Received a broken watch

[gmtlover]

Hi Guys,

 

after a fairly long wait (almost 6 weeks) I received 3 watches today. 2 for a friend and one for myself.

Unfortunately the watch IWC big pilot has a loose date wheel..

I have repaired a keyless works on an eta 2836 before, but I am somewhat scared to remove the black painted hands and damage them.

Any tips on that..And can there be more surprises?

Also the rotor ( counterbalance ) is huge..this puts a lot of pressure on the screw and it was loose when I opened the rear. I will order a new (normal size) rotor for this watch. The big design rotor doesn't make any sense and is just a time bomb waiting to break..

I do have a hand remover tool and a hand press to put the hands back on..

Any tips for this procedure?

 

 

 

[gmtlover]

anyone?

[sputim]

Just use a dial protecter when removibg the hands and be very gentle when putting them back on. Once you removed the dial I am pretty sure you can simply glue the dwo back onto the date wheel and everything should be fixed. Keep us up to date

[astonjenks]

As above, I use a business card with a cut slot to slide under the hands.

With all BP's, be careful of the crown/tube thread as these are the achilees of the watch,  'feel' the thread and gently tighten!

AJ

[panermaniac]

Go slow!

As said, use a dial protector. You can cut a slot in a business card if you don't have one.

Try not to touch the hands with your fingers or metal tweezers, use Rodico if you have it. I use a Post-it note when reassembling. I stick the bottom of the hands to it. That way I have something to hold onto when pressing the hands back.

Good luck and keep us posted

[Guest]

My method involves placing a plastic sandwich baggie over the hands/dial and gently prying them out with a set of hand levers. It's a trick I got off a member of one of these forums

Not a fan of the dial protector and it's too thick, especially for the chrono hands

[gmtlover]

Thanks for the advice!

I have a dial protector.. I am not worried about that..

It's just not damaging the hands..

And it's not only the DWO that came loose, it's they entire DW..

Anyone who can supply new hands? If I might scratch them?

[gmtlover]

Ok, New challenge..

How do I get datewheel back on there and in a good centered position?

I saw some post about attaching a DWO but how does it work?

I can't keep reglueing the dwo can I?

[GenTLe]

Yoiu can reglue it, but you should find some slow drying one because you'll need to reposition it many times.

Personally I use UHU Endfest 300 (very little amount), as it's incredibly strong (300kg/cm2) but it fully dries in 12h and gives you around 30mins (even more if you put less catalyst component in the mixture) to reposition it.

It will be a lot of "put the dwo in position / put the dial / remove the dial / reposition it / put the dial / verify it's ok / move it 15 days advance / remove the dial / reposition it ..."

[gmtlover]

Ok! Nice... Ehm not haha

Fortunately i have that glue..

Ready for The challenge I guess!

[gmtlover]

Quite happy with the result of my first dwo repair..

The date will always sit slightly high because of the design of the DWO.

but at least it is in de middle now.

The results, don't flame me.. Haha

[gmtlover]

And of course a wrist shot to end..

[panermaniac]

yay!

I love a happy ending!

[sputim]

Congratulations and very nice watch enjoy

[gmtlover]

It's not mine, ordered it for a friend..

That made seeing it arriving broken only harder..

Was his first rep.. So glad I could fix it for him!

Thanks for the help guys!

[GenTLe]

In my view: perfect.

Well done mate!!!

Did you used the Uhu 300 in the end?

[gmtlover]

Thanks Gentle!

Yes I did..

Should be stuck now..

[GenTLe]

Thanks Gentle!

Yes I did..

Should be stuck now..

Well, maybe if it goes behind a steamroller it can detach again... But at that point the dwo is a minor problem

[mymanmatt]

Good job!!  You have the knack.