Parts is parts...

[automatico]

You read where the high brow 'rolexperts' say a 'fast beat' rolex movement (28800) is usually a better time keeper than a 'slow beat' movement (18000/19800 etc), well it ain't always true.

 

A couple months ago I put a 1002 'explorer' together out of parts I gathered up...rolex 1560 (18000) main plate/balance/train wheels from eBay, 1560 autowind assembly from an RWG member, case from eBay, dial from Yuki etc. A friend put a new balance staff in it and I put in a top rotor jewel, rotor axle, two used reversers faded to light purple, new intermediate winding wheel, new mainspring etc plus c/o. No 'tune up', no nothing, I just put it together...Moebius 9020 on all the train wheels including balance jewels, D5 on the center wheel and ms arbor, 9415 on the pallet stones because it was handy, and KT22 on setting parts. No 9010 on the balance jewels like the rolexperts say to use because it is hot outside and I went with the heavier oil. If it freezes and seizes, so what? Sue me.

Oh yeah, the D5 is not synthetic. Call the rolex police!

 

How does it run?

I wore it for a day or two at a time and did not time it against an accurate time source so I put it on last Friday evening after setting it with a Junghans Mega radio controlled clock and wore it most of the time since then. It is showing about 9 or 10 seconds fast after almost 7 days.

About 9 or 10 = as close as I can eyeball it.

 

I 'hacked' it by holding back on the crown to stall the movement until the times matched then let it go. It flipped ahead a couple or three seconds and they are not figured into the timing so in reality it is probably closer to 6 or 7 seconds fast but I am going by what shows.

 

Not bad for a bunch of parts nearing 50 years old.  

[droptopman]

Cool story and awesome work putting that together.

Sent from my droptop using telepathy.

[lhooq]

You read where the high brow 'rolexperts' say a 'fast beat' rolex movement (28800) is usually a better time keeper than a 'slow beat' movement (18000/19800 etc), well it ain't always true.

 

It's thanks to those guys that we see all the "Help!  My Daytona is losing 3 seconds a day!"  threads on gen forums...

 

Great job, automatico.  A true frankenstein movement in the classic definition!

[mymanmatt]

No tune up? That's amazing!! Shows you what a clean and properly oiled movement can do right outta the crate. D5 is not synthetic, it wasn't 50 years ago either. LOL

[automatico]

D5 works Ok as far as I know. Never heard any complaints about it gumming up or anything and it should be good for at least 5 years in a sealed watch.

 

I believe the reason this watch runs so close is the guy who installed the new balance staff knows what he is doing. He r/r the staff, put the hairspring etc back on, leveled the hs, made a tweak or two, and handed it over. All I did was c/o and assembled it a few months later.

 

I have a 1520 hack movement that runs nearly as close on time and it is not a chronometer movement. I used the same oil except for 9010 on the balance jewels and escape wheel. It's in a DW case with Yuki 5513 dial now but has not been worn much over 5 or 6 months total since c/o. This movement has been in a few project watches in the past four years and about a year ago I took the balance out and c/o the balance jewels again. It had been about 3 years since the c/o it but I could not see any oil on the balance jewels (9010) so I redid it. I plan to put the movement and dial in a Yuki case soon and when I do I am going to look at the balance jewels again. The guy who did the balance staff job said he had used 9010 for years and it had sometimes 'walked away' in a year or two. That's why I went with the heavier 9020. If you over oil the balance jewels the oil can 'wick out' of the setting but we are very careful not to over oil them. I never had this problem before.