Dates of my WM9 Submariner V2 are driving me mad!

[slied013]

I have a WM9 Submariner V2 and let my watchmaker do some mods.

He installed a gen insert, crown, tube, crystal and dial. Because, I wanted the smoothest possible movement he swapped the original movement into a ETA 2892-2A. So far, so good.

The only issue he can't solve is the line up of the dates. They are too high, or too much to the left, or too much to the right. Just 1/3 of the dates lining up well. The rest not! He has used five different datewheel overlays. Some of them come from BK. It never was perfect. In the meanwhile I have put some serious amount of money in it and I hate it not lining up.

Now I am hopeless and plan to do a movement swap again (into a 2824-2) and put the original WM9 V2 dial on it again. Or just sell the whole bunch.

What is best to do? Is there a date lining up artist in EU to which I can send it?

Thanks for your advice.

M.

[sneed12]

Lining up the dates is annoying, but not at all impossible. I'd find yourself a different watchmaker.

Also, I do not understand the motivation to change things that work. Why swap a 2892 in for a 2824 if the 2824 was working fine?

[Tribal]

So why not install the 2824 from the V2 again. You can also fit the BK Overlay again. It's a bit tricky to line up the Overlay. On mine it's now good after some work on it

[highoeyazmuhudee]

i hate dealing with date alignments. i actually made a guide out of acetate sheets (which are clear) to align them by making sure all the dates fell into the boxes on the clear sheet... hmm hard to explain what i mean. still tedious work since youre dealing with several dimensions, not only that but the natural date change over is also slightly different than using the quick set date to check the alignment. in short im now building a 5513 (no date)

[krpster]

Well changing hardware doesn't make much sense to address date alignment issues. For the most part it has very little effect, except for the date wheel spring. It all comes down to the date wheel itself and the placement of the overlay. It is possible to do assuming the overlay is good. Just need patience and time.

[kbh]

So why not install the 2824 from the V2 again. You can also fit the BK Overlay again. It's a bit tricky to line up the Overlay. On mine it's now good after some work on it

The V2 didn't use a 2824-2. It used the little girly movement 2671 (or something like that). I can understand how it would be a little more difficult to align on all axis, but not impossible.

Image shamelessly pilfered from another thread. Hope the owner doesn't mind...........

[sneed12]

The V2 didn't use a 2824-2. It used the little girly movement 2671 (or something like that)

Did the "little girly movement" run correctly? Seems to me you just burned a bunch of money because you didn't want to have a "little girly movement" in your watch, when it's impossible to tell the difference in function...

[preacher62]

There are two considerations in aligning the dwo. One is, of course, vertical alignment within the date window. The second consideration is horizontal alignment. This can only be done by centering the dwo on the datewheel. You cannot check the alignment of one number and if you think it is a little to the left or right, just move it over. The dwo must be centered on the watch. Wherever the dates fall, horizontally, you can't do anything about it with that particular dwo. The outside edge of most dwos almost perfectly fit the movements date wheel. I line up the date, vertically, in the date window and then check the outside edges to see that the dwo is centered on the watch.

You place the dwo and then set the dial on and check by running date around. Take off the dial and correct... Put the dial back on a check... Take the dial off and correct. And the cycle goes on until you are satisfied. BUT THE DWO MUST BE CENTERED ON THE WATCH OR IT WILL NEVER WORK.

It sounds like the centering is the part your watchmaker is missing if only 1/3 of the numbers line up.

I use a thin glue that will give me 15 - 20 minutes of messing around time.

Edited September 3, 2011 by preacher62

[kbh]

Did the "little girly movement" run correctly? Seems to me you just burned a bunch of money because you didn't want to have a "little girly movement" in your watch, when it's impossible to tell the difference in function...

If you're talking to me, I didn't burn anything. It's not even my watch.

I've got nothing against the "little girly movement". It's probably every bit as good as the 2836-2 as far as function. In fact my wife has a couple of watches with that movement.

[sneed12]

If you're talking to me, I didn't burn anything. It's not even my watch.

Sorry, missed that

I'm just tired of seeing people swap movements that are working perfectly fine for movements that they think are "better" somehow. Like a 2824->2892 swap.