Cleaning & Oiling A Bulova 10BC Movement

One of my favorite watches took a nasty spill and the upper pivot on the balance staff broke.

After acquiring another 10BC movement from Larry Foord, I proceeded with a pretty standard cleaning and oiling.

I was pleased to see that the replacement movement was a 17 jewel 10BC, so I swapped it for my 7 jewel 10BC.

The new movement was missing the barrel ratchet wheel, the hour wheel, the canon pinion and the upper pivot on the pallet arbor was broken, but the balance and hairspring were perfect.

After disassembling and hand cleaning the new movement, I separated the parts.

After the cleaning process, I used wooden skewers to clean out the jewel holes, being careful not to crack one. I also removed the cap jewel for the pallet arbor lower pivot and cleaned that.

Here are pics of the pillar plate:

And the dial side:

To avoid smudges I did a preliminary wiping of the bridges and plate with Rodico. A more though cleaning would happen after the movement is assembled.

Here we see the damaged pallet fork and arbor from the replacement movement. The missing pivot is quite obvious, even on so small a part.

Here is the first step in assembly; the pallet arbor and fork (PA&F) are set in place and the PA&F bridge is carefully set onto the upper pivot.

Here, all the pics are from the 7 jewel movement. As I got going on assembling the 17 jewel movement, I became careless and didn't take any pictures. So the 7 jewel will have to sit in for the 17 jewel movement. The layout is identical, however.

Next, the escape wheel is put in place.

Then, the fourth wheel--the gear which moves the sub-second hand.

Next, the third wheel--the gear which moves the minutes hand.

And lastly, the second wheel, or center wheel--the gear which moves the hour hand.

Here the bridge has been replaced. On a personal note, I've noticed it's far easier to place the bridges down on high jeweled watches. These seven jewel movements are tough, because there isn't a colour contrast between the pivots and holes, like a jewel will give you.

Here the barrel is placed in position.

And here the barrel bridge in put in place.

Here, the click spring gave me some grief on the 17 jewel movement. The click had jumped the spring, so I had to remove the click, so as to get the spring back behind the stud located on the underside of the click. Thirty minutes later, I was victorious and the click spring was my defeated enemy!

To crush your click springs, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the winding clicks!

Lastly, the balance goes into place.



This video may be downloaded for free from Rapidshare

http://rapidshare.com/files/34464677/Mov00694.mpg

Here is a video of the 17 jewel movement ticking along nicely.




This video may be downloaded for free from Rapidshare

http://rapidshare.com/files/34464322/Mov00679.mpg

Autonomie

To all my readers, I apologize for my laziness in posting.

I don't want to turn this into a "personal" blog, so I'll keep it short. My father had some health issues, which have been clearing up very well. I've been helping my mother to care for him and have been putting out fires around the house; so things like studying and blogging have fallen by the wayside.

Starting next week, I will be making regular postings and updating the Chicago School Of Watchmaking section, as well as all the other sections. I especially hope to have a new Grande Complication interview up sooner, than later.

You've all been very patient and I look forward to interacting with you as much as possible over the next year--and beyond.

Thank you.

Custom Made Watch Dials

Received a heads up from reader Dennis Brooker on his custom made dials.

His dials are made using genuine shell materials and Swarovski crystal, etched carbon fiber, holographic background materials, real wood and rattlesnake skin. Dennis has also created a new high quality luminous film which is comparable to any luminous material now offered.

They are available for 35mm and 40mm watches in both quartz and auto. Your name, initials, a monogram, a military insignia or logo can be imprinted on to any of the dials.

My personal faves are the carbon fiber dials:

Check out Dennis Brooker's website for more info:

http://www.dbrooker.com/coolwatches.html

Autonomie

Good news for this weeks Autonomie; I had my first comment!

Reader rrwatch pointed out that the Chicago School Of Watchmaking course left out a couple of important setting mechanisms from their course: The key set and pin.

From Christoph Ozdoba's website:

http://www.ozdoba.net/swisswatch/pocket_howto.html

"...the shaft where you insert the key to set the watch is usually directly in the center."

"In the picture above, the red arrow shows the little pusher that you have to operate (best with the nail of your thumb) if you want to set the watch: Push it in, and then turn the crown to set the hands."

The key set featured both front and back setting squares and the pin set--as is found on the Model 1870 Waltham.

I haven't made a new post on the Chicago School Of Watchmaking for several days and I apologize. I haven't had too much time to study, which is not an excuse. I hope to start posting daily, rather than catch as catch can, as I have been doing.

I posted info about my blog on several watch forums to mark the one month anniversary of the What Does Your Watch Say? blog. Response has been good, but I'm still looking for your comments and emails, readers.

Longines Legend Diver update

Some new info and pics about my favorite and yours, the Longines Legend Diver re-issue.

To be made available between September and December 2007 for approximately $1,900 US.

Reference No. L3.674.4.56.2
Mechanical automatic movement Longines L633 (ETA 2824/2) 11½ lines, 25 rubies, 28,800 beats per hour power reserve of 38 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes and second
Case: Round, stainless steel, with internal rotating bezel, two screw down crowns and back "plunger" or diver symbol stamped on the case back 42 mm
Dial: Black dial enameled with index hour markers with luminescence superluminova
Hands: Polished rhodium with luminescence superluminova
Water resistant: Up to 300 Meters
Crystals: Convex sapphire,
Black synthetic Bracelet with Longines signed deployment clasp

Troughout the text below, are pics of an original Longines diver from the 1960's.

The Longines Legend Diver, produced by the pioneers of the sport of diving and their exploits, this Longines line "Sport Legends" pays homage to the pioneers of the sport and their exploits timed by Longines.

The Longines Legend Diver is a re-issue of a diving watch produced in 1960, when marine exploration and the military and sport diving were in their glory. Longines had participated in the record dive of the Bathyscaphe "Trieste" in 1953 by providing on board instruments.

While preserving the typical spirit and the design of the sixties, Longines presents this vintage design with contemporary and powerful new design features: a convex sapphire glass, crown and back screwed down to guarantee a water tightness of 300m; a rotating disc under the top glass.

This watch brings together, in a legendary style, high performance and timeless elegance. From the very start of the 20th century, the symbol with the winged hour glass has been successively associated with the legendary names of pioneers such as the commander P.v.H. Weems, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and Donald Campbell, in the fields of aviation, of terrestrial and underwater exploration, but also in land speed records on the ground and in water.

The pinnacle of the Longines Sport Collection, this model in the Sport Legends line, the Legend Diver, shows off a highly powerful diving tool matched by the design revival of classic watches. Revisiting a model from 1960 a period in the pioneer spirit of diving records to which Longines took it's rightful share--in particular that of the Bathyscaphe "Trieste" to 3150 meters, in September 1953--it brings back the principal lines and in particular the convex glass, reminiscent of the unavailable at the time technical ideas, but carried out with the then available tolerances and high performances matching the dive watches we see today.

Its stainless steel case is 42 mm and has a screwed back, engraved with a diver.

The two screw down crowns are decorated with a fine criss-cross pattern, which is matched on the loop of the synthetic bracelet, carrying forth the pure spirit of the 1960' S. One of the crowns controls and locks the time lapse disc turning bi-directional under the crystal, making it possible to determine the remaining time of dive.

The luminescent indice hour markers and figures are coated in superluminova of the enameled black dial offer an optimal legibility, increased by the sober and clear typography of the figures 3, 6, 9 and 12.

A genuine dive watch, the Legend Diver is watertight to 300 meters. It is equipped with a mechanical movement, automatic Longines L633 with a power reserve of 45 hours.

Some more pics of the original model

Chicago School Of Watchmaking Lesson 2

Master Watchmaking
A Modern, Complete, Practical Course
By Thomas B. Sweazey and Byron G. Sweazey.

The Chicago School of Watchmaking was founded in 1908 by Thomas b. Sweazey.

LESSON 2: CROWNS, STEMS, SLEEVES AND BOWS

There are two types of part assortments available: bulk assortments which are not separated. And pre-sorted assortments, which cost more, but are easier to use.

In American watches there are three types of setting arrangements:

The first is the pendant set which uses s stem and sleeve and sits inside the watchcase and is sometimes called a Negative Setting.

The second type of setting is called a Swiss setting and the stem is a part of the movement and is sometimes called a Positive Setting.

The third type of setting is called a lever set and it uses a set lever operated by the finger nail and is mostly used in railroad watches.

Section 49:
A sleeve is screwed inside the watchcase pendant. The top of the sleeve is threaded, as is the upper part of the pendant inside. The sleeve with the stem inside is screwed into the watchcase pendant with a sleeve wrench. The bottom of the sleeve is sectioned like four fingers, which grip the bottom of the stem in two places; the bottom notch for winding and the top notch for setting. The crown is screwed onto the top of the stem, which is threaded.

Section 42:
When removing a movement from a case which has full head screws, you need only remove the lower screw, loosen the top screw slightly, pull up the crown into the setting position and the movement will come out of the case.

Section 43:
To remove the crown from the stem, after the movement has been removed from the case, hold the winding square with a pair of flat nose pliers and turn the crown to the left with your right hand.

Section 44:
Sleeve wrenches have prongs with either two, or four lugs on the ends of the prongs. The wrench is placed inside the pendant of the watchcase to unscrew the sleeve. On some watches, the sleeve is old and cannot be removed with the sleeve wrench. In this case, remove the stem from the sleeve and use a square file, or broach to unscrew the sleeve from the pendant. Adjustments are done to the sleeve inside the pendant, with the stem still inside the sleeve.

Section 45:
Using the sleeve wrench, place the correct size prong inside the pendant and turn the wrench to the left and continue doing so until the sleeve is free of the pendant and case. the, remove the stem through the bottom of the sleeve.

Section 47:
When selecting a new sleeve, make sure the diameter of the threaded top is correct, that the threads are the correct pitch and that the length is correct.

Section 48:
If a thread breaks off inside the crown which is made of gold, rolled gold, gold plate, or nickle, soak the crown in a solution of water and alum to dissolve the steel thread.

Section 49:
When replacing the crown, make sure the threads fit the stem threads and fits over the pendant.

Autonomie

Well, this section called Autonomie, was suppose to be a showcase for comments, or emails that I found particularly insightful, or interesting. Unfortunately, I haven't had any comments, or emails. So I've decided to use this first post to talk about how this blog is going.

The three interviews in the Grande Complication section were wonderful. Many thanks to dAz, Frank and Larry for participating and sharing their time and experience. I believe that Grande Complicaton will be one of the more important features of this blog, simply because by using the ideas, wisdom and experience of the people I interview, all new comers to horology will be able to have access to decades of knowledge, the type we would not normally be able to access.

I was hitting them outta the park with dAz, Frank and Larry, but for all my efforts, I have not been able to find an interviewee for this week. if I can't find someone by Thursday, Grande Complication will be a no go this week.

Seconde Morte has been a fun section to work on, since I get to present watches that turn my eye and share some sweet pics of those same watches with all of you. Next week I'll be presenting a watch from my own collection.

Lastly, The Chicago School Of Watchmaking course, the main purpose of this blog, has been fun to present. I think the pics and videos will go a long way to helping newbies like myself see the work, rather than just read about it. I genuinely hope this will be the most popular section of my blog.

That's it for now. I hope the people who have been kind enough to stop by will take a moment and leave a comment and let me know what you think. Share your ideas, thoughts, questions and opinions.