seen on the El Primero sealed mainspring barrel. RG

I did a quick read, as I am pressed for time... You can remove the top plate as an assembly, without taking the first cover gear you removed. In other words, you can reinstall that cover and all the gears, and remove the other three screws, recessed ones. The one remaining gear does not have to come off to get the assembly off, the top plate has a hole cut out in it, and this gear remains attached to the mainplate. Removal of this gear, is like any other chrono gear, you need a puller for it. The biggest "got ya" is trying to get the reset spring to stay in place on the hammer and the lever. If you have the ETA drawings it does help a lot, but even with them, it's a royal pain to get this spring in place, and even more difficult to install the top assembly without having it pop out of place. Apart from the chrono tilting pinion and autowinder reversing gears and plates on the backside of the movement, installing this assembly is very tedious, and really impossible to type a explanation on, sitting at a bench watching someone do it, straight forward, doing so remotely is hard. RG

Looks great. This is my favorite parts, of course... RG

The owner of the watch can step up and tell his side of the story. This is not the first time for this modder. RG

Well having though I had seen it all, I come across this. No wonder the movement won't run, and no wonder it won't wind... Does this look what I think it looks LIKE?? RG

I have no idea. I was asked to look and fix any problems, but decided it best to not try and fix it. The owner then decided to tear it down and try and sell off the parts. It's no fun having to tell someone what I see in these pictures... RG

The owner of this watch had this assembled as a gift for someone. He send it in to me to give it a once over, and make sure it was ok. The first thing I noted was a chunk of silicone sticking out of the CG lever (I forgot to take a pic of it), and I could see a damaged CG screw and glue between the CG and the case. This is not looking good. Keep in mind this is a BRAND NEW watch, never been touched except to by the modder who did the work. Having been down this road before, I informed the owner that I had a bad feeling by what I saw on the outside, and I told him that I was not willing to work on the watch, as I had done this before, and each time, I end up regretting that decision. The owner decided to have me tear down the watch and ship it back in pieces so that he could try and recoup some of his money. Here is the CG screw and the CG removed, remember, this was brand new watch... what you see is the handiwork of the modder. Hands touching the dial Dial missing one dial foot, and not secured to the movement, Dial and hands removed to reveal this on the movement, tape, everywhere...not sure why...it's not double sided tape and I have no idea why it's there... Relume Amazingly this particular modder has been decorated with some special doctorate in modding on another forum, unbelievable. Seeing this always upsets me, I don't know how some people can sleep at night. RG

Great job and great pictorial. Congrats, nothing like doing it for yourself and getting to enjoy the results. RG

Very well put eddhead. Added to the Asian vs ETA comparison is the cost to purchase the ETA, and have it installed in place of the Asian movement. Which combined, is less than the cost for the one extra servicing of the Asian over the life of the watch. RG

If you can wind the watch in the first position, and set the date in the second one, the keyless works is working fine. I suspect your not pulling hard enough on the crown to get it to the time setting position. RG

I never took your comments as anything but constructive and certainly not derogative towards me and my services.I agree that it's not acceptable that the movements are delivered this way, a surplus ETA I can see how it's hard to control the quality, but a brand new Asian 7750, that is fresh and assembled, there is no reason it can't be serviced correctly.I think the reason it's not done, is that it takes a lot of time and skill to lubricate the movement correctly and make all the necessairy adjustments. These movements probably sell for $25, I have a price list from a Chinese manufacturer of Asian movements, which includes all the types we have and see in our watches, a 6497 high end model is less than $20...Chrono's are like sports car engines, fussy and need tweaking to get them to work right. Once adjusted and lubricated correctly, they run like a champ...This problem has existed for as long as I have been here, and I don't see it changing anytime soon...RG

The secret is this. You first engage the wheel into the keyless works side of the movement, then on the opposite side with the date change gear and spring, you make sure the datewheel teeth are engaged into the slots in the cover. Once you get it in this position, you have to take a 0.50mm screwdriver, and with your loupe, sight along the edge of the movement looking between the datewheel and the mainplate, what your looking for is the spring your trying to compress to get the wheel installed. Pressing on the datewheel lightly, look between the wheel and the movement, find the spring, slip your screwdriver between the two, and compress on the spring while you push the datewheel towards the movement, once the spring is out of the way, the datewheeel will slip into place. Hard to put in words...but I hope it's clear. RG

It sounds like the cannon and hour wheels are not installed correctly or engaged with the minute wheel correctly. This could account for the problem you describe. From your description it sounds like the dial side gears are jammed up, and have a lot of resistance preventing the movement from running beyond a few hours after a full wind. There is no way it got this way from shipping, it was defective when it left the shop. It wasn't assembled correctly, and worse, it was not tested after assembly to make sure everything was working fine. I hope you get it all sorted out. RG

That is true, but the problem is a comparison of the cost of the item vs what it takes to service it. Servicing a chrono, any chrono, is very time consuming, commercial shops can start at $750 for a chrono. So although the whole watch may have cost the same as the servicing cost, it still requires the same level of effort and skill to service an Asian 7750, as it does for me to service a Tudor 7750, which retails at $700 or more - just for the movement alone...your paying for the skill, it's not fair to compare it to the cost of the watch. This is unfortunate, but how it is. RG

Thanks I think? I believe it's the first time I have been compared to condoms and guns, in the same sentence. Brings back the good old days in the military...ahh... the hazing, how I miss it so... RG

The problem you describe is not one of faulty parts, but one of faulty workmanship. It sounds just like the one I posted about a while back, which was a hack job and a real mess...the one with the damaged set lever screw, and CG lever issues. And I just got another one in, a mini-fiddy, that had the CG glued in place, the CG screw heads mangled, the CG lever had a big chunk of silicone sticking out of it, the hands were touching the dial, one dial foot was missing and the dial was loose, and clear tape was stuck all over the dial side of the movement. A real piece of work... This is becoming all to common of an occurance. RG

And we don't want those mistakes to be at the expense of other people's watches. Which is what is going to happen without any training. One of the best ways (apart from going to a watchmaking school) to learn about watches and movements, and not damage them, is to take the TZ course. Exactly why I suggested the Time Zone course, take the time to learn before you open someone else's caseback. Please? Let me use your example. You strap me in the A6E and I ask you what the yellow and blacked stripped handle on the seat does - YOUR seat not mine - as I start pulling on it... then I ask you what this stick between my legs does and push it forward as were heading off the catapult..."How do you fly this thing..." I ask...and I guarantee your response is going to be "Your in over your head" and "DON"T touch anything, your dangerous...sit on your hands...". Swap places and watches for airplanes, someone' else's watch at that, and the comparison is the same. And for the record, I would not kill myself in your A6E, having spent a lot of time in the back of a F-18...and many other machines... RG

In watchmaking there are no "Quick Fixes" or shortcuts. The sooner you accept this fact, the easier it will be. Your in way over your head, I can say that with conviction just by reading your posts. I know exactly what is wrong, but if you don't, you have exceeded your capabilities. Why not step back and invest some time and money into taking the Time Zone watchmaking course. Winter is on the way (at least in Canada) and the course will give you the basic much needed level of knowledge you must absolutely have when your working around a mechanical watch. As soon as you open a caseback, the movement is at risk to damage from mishandling. Opening other people's watches and offering to do work, without the basics of watchmaking, is certain to end in disaster. It's been tried before, and there are many examples on this forum of the results. In the end, the loser's are always the members who's watches end up damaged. I am not sure of what training or back ground you have in watchmaking, but the Time Zone course is well worth your time and money. RG

Actually English is my second language - I know - hard to believe eh! You initiated the post and asked us (the RWG members) for advice. You don't like my answer, oh well...why are you asking us, why don't you just call Joe and ask him? Good luck...here's my advice to you, send all your watches to RBJ, he does wonderful work. I highly recommend YOU use his services. And don't worry about not being ignored, you'll get little support from the members of RWG with that attitude and open support for a known scammer.

I have no idea what your talking about? Why are you even posting this here on RWG? or asking us for answers? Absolute rubbish. Shouldn't be a surprise, everyone knows exactly where he lives, and what significance is this to anyone here? Ah, now I understand the reason behind this, another shill post for RBJ. Pretty poor spelling and punctuation, why does that seem oh so familiar... RG

My only solution after exhausting all other avenues, was to replace the glass one with a plastic one. RG