Need Help

[ap-royal]

Hi,

I am new to rwgforum and was hoping for some help.

I have an AP royal oak offshore steel. The watch has been working perfectly since i purchased it. I dont wear it all the time, so after dicontinued use I wind it by unscrewing the crown and winding it clock wise, then changing the date and time respectively. Then screwing the crown back. Since i've purchased the watch, i have noticed that every now n then (2 out of ten times) even after winding and screwing the crown back the watch does not start up. So maybe i thought i was not winding the watch correctly. Should the watch be wound clockwise or anti clockwise? when i wind anti clockwise, it makes a repeated clicking noise.

But now I have a bigger problem. Recently, i was using the stop watch function and without resetting the stopwatch i took off the watch and put it away as normal. 2 days later, I tried to wind the watch up as normal but now the watch wont start. I dont know what the problem could be or am i doing something wrong or is it something to do with the fact that i didnt reset the stopwatch function before putting the watch down so it unwound while stop watch was running?

I would be grateful for some help and advice.

Thanks

[Imaknockov]

Hi,

I am new to rwgforum and was hoping for some help.

I have an AP royal oak offshore steel. The watch has been working perfectly since i purchased it. I dont wear it all the time, so after dicontinued use I wind it by unscrewing the crown and winding it clock wise, then changing the date and time respectively. Then screwing the crown back. Since i've purchased the watch, i have noticed that every now n then (2 out of ten times) even after winding and screwing the crown back the watch does not start up. So maybe i thought i was not winding the watch correctly. Should the watch be wound clockwise or anti clockwise? when i wind anti clockwise, it makes a repeated clicking noise.

But now I have a bigger problem. Recently, i was using the stop watch function and without resetting the stopwatch i took off the watch and put it away as normal. 2 days later, I tried to wind the watch up as normal but now the watch wont start. I dont know what the problem could be or am i doing something wrong or is it something to do with the fact that i didnt reset the stopwatch function before putting the watch down so it unwound while stop watch was running?

I would be grateful for some help and advice.

Thanks

First, we need to determine what "wind the watch up as normal" means.

It has been discussed by people with vastly more knowledge than I, but a certain amount of care is needed when performing certain operations, even basic ones with the 7750 movement. It's been mentioned on this and other forums that one should take care to avoid manually winding the movement quickly, as this puts an inordinate amount of stress on the gear train, and of course the date should never be changed between 10pm-2am to avoid damaging the date change mechanism. You've gotta remember that a mechanical watch movement is made such that its gears normally turn very, very slowly, and the parts are very, very small and delicate.

So while it could be a construction defect that is just now manifesting itself (seconds @ 12 conversion has many known problems) it could also be an issue related to improper usage. I'm sure that others will shed better light on the issues, but that's generally where the problems lie.

[ap-royal]

First, we need to determine what "wind the watch up as normal" means.

It has been discussed by people with vastly more knowledge than I, but a certain amount of care is needed when performing certain operations, even basic ones with the 7750 movement. It's been mentioned on this and other forums that one should take care to avoid manually winding the movement quickly, as this puts an inordinate amount of stress on the gear train, and of course the date should never be changed between 10pm-2am to avoid damaging the date change mechanism. You've gotta remember that a mechanical watch movement is made such that its gears normally turn very, very slowly, and the parts are very, very small and delicate.

So while it could be a construction defect that is just now manifesting itself (seconds @ 12 conversion has many known problems) it could also be an issue related to improper usage. I'm sure that others will shed better light on the issues, but that's generally where the problems lie.

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY. I TRIED WEARING THE WATCH THE WHOLE DAY TODAY AND MANUALLY WINDING IT A FEW TIMES, BUT STILL NO LUCK. I HAVE A FEELING I MAY HAVE DAMAGED IT BY WINDING IT TOO VIGOROUSLY. IS THERE ANY THING ELSE I SHOULD TRY? AND IF IT IS DAMAGED SHOULD I TAKE THE WATCH TO A WATCH REPAIR SHOP? IS IT A MAJOR OR COSTLY JOB?

THANKS

[fitipaldi]

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY. I TRIED WEARING THE WATCH THE WHOLE DAY TODAY AND MANUALLY WINDING IT A FEW TIMES, BUT STILL NO LUCK. I HAVE A FEELING I MAY HAVE DAMAGED IT BY WINDING IT TOO VIGOROUSLY. IS THERE ANY THING ELSE I SHOULD TRY? AND IF IT IS DAMAGED SHOULD I TAKE THE WATCH TO A WATCH REPAIR SHOP? IS IT A MAJOR OR COSTLY JOB?

THANKS

Go with Francisco in Spain. APs running @12 need a special movement treatment. Don't waste your time and money with local watchsmiths.

[Toadtorrent]

Given it's an AP ROO...a couple things could have happened...well documented:

Zig's Guide to the A7750

If you set the date while the time was between roughly 7pm and 2am, you could have buggered the keyless works. This holds true for the gen ETA Swiss 7750 as well...it's a design fault. If this is the case, you need to get a watchmaker to fix the keyless works.

If you were winding it vigorously by hand...not a good idea on an A7750. You may have worn the teeth down on one of the gears as pictured here:

and documented in The Zigmeister's Post on Why Handwinding an A7750 is BAD.

The latter will need a watchmaker to replace the gear and clean the movement of shrapnel.

The parts may be replaceable with ETA parts...but I'm not sure on this. You'll have to have a watchmaker familiar with A7750's to know. Check out Francisco or Domenico in Europe for this service.

[ap-royal]

Go with Francisco in Spain. APs running @12 need a special movement treatment. Don't waste your time and money with local watchsmiths.

Given it's an AP ROO...a couple things could have happened...well documented:

Zig's Guide to the A7750

If you set the date while the time was between roughly 7pm and 2am, you could have buggered the keyless works. This holds true for the gen ETA Swiss 7750 as well...it's a design fault. If this is the case, you need to get a watchmaker to fix the keyless works.

If you were winding it vigorously by hand...not a good idea on an A7750. You may have worn the teeth down on one of the gears as pictured here:

and documented in The Zigmeister's Post on Why Handwinding an A7750 is BAD.

The latter will need a watchmaker to replace the gear and clean the movement of shrapnel.

The parts may be replaceable with ETA parts...but I'm not sure on this. You'll have to have a watchmaker familiar with A7750's to know. Check out Francisco or Domenico in Europe for this service.

THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSES. APPRECIATE THE HELP. SO IT LOOKS LIKE I HAVE DAMAGED THE WATCH AFTER HAVING IT JUST FOR A LITTLE WHILE. IN REFERENCE TO "Toadtorrent", IF IT IS ONE OF THOSE TWO PROBLEMS YOU HAVE LISTED, IS IT COSTLY TO GET FIXED? AND ALSO I LIVE IN THE UK, SO THE SPAIN SUGGESTIONS WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR ME. ANY UK SUGGESTIONS?

[JKDDUDE]

ap --

How much do you love your watch? If the answer is "A lot!" then you should send it to Francisco to get repaired. These movements are tricky and I have two of them. When I bought the watches, I mentally added $150-$200 to my price, knowing I would have to get them serviced. They are great reps and still a bargain at 1/30th or so the price of the gen. Sounds to me like you want the watch, so send it to Francisco -- you won't be sorry...

[Imaknockov]

Also, it's really hard to determine what the exact problem is until it's actually opened and inspected. Depending on what the actual damage is, it may well be easier (and cheaper) to just swap-out the movement. For what it's worth, I've never used Francisco, but I've heard nothing but good things about him on this forum and Repgeek, and his tutorials are a Godsend.

[JAMZ]

I coincidentally have the same problem. I changed the date in the "danger zone"

I live in NY. Any suggestions for smiths in my area? Many Thanks.