RWG Technical Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I had relumed one of these models before, but it was the larger version. I never had any issues with taking it apart and putting it back together. This is the smaller version of this watch, and what started out as a simple relume turned into a nightmare during re-assembly...read on... The first thing I noted during disassembly, was oil stains around the outer edge of the dial. It ended up being silicone from the o'ring that sits just outside of the dial under the top cover. There was too much silicone used, the heat from wearing the watch basically melted it, and it ran all over the dial face. I cleaned it up with Rodico, but you can still see the stains. The movement is the Asian copy of a Miyota, good movement, but they chose a model with too short a cannon and hour wheel. So the hour hand was right up against the dial and not easy to remove, also, the individual hand spacing was really tight. I carried on with the lume, and the problem came during assembly. The problem was once I installed the movement in the case, I could not get the stem to go in. When I looked at the crown tube, only half of the movement stem hole was visible. Normally the stem hole should sit in the center of the crown tube. So, 4 hours or so later, spread out over as many days, I FINALLY got it together. Many of the problems included a cross threaded and stripped and glued in place crown from the factory, and to add to that, they cut the stem too short...and I didn't have any spare stems like this one. I have no issues overall with Asian Auto's, but that is as long as you don't have any problem...in this case, a new stem would have fixed the watch in 5 minutes, but I ended up having to spend all this time finding a solution due to lack of spare parts... I had to take the movement apart no less than 4 times to re-set the keyless works that I popped out of place...ahhhh As soon as I saw the difficulties I was having, I told my associate to cancel any and all B&R lumes that may be on my list. There was only one listed, once the owner was notified of the issues, he asked if I would do the lume, if he took the watch apart, and put it back together. He would send me the dial and hands stand alone. No problem I said, I can handle that...well I have since found out that he ended up damaging the dial, during Disassembly... FYI, if you dare take one of these apart, be prepared for many problems... On a lighter side, here is the lume shots, hard to get a good glow one without a tripod, but you get the idea. For some reason the hands look slightly yellowed in the pics, but in person they are the same but lighter orange than the dial. I think the camera is picking up the lume glow and it's changing the colour slightly... Thanks for reading, RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Thanks for the warning, The Zigmeister! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 And the only thing stopping me buying these is the crap lume. Ziggy when you say the smaller version are you refering to the 39mm or the 42mm version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyster Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Anyone who has ever attempted a relume will appreciate how difficuilt that must be to relume that dial even without all the extra work you have had to endure. I would love to know how you manage to do these so accurately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted November 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 And the only thing stopping me buying these is the crap lume. Ziggy when you say the smaller version are you refering to the 39mm or the 42mm version. The case measures 42 mm from side to side, so I guess it's 42. The other one I did a long time ago, was much larger than this one, actually it was the 2892 ETA controversy model, which had the Asian clone... RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted November 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I would love to know how you manage to do these so accurately. You and me both...this one is really a challenge due to the short posts, the lume has to be flattened once done or the hands won't clear it. RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 The case measures 42 mm from side to side, so I guess it's 42. The other one I did a long time ago, was much larger than this one, actually it was the 2892 ETA controversy model, which had the Asian clone... RG Thanks Rob, so i dont think i will be getting one then, i see no point in it if the lume is crap as standard and it is not realy an option to get you to relume it. Thanks Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Well, all said and done, it turned out looking really nice. And it just continues to amaze me how you are able to deal with all the unknowns and surprises that come with our reps, and maintain your sanity, desire, and incredibly generous pricing structure. Bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Thanks for letting us know indeed Ziggy. Good to see you're still here to protect us from these kind of problems. Cheers Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I hope that this doesn't cause a problem for ajoesmith. He's planning to disassemble and reassemble a bunch of these, as part of the PVD group buy. (He's already done at least two, so it would be interesting to hear if he's seen the same issues). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estaban Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 What a headache for you Rob. I'm going to think twice about monkeying around with this watch. I'm wearing it as I type (white marker/PVD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazonkers Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I hope that this doesn't cause a problem for ajoesmith. He's planning to disassemble and reassemble a bunch of these, as part of the PVD group buy. (He's already done at least two, so it would be interesting to hear if he's seen the same issues). I'd imagine he's just going to pop out the crown and take out the whole movt. dial, etc. He won't be taking dials off hands. It should be alot easier unless the keyless works gets screwed up taking out/putting in the stem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I'd imagine he's just going to pop out the crown and take out the whole movt. dial, etc. He won't be taking dials off hands. It should be alot easier unless the keyless works gets screwed up taking out/putting in the stem. Although The Zigmeister wrote that removing the hands was an issue, his major problems came during reassembly of the watch...ajoesmith will face the same issues. Hopefully, this is not an endemic problem, and was just a quality issue on The Zigmeister's example...ajoe should be able to provide more input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazonkers Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Although The Zigmeister wrote that removing the hands was an issue, his major problems came during reassembly of the watch...ajoesmith will face the same issues. Hopefully, this is not an endemic problem, and was just a quality issue on The Zigmeister's example...ajoe should be able to provide more input. He'll jump in this thread, I'm sure. He did have 2 already PVD'd and reassembled. That hasn't caused him to not to take orders so I'd imagine it wasn't that painful for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajoesmith Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 I have actually disassembled and reassembled 3 of these watches and havent had the stem problem that The Zigmeister has faced. It may just have been a bad watch that he got with regard to the movement and stem. Regarding the dial and hands, yes The Zigmeister is very correct, the canon and hour wheels are really short so installing hands is a real pain, however i did it no problem in about 10 mins. If i have any problems during the reassembly of the B&R watches in the group buy ill let everyone know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Whatever the problems, I'm awed at your mastery of the dial Zig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Whatever the problems, I'm awed at your mastery of the dial Zig! Thanks, there is always a bright side... RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajoesmith Posted December 16, 2007 Report Share Posted December 16, 2007 OK Ive now disassembled and reassembled 5 of these watches and all were fine NO PROBLEMS May be The Zigmeister just got a bad one, hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted December 16, 2007 Report Share Posted December 16, 2007 The Zigmeister, your patience and integrity never ceases to amaze me, a lesser mortal would have probably given up and refunded the client's money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake48 Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 (edited) Thanks for you're great work The Zigmeister. Happy to report the watch is running +/- 4 Sec a day - and the lume really makes the watch. The lume also helps give the watch a really neat glow in low light conditions too! Here are a few shots - done without a tripod- but they give you the idea... Lights out! Low light shot PS - AJoe, The Zigmeister put the ETA 7750 I got from you in my MBW AP ROO when he had the B&R out for the re-lume. The AP ROO is running sooooperrrrrb! Thanks again The Zigmeister & Ajoe... Edited December 17, 2007 by jake48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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