Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

Issues with gen movement in HH 5514


netniet

Recommended Posts

I have a issue with my Franken HH 5514. Recently the gen movement in it stopped, and would not start anymore. I have sent this watch to a watchmaker, and he told me today he could not put the stem properly back in the gen movement because the crown tube and movement are not properly aligned, and the stem therefore would bent.

He said he can fix this, but this would be expensive, so I have asked him only to service the movement. 

I have a couple of options. First one is to try to find a modder here who can fix this for me. Or replace the HH case with a Phong case, or maybe replace it with a gen case. Will a Phong case be a better fit for the gen movement?

What would you guys advice?

Here are a couple of photo's of the watch.

image.thumb.jpeg.adf49d210e175181bc98a86

image.thumb.jpeg.05674e065e1171d031b6564

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, rower said:

This is a beautiful build! More details about the other parts please! That dial is incredible!

Thx, the movement, dial, hands, plexi, crown and insert are gen. The crown tube is from Athaya, and the midcase, caseback and bezel assembly are HH.

 

4 hours ago, UmpaHimself said:

That dial is stunning. Must be gen. Isn't the HH case made for the gen movement? Sorry I don't know much about them.

Yes, the HH case is made for gen, but the movement position is not perfectly on mine. I don't know if this is a common issue with this case set. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, netniet said:

Thx, the movement, dial, hands, plexi, crown and insert are gen. The crown tube is from Athaya, and the midcase, caseback and bezel assembly are HH.

 

Yes, the HH case is made for gen, but the movement position is not perfectly on mine. I don't know if this is a common issue with this case set. 

Ah I see. That's unfortunate. I'm sure it can be machined but how and by whom, I can't say.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Yes, the HH case is made for gen, but the movement position is not perfectly on mine. I don't know if this is a common issue with this case set."

It may be the same type of problem as with MBK cases. Read the 'Building an MBK Sub' sticky above. The part about the dial window and dial seat will not apply. 

Besides being a hassle to r/r the stem with the misalignment, it will quickly wear the main plate out of round if the stem/crown is turned a lot so it would be a good idea to sort it out. Is the movement too close to the front of the case or to the rear? This makes a difference in how easy it will be to fix. 

Some projects seem to fall together and some fight you every step of the way ('fallers' or 'fighters'). Almost all of mine have been fighters.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'm guessing a gen 5514 case is mildly cost prohibitive. ;)

I would seat the serviced movement in the case yourself and see how far off it is first. Some watchmakers have a very low tolerance for working with anything that is not 100% perfect.

Is your movement a 1520 or 1570? I think the stem position is the same, but you might want to verify. I do not recall any issues with my HH 1520 combo, at least not with stem position. The rest was a different story. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, alt.watch.obsessive said:

Is your movement a 1520 or 1570?

I have got a 1530 movement.

Thank guys for the info. I am thinking about buying a Phong ETA 1665, and then switch the inner parts (movement, dial and hands) of this watch to the HH case, and then move the gen movement to the Phong case. And I will replace the plexi, insert, tube and crown on the Phong case with gen parts.
By doing this I will end up with two very nice watches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The 1530 movement is thicker than the 1520."

"Really? I did not know that. Huh."

 

The 1520 and 1530 are the same size with nearly identical plates etc.

Straight from a rolex manual:

1520/30/60/70/80  no date 12.5 ligne (28.5mm)  H = 5.75mm

1525/35/65/75  date 12.5 ligne (28.5mm)  H = 6.30mm

1565/75  date/GMT 12.5 ligne (28.5mm)  H = 6.47mm

1555/56  Day/Date 12.5 ligne (28.5mm)  H = 7.03mm

 

edit:  Look around the outside edge of the dial on the front side and see if there is any space at all between the dial and dial seat aka (reflector/rehaut). If there is any space it usually means the movement has seated but the dial has not...find out why. Maybe the case is a hair out of spec or something. Next, look at the back side of the movement where the movement casing screw heads fit into the groove in the case and make sure they are both in place in the groove, not out of the groove. Exceptions = when case clamps have been used, I had to use case clamps on a couple of my MBK/1520 '5513' and 1575 '1680' because the case screws were too tight in the groove.

If the dial is tight against the front of the case and the casing screws are in the proper position, the next thing to check would be to make sure the dial is snug against the movement and no spacer has been used. If this all checks out, the case will need some detail machining.

"IIRC the 2846/2836 is what HH designed the case for, but I know dbane and fitch (maybe others) built 5514's with a 1520 and HH case. Maybe there's a trick to getting everything to line up?"

The Eta 2836/46 is close to the rolex 1575 date and the 2824 is close to the rolex 15xx no date models...not exact but close and the swap from Eta to 15xx usually goes Ok...depending minor details inside the case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting. Will have to update my notes. Thanks!

I used an ETA 2846 in my HH case. It's 5.22mm and worked OK. Can see why the OP's watchmaker is saying things aren't aligned properly.

IIRC the 2846/2836 is what HH designed the case for, but I know dbane and fitch (maybe others) built 5514's with a 1520 and HH case. Maybe there's a trick to getting everything to line up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. I've used both 1520's and 1530's and never noticed a difference in fitment.

And yes, the 1520 fit fine in the HH case for me. But since only 10 or so were made, there may have been slight differences amongst them.

IMO, the rehaut on the HH case is a tad thin. Which is why I ended up using a phong case for the final build.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, pam007 said:

sucks you're having this problem. 
I have always admired your build.

You can always go gen.   switch out the 1530 for a 1520 and get this case:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-70s-ROLEX-Submariner-5513-case-parts-NICE-/391407581554?hash=item5b21b5b972:g:le4AAOSwZ8ZW6HDo

Kinda boring but everyone does it eventually. 

 

Looks like that seller broke up an entire 5513. He's selling off all the parts but the dial.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...
On 3/14/2016 at 11:38 AM, dbane883 said:

Really? I did not know that. Huh.

I have seen other people claim this but Automatico always has the best information.   On another forum, a guy claimed "1530 is the base caliber for many movements, it is actually 28,5mm x 6,30mm whereas the 1520 is 28,5mm x 5,75mm"  but maybe the 1530 had a date function or something?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up