Category: Watch Case Studies

When we service a watch movement we use a range of different specialist oils and greases. Lubrication is needed on moving parts to reduce friction which may lead to them wearing out. The more extra functions (or complications) your watch has, the more points in the movement which will require some form of oil or grease. As each movement is different, the type and quantity of oil or grease can vary.

Some modern movements are very sensitive to a lack of lubrication. After a period of 4-5 years a watch will need to be serviced, whereby the movement is completely disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, oiled, adjusted and tested. Certain movements are more hardy and may continue working despite lubricants being past their best. Notable “bulletproof” movements include some vintage Omega calibres. It should be stressed it’s a risky game to play by running a watch beyond its recommended service interval, especially if it’s a vintage model. If parts wear out, they may be rare or need to be made. This would significantly increase the cost of the repair. We strongly advocate looking after your watch and sticking to regular service intervals!

Each watchmaker will have their own personal preferences in regards to the oils and greases they use. Influences can include the age of the watchmaker and where they trained. For modern calibres a watchmaker’s servicing technical sheet will provide details of the manufacturer approved lubricants to use. In the absence of a technical sheet, there are some broad guidelines for lubricant use.

For metal to metal we use grease. There are various different types on the market and the exact type we use depends on the situation. A basic “general purpose” grease is Moebius 8200. When servicing a 7750 chronograph, we use a grease called Molykote DX on the chronograph work.

For low speed high torque applications we use a thicker oil. Our preference here is Moebius HP-1300 – this is often specified on the technical documents of many modern watch calibres. The more “old school” watchmakers may use D5 for this application.

When oiling anything high speed low torque, we use a thinner oil. The industry standard here is Moebius 9010. Examples of where we use this oil include the pivots of the escape wheel and when oiling the end stones of the balance.

On top of these “basic” lubricants there are many others for very specific areas of the watch movement. Specialist lubricants include P125 – a braking grease used on the barrel walls of automatic watches. This lubricant is specified by many big manufacturers. Others include Moebius 941 and 9415 which are only used to oil the teeth of the escape wheel. V105 is used on reversing wheels, and V106 for rotor bearings, Then there’s epilame – a surface treatment used to prevent oils from spreading.

As you can tell, oils and the correct oiling of a watch really is a broad topic! Rest assured when your watch is in our care we adhere to the manufacturers technical documentation where appropriate and otherwise use industry standard best practices, as taught in leading horological institutions such as the British Horological Institute.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

Rolex are one of the top watch brands in the world. Rolex make high-quality, luxury timepieces, and if their watches are maintained they will continue to last for years and years. As a result, Rolex is a brand we see regularly in our workshop.

This particular Rolex is one of the Cellini range. These watches take their name from famed Italian goldsmith and sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini. The Cellini range are luxury dress watches and mark a bit of a departure from the rest of the Rolex range, which are more closely aligned with luxury tool watches.

On arrival in the workshop, this watch was not working. Inspection of the calibre 1602 mechanical movement immediately highlighted the main fault – one of the balance jewels was loose and the shock spring found open. This watch had clearly taken a huge shock – hard enough to go well above and beyond the limits of the shock resistance system. Our client confirmed it had indeed received a large shock.

To repair this watch it needed to have a full service and a new mainspring, as it hadn’t been looked at for some time. During the service, we completely disassemble the movement and run it through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine. After cleaning, the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled, before being adjusted and tested.

Part of the service involves checking the movement during the stage-by-stage disassembly/reassembly process. This is especially important knowing the movement being worked on has received a shock, as it is possible that jewels may have moved. This would alter the end shake of the wheels – in other words, it would affect the required clearance for the movement to work just as it should.

For the vast majority of watches we recommend servicing every 4-5 years. This is to ensure optimal performance of the movement (as the oils and greases needed to keep the movement running properly need to be kept fresh) and to allow the movement to be checked for signs of wear and tear.

After a full service and new mainspring, plus a clean and polish of the case, this beautiful Rolex Cellini is running very nicely again. It is ready for testing before return to our client.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

We often see Rolex watches in our workshop. Rolex make high-quality, luxury timepieces, and these watches are well worth maintaining. Here we have a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch with a blue dial and stainless steel case and bracelet.

On arrival in the workshop, this watch was not working. Inspection of the calibre 2231 automatic movement showed lots of fine metal debris throughout the mechanism, and a very worn-out rotor axle. As the axle was worn out, the rotor was not rotating properly and it was wearing against other parts of the movement. This rubbing caused the debris, and the eventual build up of this combined with the failure of the axle caused the watch to stop.

To repair this watch it needed to have a full service, including a new mainspring and rotor axle. We also gave the case and bracelet a clean and brighten on the polishing machine.

A full service involves complete disassembly of the movement and running it through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine. After cleaning, the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled, before being adjusted and tested. The entire watch is then tested on our rotating testing machine to confirm the automatic winding mechanism is operating correctly.

As part of the servicing work, we replaced both the rotor axle and mainspring. To replace the rotor axle we use a specialist tool called a staking set, to remove the axle, before then securing the replacement in place with the correct punch for this Rolex calibre.

For the vast majority of watches, we recommend servicing every 4-5 years. This is to ensure optimal performance of the movement (as the oils and greases needed to keep the movement running properly need to be kept fresh)and to allow the movement to be checked for signs of wear and tear.

 

After a full service, new mainspring, rotor axle and a clean and polish of the case and bracelet, this beautiful Rolex is running very nicely again. It is ready for testing before return to our client.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

The Omega Seamaster is a watch we see regularly in our workshop. It is however a little unusual to receive two of the same model from the same client! Both watches were the mid-size version of the Seamaster, with a black dial and a stainless steel case and bracelet. They were both working though our client said they were unreliable. There were also problems with the clasp on each watch.

Inspection of each movement revealed them both to be in good condition. This makes our life much easier, as if watches are well maintained there is less risk of broken parts or damage caused by significant wear. These watches are powered by the Omega calibre 1120 movement – an automatic mechanical watch movement of excellent quality. This is a modified version of a movement produced by ETA – one of the top watch movement manufacturers. The modifications are designed to improve performance, with 23 jewels and a three arm Glucydur balance amongst the modifications made to the base movement.

We fully serviced and fitted a fresh mainspring to each watch. When we service a watch it is completely disassembled and pre-cleaned, with each part inspected. The disassembled movement is then run through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine, while the case and bracelet are cleaned in a separate ultrasonic cleaner. After cleaning the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled. The dial and hands are then refitted, before the complete movement is fitted into the case.

Once cased up we fine-tune the timekeeping to make sure each watch is as accurate as it can be. Indeed these models are chronometer rated, so when new these movements passed a series of strict tests to ensure excellent timekeeping accuracy. We endeavour get timekeeping as accurate as we can – both watches were adjusted and still met the timekeeping criteria as chronometers. It’s important to note here that every watch is different and will have different timekeeping capabilities – we will of course advise you on what you can realistically expect from your specific watch (for example, accuracy to a few seconds a day may be fine for these modern Omega watches, but it is unrealistic when dealing with a verge pocket watch!).

One of the last elements of the job is to pressure test for water resistance. The Omega Seamaster is rated to 300m water resistant – we are able to test to this depth using our Sigma watch pressure testing machine. Finally we refit the bracelet (complete with brand new Omega clasp) before the watches go on test prior to returning them to our client.

Do you have an Omega watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any Omega watch and we offer a comprehensive watch repair service. We cater to clients all around the UK thanks to our fully insured freepost watch repairs service. You can also bring watches in to our showrooms based in Lewes and Uckfield, Sussex. As Business Partners of the British Horological Institute and a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award accredited business, you can be confident when dealing with us.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

We receive a huge spectrum of watches through our stores in Lewes and Uckfield, as well as through our postal repairs service. The postal service is fully insured and completely free – Using this we accept repairs from all around the UK. One such repair involved fully servicing and repairing a vintage Omega Seamaster.

About The Watch

The Omega Seamaster has been perhaps the most notable Omega model since its introduction in 1948 and was stylistically at least somewhat based on designs made for the Royal Navy towards the end of the war. Originally one of the key features of the watch was a rubber o-ring gasket designed to provide water resistance – a feature which at the time was not as common as it is now.

The Omega Seamaster belonging to our client is a model dating from the early 60s. It has a stainless steel, three part case and the movement is an Omega calibre 501  – a great quality, vintage automatic movement.

Repairing The Watch

On arrival in the workshop this watch was not working. Upon inspection there was water damage noted, so alongside a full service and new mainspring, we replaced a number of other components. During a full service we completely disassemble the movement and run it through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine. We also run the case and bracelet through a separate ultrasonic cleaner. After cleaning, the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled, before being adjusted and tested.

The water ingress had also caused damage to the dial. We partner with a fantastic dial restorer and we are able to restore a huge variety of watch dials. The damaged dial is completely stripped back, before the appropriate colour and finish are reapplied. Any dial furniture such as batons are also fully cleaned and restored. The end result is a dial which looks absolutely fantastic.

Once the dial is refitted to the movement, the entire watch is then cased up. Once everything is back together we are able to test the watch using our specialist automatic watch testing machine. This simulates the movement of the watch on your wrist and allows us to confirm the automatic winding mechanism is operating correctly, as well as to confirm the timekeeping is within acceptable tolerances for the movement calibre.

Do you have an Omega Seamaster in need of repair? From vintage to modern pieces, we are able to help. Thanks to our fully insured, freepost watch repairs service we are able to accept watches from all around the UK. We also accept repairs through our two stores in Lewes and Uckfield, Sussex. Our business is long established and we are Business Partners of the British Horological Institute, as well as holders of a coveted Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award. You can be confident when dealing with us.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

Our fully equipped watch repair workshop allows us to repair a huge range of types and styles of watch. From full servicing right the way through to smaller repairs, such as crown and stem replacement, glass replacement and movement exchanges. In this blog post we’ll look at a quartz movement service on an Omega De Ville watch.

Firstly we should clarify the difference between movement exchanges and servicing, as many watch repair workshops do not differentiate to the customer, even though the work involved is significantly different. Some quartz watches can, like mechanical watches, be serviced. In other words they are designed to be taken apart and repaired. If you have a big name brand like this Omega, your watch will have a movement which can be serviced. Servicing involves complete disassembly of the movement, cleaning, reassembly, oiling and testing. It’s quite an involved process.

In contrast a movement exchange involves swapping over the complete watch movement like-for-like with a brand new one. The dial and hands are switched over to the new movement. This can sometimes be more cost effective even if it is possible to service the existing movement, though with high quality quartz movements this is absolutely not the case. In other instances the movement fitted by the manufacturer is not even designed to be repaired, so we have no choice but to fit a complete replacement.

In this instance we have a lovely quality Omega De Ville with a serviceable quartz movement. The service is done in a similar fashion to with a mechanical watch. The watch movement is disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, oiled and tested. The oils used are slightly different, though many of the core principles of servicing remain the same, such as the need for absolute cleanliness. It is perhaps even more important in a quartz watch, as it takes very little to stop a quartz watch from working. After the movement is reassembled, we test it using our Elma Watch Master testing machine. These machines are able to test the power consumption of the movement and allow us to confirm the movement is operating within the manufacturer specified parameters.

Interestingly this particular movement had an unusual fault – the magnetic rotor (which forms part of the motor) had broken into two pieces. We were able to order a replacement and this was fitted during the repair.

After the service is complete the watch can be fully reassembled – pairing the movement with the dial, hands and freshly cleaned watch case. Another job well done!

Do you have an Omega watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair many different Omega models and we offer a comprehensive repairs service. We cater to clients all around the UK thanks to our fully insured freepost watch repairs service. As holder of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award and Business Partners of the British Horological Institute you can be confident when dealing with us.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director