Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I know there are several RFF members who collect watches; we have a couple of threads here where people post pics of their watches. I've collected watches since I was in college, and have a small collection. None of mine are terribly expensive, since I've never had a lot of money to spend on them. I was sick with stomach problems most of last year, and didn't feel well enough to go out photographing much, which is why I haven't been posting much on RFF lately. I started learning to repair watches because some of mine needed regulated, and I didn't want to pay someone to do that with the number of watches I had.
Several years ago, my grandmother gave me a watch that belonged to my grandfather, John Westerfield.
Grandpa died back in 1999. The watch Grandma gave me was a Benrus Citation Copley, a gold-plated watch made in Switzerland by an American company in 1955.
It ran but was very slow, losing about 10 minutes a day. Last year I got it out and decided to have it serviced. I didn't feel confident enough in my abilities to do a full service on a watch, especially one so old when no parts are available; so I took it to a local watchmaker. He returned it to me running just as badly as before, even after I asked him to work on it a second time. I decided not to take it back to him again. I recently began the process of servicing the watch myself, beginning with completely disassembling it.
The watch has an ETA 1220, a common Swiss movement from the 1950s. In the next couple days I'm going to clean all of the parts, then lubricate each part that needs oil or grease using the correct lubricant (there are four types of lubricant used in a watch, depending on what part is being lubricated!), then I'll reassemble it and adjust it for accuracy.
Before I took the watch apart, I wound it up and put it on a timegrapher, an electronic device that gives information about how a mechanical watch is running. The things I looked at were its timing (it was running about 5 minutes a day slow at that point) and its amplitude. Amplitude is a measure of how much power a watch's mainspring is delivering to the mechanism. It should be higher than 250 at minimum. This watch had an amplitude of 125. That showed me that the person I paid to repair it didn't do a damned thing to it. Two things can cause low amplitude. A worn out mainspring, and bearings that are full of dried, dirty old lubricants. Cleaning a watch solves the latter problem; and replacing the mainspring, which is a standard part of a watch service, solves the former. When I took it apart, the mainspring looked old, and the jewel bearings looked dirty when I looked at them through an eyeloupe.
Hopefully I can get it running perfectly again. The parts don't look worn or damaged, so I think it just needed properly cleaned, and a new mainspring. I found a company that still sells mainsprings for this old movement.
Several years ago, my grandmother gave me a watch that belonged to my grandfather, John Westerfield.
Grandpa died back in 1999. The watch Grandma gave me was a Benrus Citation Copley, a gold-plated watch made in Switzerland by an American company in 1955.
It ran but was very slow, losing about 10 minutes a day. Last year I got it out and decided to have it serviced. I didn't feel confident enough in my abilities to do a full service on a watch, especially one so old when no parts are available; so I took it to a local watchmaker. He returned it to me running just as badly as before, even after I asked him to work on it a second time. I decided not to take it back to him again. I recently began the process of servicing the watch myself, beginning with completely disassembling it.
The watch has an ETA 1220, a common Swiss movement from the 1950s. In the next couple days I'm going to clean all of the parts, then lubricate each part that needs oil or grease using the correct lubricant (there are four types of lubricant used in a watch, depending on what part is being lubricated!), then I'll reassemble it and adjust it for accuracy.
Before I took the watch apart, I wound it up and put it on a timegrapher, an electronic device that gives information about how a mechanical watch is running. The things I looked at were its timing (it was running about 5 minutes a day slow at that point) and its amplitude. Amplitude is a measure of how much power a watch's mainspring is delivering to the mechanism. It should be higher than 250 at minimum. This watch had an amplitude of 125. That showed me that the person I paid to repair it didn't do a damned thing to it. Two things can cause low amplitude. A worn out mainspring, and bearings that are full of dried, dirty old lubricants. Cleaning a watch solves the latter problem; and replacing the mainspring, which is a standard part of a watch service, solves the former. When I took it apart, the mainspring looked old, and the jewel bearings looked dirty when I looked at them through an eyeloupe.
Hopefully I can get it running perfectly again. The parts don't look worn or damaged, so I think it just needed properly cleaned, and a new mainspring. I found a company that still sells mainsprings for this old movement.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I've been making a series of videos of the repair process. Partially to help me in reassembling it, since there is no service manual available for this old movement; and because a couple of friends wanted to see the process. You can watch it, too. I created a new Youtube channel for it: Watchmaker Chris.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Good stuff but if you don't already know him, you can lean LOTS from this channel: Wristwatch Revival
Pure gold.
Like RFF for watches.
Pure gold.
Like RFF for watches.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I'll check it out; thanks. I learned a lot from Alex Hamilton's Watch Repair Tutorials. Alex is a retired watchmaker who actually has a watchmaking degree from a trade school. His stuff is very detailed and very clearly explained, and he teaches the correct way to do things, not the shortcuts and bad techniques a lot of the amateurs on Youtube show.
Something else that was a big help was a book called The Watch Repairer's Manual by Henry Fried. 70 years ago, Fried was one of the world's leading watchmakers and teachers. His book is very comprehensive and teaches obscure things like manufacturing your own springs and gear spindles. It was especially useful to me because his chapter on servicing a watch uses a movement very similar to the ETA 1220 used in my watch. There are a few important differences between 1950s movements and modern ones, and I never see anyone on Youtube working on anything like this.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Good stuff, Chris! That's a lovely old Benrus. Marshall Sutcliff (the guy who does Wristwatch Revival) has serviced a number of 1950s and even older wristwatches, you should look through his video catalog. Good luck with your cleaning and service work!
There are a couple of other YouTube channels worth looking at.
- Vintage Watch Services created by a guy named Theo who lives in Switzerland but is Norwegian is worth subscribing to and watching. He works on a huge range of older and newer watches, and is a professional watchmaker.
- Nekkid Watchmaker is another professional (name Joe) who does some amazing work on restoration and repair. Again, he's worked on and restored many older watches and it's particularly amazing to see his restoration work on truly abused watch cases and bracelets.
Enjoy! I look forward to hearing your journey to the full restoration of your Benrus!
G
There are a couple of other YouTube channels worth looking at.
- Vintage Watch Services created by a guy named Theo who lives in Switzerland but is Norwegian is worth subscribing to and watching. He works on a huge range of older and newer watches, and is a professional watchmaker.
- Nekkid Watchmaker is another professional (name Joe) who does some amazing work on restoration and repair. Again, he's worked on and restored many older watches and it's particularly amazing to see his restoration work on truly abused watch cases and bracelets.
Enjoy! I look forward to hearing your journey to the full restoration of your Benrus!
G
JoeV
Thin Air, Bright Sun
Subscribed, Chris!