Timelord

Greetings guys, picked up an old running rado with an 2824-2 From a local pawnbroker last Friday because the price seemed ok, as I thought of using for it for parts! Upon inspection When I removed the dial, I noticed that the 3 pointed novodiac spring holding the end stone had one of the corners broken (missing) but was mysteriously still holding the Jewel in place! Not sure if it broke from a fall or installation from when it was last serviced! 😲 My question now is has anyone ever seen something like this and will it cause a problem if not replaced ? It seems to hold but any thoughts please throw the over! The other problem is where does one buy the from as they seem to be (hence no parts for you strategy may haunt!,) Can they be purchased generically and will they substitute .? Am clutching my straws! Thanks for your inout!

This is a topic that gives me nightmares! I recall something about this some 10 years ago on this very forum! This is made worse if you have a solid gold case where the threads seem rough on the first couple of turns (when you start closing the back) and then start to squeak and vibrate as you keep turning! However, as soon as you are about compress the gasket it seems to feel normal and smoother! Very strange indeed! Heard that this is normal with gold cases, but am not so sure, I know nothing about threads!

Guys, thanks for your feedback! Much appreciated!

I am no expert in watchmaking and have learnt most of what I know here on this forum! I was even able to service my first manual watch Fhf from what I learnt from you! Thank you! i began to use a product called epilame ( like episerf ) as mentioned here on several occasions to inhibit the smearing of oil on pallet stones! My question is what existed before epilame was used on pallet stones before applying the 9415.? Can we get away without it If we were just to apply the oil? Anyone done this and have you seen any significant disadvantages from doing this!? thanks again

Ditto !!! Well, at least you still have an education system, but we lost ours a long time ago!!!. When we had schools and universities (colleges etc) we actually were learning something!! Nowadays, it has become big, big business with the introduction of so many junk courses which only serve to provide $$$$$ for those running the show. Even in the trade industries, you have to inherit an opportunity to learn and qualify to fix a car or wire a house as most apprentices through a proper trade qualifying system are only passed onto family or very close connections as no trade school in my country will enroll you unless you have a signed indenture-ship with a qualified tradesman. Look at it on the bright side, as our present future PHD will now give you the intellect and skills to distinguish between the letters; P (pigs), H(horses) and D(dogs)! Now that truly is progress,😃 Luckily someone with a recently awarded PHD has come up with this wonderful ingenious idea (maybe a candidate for the Nobel prize in Science ) that you can now toast bread in your car using their renewable s . I just leave my old VW in the hot scorching sun with bread in it at a fraction of the cost (actually costs nothing as it comes directly from the sun burning through the window) I found this out a long time ago, as I had one F520117 fall on the bathroom floor and broke the crystal!!!!. They were hard to get even back when they first came out!!! To save this one,I had to glue in a perspex crystal which was not the best option, but was the only one I had, so at least I was able to wear the watch. Would never wear it near water or when it rained as it was just to keep the dust and sleeves off the hands. Dials are also difficult to find in that size. If i recall correctly, I believe they were about 28.4 mm.

well I am glad there are those that speak my language! I could not have put it better myself! the 116610 is ok????, well I will keep my opinion t myself! then I could be wrong, because we are living in a better world, mass unemoloyment, COVID pandemic, insecurity, but wait there is more!! rolex cutting off parts to independents, the new age of disposable cars, not sure if there will be a future mustang from a future Steve McQueen for later generations to see. supermodels tattooed from head to tow, The attractive brazilian wax and Wait even better! children knowing how to count in their Headwithout their iPhones glad I am the Timelord as I might run to my tardis or should I stay!

The first watch that got me into replicas before I sold off my genuine was the 16610. I have owned just about everyone of them from various sellers except the MB’W. I just had too many and needed to keep just the one that gave me the same buzz as my genuine! I then narrowed them down to just two of them which were the noobmariner F521107 with trimmed c/w ‘s and the yuki2836-2 version which I built myself. I then felt comfortable selling off the ones that were sitting in my shelf including the genuine that were just hoarding up a LOT of dead money which was better spent for my family,s priorities! As I prefer to work on my own watches, the tipping trigger that got me to sell off the genuine was purely based on the parts issue and that I was offered almost double of what I paid for it in 1999,! Regrets I have had a few but not that many when considering that I get just as much pleasure with what I have! The 16610 in my opinion is one of the nicest subs of the modern era ever made and it is sad that even the reps are hard to get, especially the yuki version and Aspires versions! The new tuna can case just doesn’t do anything for me, sorry !! 😁

thanks!! now I don't feel as bad for having paid what I thought was too much! I thought it was too good to be true as I do not score any points on any of those 3 catches! It is strike 3 and out for me😳

those prices are quite good! I paid the mainspring alone $22 from my supply house and there were only three of them left. As for the timed and regulated balance complete. $32? That is good too! Over a year ago, I could only buy it online in India which came in a yellow type of plastic box $45 plus $20 delivery! Just over double you quoted! But this came with an incabloc, so I can’t be too choosy! Lots of people are making Easy money and not just Rolex associated

Thanks! 10 dollars seems rather good price! Is it a clone part? I was thinking about a clone MS as they are cheaper and just a spring that would best be replaced at its next service! I am not sure if the clone Springs would be lubricated and would they fit straight into the barrel straight from the package like the genuine? One of the reasons I opted for a genuine! i never hand wind these automatics because of the reverser wheels being so fickle and not only expensive but now becoming near impossible to get!

Thank you ! Thank you! I will try it, as I just cannot see why one needs a hundred different types of oils when what you say has always worked! the wealth of information found here, makes this more of a group of scientists than watch makers/hobbyists, I feel privileged!

Thanks! Great information! Do you use the 8201 as A braking grease As well as the MS lubricant? What is the difference between the 8201 and 8200?

I pulled apart an eta 2824–2 to see why it kept stopping prematurely and noticed a broken mainspring! got a new mainspring and was wondering what the most economical oil and grease to use apart from the usual moebius oils. I usually put the Mainspring back in by hand. Pain in the a$@ Is it sometimes better to buy a clone barrel with mainspring already in it or does one need to remove it from barrel to grease and oil it again ,to go through he same ordeal.thanks in advance!

Thanks for the tips! Still sounds like a climb to Everest in comparison to just opening up the lyre style spring and be done with it in a blink! i made my tool from a piece of lollipop plastic stick similar to a straw which measures exactly 1.4mm and also made three indents like the original tool. I always shivered when removing these novodiac spring! I still have springs somewhere in my carpets, skirting board gaps and God knows where else! I bought a few of these before the swatch parts curfew and now do not have any spares for me to risk losing! In fact I have a non working new mvt just because of a missing spring! The genuine eta has 3 open gaps in contrast to the clones and they can be very tedious to play with especially on the dial side where they are not easily seen! As you mentioned, the other evil to deal with is breaking the balance staff! I always removed both end stones, doing the balance side first and then removed the balance rooster to do the dial side! It took me lomger than servicing another movement to do it right! Maybe it’s just me that I could never really master it! My solution is to avoid any eta with novodiac springs altogether and I usually buy non working rusted eta movements with the incablocs just for the incablocs Main plates alone and use my new parts in this plate for assembly🙂

Thanks A, I recall someone here many years ago attempting this exact conversion and gave details in their method for doing this just using a hybrid of both the Xx24 and xx36, but could not recall who it was! Checked the archives but could not find an anything on this. I vaguely recall It could have been The Zigmeister or Jackjo but cannot say for sure! Never the less I really wanted these base plates of the 2824 because of the incabloc setting on the ebauche plate as my 2824-2 has both setups including the hair spring as well , so I could do away with using that horrible novodiac spring On the 2836-2 during servicing! Thanks for your input!

An update! Something is not right in my conversion! I still find that with the right CP seconds wheel and taller hour wheel, the stem opening is presenting some problems! I guess that there is something in the main movement plates that make or break that 0.45mm difference! However I do recall someone here many moons ago make a 2824 movement work well in a 2836 case! Not sure what happened!

I applaud you! Congratulations! as far as the look goes? As Automatico said, I say “what is the look?” Splitting flea’s hair and if it is 0.001mm out here and there, who is going to detect this? Is everyone that will see it, going to pin point this? Most people have no clue in what to look for! it is unique and special, so let’s leave it at that! Better than one that you may have seen at Sotheby’s because yours is hand made! As for the genuine Rolex movement, I would not worry about is as I find the eta more rugged and practical, I would personally go for a genuine eta and this will most likely eradicate the problem with the stem as all the clones I ever was misfortunate to have all have stem setting issues as they do not mesh and are purely a pain in the backside being out of spec with movement parts

Has anyone tried to replace their eta 2836-2 with a 2824-2 by Interchanging the seconds wheel, hour wheel, canon pinion and date wheel from their 2836-2 onto the eta 2824-2 so that it will fit into the case made for the 2836-2? It is to hopefully adjust the height of the 2824-2 so stem will be in line with opening! I would have thought that using the dial spacer onto the modified 2824-2 would compensate for the Extra .45mm stem opening position? Just curious as I have a low mileage 2824-2 and a dud 2836-2 with these unmolested parts on it thanks!

thank you !!! Great link & academically written! Just what I had suspected all along! Radium took the life of it’s discoverer Mari Curie after having worked with it ! I am more cautious now “IF”and when opening one of these watches for working on!

I agree except that I am not a fan of their horrible diashock spring jewel above the escape wheel! In my opinion they are worse than the novodiac flower prong spring over the balance end stone! Not much point having a lyre spring on their balance and not avoid a different horror! if I were to be perfectly honest, the 15xx movements do nothing for me apart that Rolex uses them as their yardstick and keep the market inflated, so I would never lose my money on them I pulled apart an omega caliber chronometer 551 and it was such a joy to work on! I do not recall any complexities apart that the rotor post and rotor gib could have been avoided! Maybe I am wrong, but I like it miles better than the Rolex 15xx caliber which I fail to see why it is rated as a world better!

I wished!! The instructions I have read seem more like that of an Alfred Hitchcock horror movie! Why aren’t these damn things sold as a complete assembly like those Asian clones sends me in a tailspin! I have also learnt that some professional watchmakers refuse to replace the balances and then who would buy these separate parts if they are such a pain. The chances of damaging them is quite high

I have successfully removed a hairspring from a Tissot balance assembly with a great deal of playing around. I am attaching a new hair spring to the bridge from information which I happened to get here from an older post Thanks.🙂 BTW it is a 2824-2 Tissot balance assembly which is the one that has no screw to release the stud from the bridge. I had to somehow make a tool ( a screw driver with an indent like a fork) to twist it off. I have managed to feed the new hair spring into the regulator pins but I am having a hard time pushing in the stud into the two fingers of the bridge. I backed off before I cause damage to the new hair spring. It is a nuisance that they do not sell them genuine already assembled. Anyone ever done this without using some "proper" tool for this. I guess there is a "proper tool" as I cannot see any other way to press fit this stud in? Sorry as my questions keep getting weird! Thanks again guys.

Greetings fellow members, I am not sure how many of you who like the older style Tudors and Rolex ( or any vintage watch equipped with a dial composed of radium applied lume) work on your own watch? I see that the radium on these timepieces no longer lumens like it was designed to be, however, the radium is still as deadly as the first day it was painted on, when considering it's half life is beyond ours., Even though we have all been warned to be careful not to breathe the radium dust that falls off the numerals or indices, when dismantling these tickers, but how do you deal with any dust that we cannot see that falls into the movement and then into our cleaning machine and anywhere else for that matter?. I have also read that some even spray a lacquer of clear over the dials to trap in the radium, yet radium will burn through it just the same! It is often argued on many other webpages that as long as the radium dial is covered with the front crystal etc etc, you are safe. I do not necessarily agree with this as dust will always be present and falling off the dial as the numerals deteriorates. For example dust can still fall out when pulling out the crown stem which although microscopic, this is still an issue as any amount is always hazardous. Maybe I am being somewhat nutty here, but I do feel for those professional watchmakers who have dealt with this in the past and those that continue to do so, especially with those very very expensive timepieces that still fetch over the 5 digit premiums.

I think OP is referring to the replaced mvt with that problem. however it seems very strange that it stops a week or so later! One would expect it to happen 12 or 24 hours later even if it grew hairs inside!

I just hate driving out of town for 2 hours, but on this occasion, it paid dividends. I finally got an answer to my movement regulation problem & discovered something interesting about the Wyler brand and of the different automatic mechanism they patented. I was happy to see that this 90 + gentleman is still with us and of the conversation we had. In particular I was blown away with his story of what I mentioned in my previous post of his most challenging experience while learning his art, that his master gave him a hair spring that was twisted and made up like into a ball. His mission to pass was to get it straight, reshape it and get it working again. He had to replace it in the balance wheel and Collette and get it right with the screwed in balance weights. He then had to set it in beat getting it half way between the banking pins and got it accurate to almost chronometer level. That is BRAIN SURGERY of the trade area. It would not pay for anyone to do this today, as it would cost a fortune, but good skill developing. By the way for those are not teetotallers, I would try a sip of Strega Liqueur especially for the winter months as it is a good pick-me-up. Disclaimer I have no vested interest in this . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strega_(liqueur)