Irishcain

If you look at the difference between pics 1 and 2, pic 1 was before I found the toy, pic 2 was after I removed it. Once I ran it by the de-magnetizer, the amplitude jumped to over 300

If you're talking about the low amplitude, I'd noticed the same thing when I'd taken them to show the timing. I actually didn't realise my daughter had left one of her toys on my bench causing it to be magnetized. Once I moved it, the amplitude jumped significantly.

I love PAM’s and I’m actually on the lookout for a PAM 312, so I was excited when I was sent a 005 for service. They have beautiful movements, clean lines and classic details.

 

 

So, first things first, I put it on the timegrapher to test its current state.

 

The best reading I got was +10/day, the worst was +61/day

 

Now we get to the heart of the matter, beginning with de-casing

 

A sticky ball comes in handy here unless you want to spend the hundreds of dollars for the right case back openers. Take careful notice of the case fasteners. If you ever get them new, you’re going to have to file/cut them down to size. Better to just keep these safe if/when you remove them.

 

 

Now we remove the hands and dial. A nice trick is to cover the hands with a piece of plastic (freezer bag cut open works) to keep them from flying.

 

When you expose the keyless, make damn sure to pay attention to the spring. It will go flying. Get in the habit of using peg wood in your off hand to press it down until you can grab it with the tweezers.

 

Keyless undone

 

Now we turn it over and let down the power by releasing the click and SLOWLY letting the barrel unwind. Do this slowly or you risk damaging the spring. Again, pay attention to the click spring. If this goes, it’s possible that it’ll send the click flying as well.

 

 

Remove the barrel bridge and train bridge

 

 

Remove the balance, pallet bridge and pallet fork

 

 

Now the train and the barrel

 

Disassemble the barrel for cleaning and to check the mainspring.

 

 

Everything that can go into the machine does, and the rest gets a good hand scrubbing. After the machine, all the jewels get pegged out.  Once they’re done, and everything that needs to be replaced has been, you now reassemble. It should be noted that at this point, oil is both your friend and your enemy. It’s far better to have too little oil than too much. I suggest that, when you get your oiler, you run the tip over a sharpening stone to square it off. The oil will stay at the tip of the oiler rather than creeping up the side making it easier to judge the amount of oil you've used.

 

Once the movement has been reassembled, it’s time to test for accuracy.  This is done in 6 positions and can be tedious work. Once you’ve placed a position, you should leave it ideally for 3-5 minutes, which means the whole process can take half an hour or more. If you feel you need to make an adjustment in any one position, you need to go back and recheck all the other positions.

 

Of the six I did for this beauty, here’s the best

 

And the worst

 

All in all, I love working on this movement. It’s bullet proof in most respects and can even be adjusted to be within COSC standards . A few words of caution. The center pinion and wheel are press fitted together. Don’t try to pull them apart and separate them from the watch unless you have both the correct tools to take it apart and to reassemble. Also, the bridges on this movement are heavy (as compared to other movements). When you’re replacing them, don’t use much pressure at all until you’re 100% certain that all wheels and pinions are in proper position. And as a final word, please remember that all the details on the movement are printed on and not laser etched, so be careful, otherwise you’ll have a blank movement when you’re done.

So I was sent a Tag to service, and I must say, it was actually quite an enjoyable job. The original problem was a non-functioning chrono, but a few other details were found along the way.

First, there was removal of the movement.

Next, I removed the hands and dial

Now I begin disassembly of the movement, checking for current and future faults, beginning with the Date and Chrono Works

Balance Assembly

Moving onto the motion works

I also disassembled the mainspring, but didn't take any pics. Sometimes you just get into the zone.

And now the Keyless

Into the cleaning machine

Ahhh, clean parts

After taking out each part and inspecting it, I also pegged out the jewels on each of the plates, bridges, and c*cks.

When the cleaning was done, it was time to test the case

Passed Perfectly!

Reassembled and testing for accuracy

And a Lume shot for the topping (I didn't mess with it, but it just didn't feel right leaving it off of here, lol)

In the end, there were a few things wrong with the watch. Too much oil, misaligned operating lever, broken incabloc spring, missing incabloc cap jewel, broken cannon driver pinion and a bent yolk spring being the worst of the faults. All in all, it was a nice piece to work on, but it does remind you why a7750's aren't exactly the most trustworthy movements.

It's interesting, but I've never seen a rep quite like it.

As you have found out for yourself the correct hand movement has a reputation as unreliable. The noob ceramic is pretty good out of the box however mine has added a gen bezel assembly with gen crystal and gasket. If you are good with movements it is possible to build a rep 3186 from a yuki 3135 using rolex movement parts and with some modification fit it in a BP GMT ii. The important thing to realize here is that this is very costly and about the same price as a pre-owned gmt ii.

+1

There's no denying the satisfaction of doing this but you'll spend a significant amount of money

I'm a fan of Tudor, but to be honest, I really hunk all three colors are garish.

Nice! Thanks for sharing

PBR, to tell the truth, I've never really understood it either. I get a hell of a lot of enjoyment just repairing. Vintigizing on the other hand, I can appreciate all the work that goes into it.

Tough run! The missus ought she'd had some jewelry stolen by movers this summer, but ended up finding it in my daughters toy boxes. It's not a pleasant experience, and you have all the best wishes I can send.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. Some of the TDs can source the part, or you can try fleabay.

I prefer the variety actually. I own a few gens, but dealing with all the ones that come into the shop, I seem to get a regular "refreshment". Besides, I feel that reps and gens are both works of art in their own right.

I wish I had done my homework too Pete, we both got stung on those parts.  I have since found a Swiss supplier of them for a fraction of the cost of that batch, but at least those were Swiss, and not Asian. The movements need pretty much completely stripping down to change too, so I serviced these whilst doing so.

  

Technician mistake I guess. I hope you refunded some of his money for your "error".

The PO I think is fine with H3?

The issue with the TC subs is because of the additional DWO which adds more to the depth and hence the longer CP.

Either that or perhaps I really did put a 2824 into the PO instead of the 2982

The H3 should be fine as long as there isn't significant differences in DWO width. The TC mod effectively doubles working width.

Rolex is always a PITA. You'd be better off getting some NOS springbars. It'd save some money at least until you get home and can get a proper job done. Any shoppe can do it for you and should cost less than $20.

I think he's updated it in his section.

Shouldn't be a difficult fix. Your local watchmaker can take a look and, if he finds something significant, you can send it back then.

Would only be certain if you opened the movement, however, it sounds like the calendar jumper isn't contacting the date wheel in the setting position. This actually happens a lot when different parts are used interchangeably, for instance a 7753 part on a 7750 movement. Slight variances, but they add up.

Very nice.

Lacoste or perhaps Sandalwood

Levers, never pullers

I would agree on the casual wear. Definitely not something for an office setting.

Never used iTailor after reading a bunch of bad reviews. I have ordered from modern tailor and indochino. Modern tailor always came out well with shirts and I love being able to have little adjustments made ( like having the left wrist cuff 1/8" bigger than the right to adjust for the watch). I'm currently waiting for a suit from them and I'll post when it arrives. As for suits, anything you order online will be summer weight and you're still going to have to take it to a tailor for final adjustments to make them look good. I've ordered a couple of suits from indochino. They're well fitting (still needing a couple of adjustments, but indo pays for them), and generally less expensive than Men's Warehouse. I'm considering pulling the trigger in one of KB's to test them out if I get some extra funds.

Now that's funny, lol

Easy...

I have belts that match my dress shoes (so about 10), and a couple for every dat wear, but crap, that's a LOT of belts!

Champaign and truffle risotto served with frenched lamb chops grilled over a maple log fire.