Category: Watch Case Studies

A recent job in the workshop involved the repair of a Junkers Bauhaus automatic watch. The Junkers brand is of German origin and named after Hugo Junkers – a pioneer in the field of civil aviation. Junkers proved that metal could be used for flying, so heavier loads could be transported over longer distances. His goal was connecting the peoples of the world. Junkers liberal principles and refusal to help with the re-armament of Germany led to his imprisonment by the National Socialists in 1933, and sadly he died a couple of years later.

This Junkers model is named the Bauhaus after the German art and craft school operational between 1919-1933. It’s an automatic watch with an exhibition case back, steel case and a tension ring armoured Plexiglass. It was working on arrival, though the timekeeping was unreliable. A full service was in order to correct this problem.

To remove the movement from this watch we need to remove the large tension ring Plexiglass. So firstly we open the back of the watch and remove the crown and stem, as well as retaining case clamps. We can then use a special glass removing tool to take the glass out, releasing the movement from the case.

This watch uses an ETA 2824-2 movement – one of the reliable, good quality Swiss automatic movements we see fairly regularly. During the service, we completely strip the movement down to its individual components, check and clean everything, before the movement is reassembled and oiled. The reversing wheels which form part of the automatic winding mechanism are often worn on these movements, so these are replaced as well as the mainspring. The case is given a thorough clean, before everything is put back together.

We then pressure test the watch to its original rating of 3ATM. While this is not really enough water resistance to warrant any real use in water, we strive to match original water resistance ratings and get watches back to a level of water resistance where possible. Testing is done using our Sigma pressure testing machine, which has the capability to test watches up to 300m or 30ATM water resistant.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

We are skilled in the repair and restoration of a whole range of different types of watch – both modern and vintage. One group of watches we regularly work on are military watches. Military watches are watches which, as the name suggests, have been issued to members of the armed forces at some point.

Probably the most famous sub-group of military watches is the “Dirty Dozen”. In the 1940s, the MOD needed watches produced to a certain specification for issue to the armed forces. Twelve manufacturers were eventually approved to produce these watches – hence the name, the Dirty Dozen. In alphabetical order, these makers were: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger Le Coultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex. As you may note, all these makers are Swiss. Unfortunately British watchmaking had been in decline for some time, so lacked the required means of production to make such timepieces.

The military watch we’ve been working on here is later than the “Dirty Dozen”, though it’s still from the period before the MOD switched to issuing quartz watches (which was just after the Falklands War). Indeed this CWC W-10 was one of the last general purpose mechanical watches issued to the military in the UK.

On arrival with us it was running though not keeping time. Inspection of the movement revealed it had likely not been serviced for many years, so a full service and new mainspring was required.

The movement used in this watch is an ETA 2750 manual wind mechanical movement. This is a good, robust movement, with a hacking function to stop the second hand when the crown is pulled out into hand-setting position. During a full service the movement is completely stripped down, cleaned, reassembled, oiled, adjusted and tested.

Our client stressed the need to keep everything original, so the armoured plexi-glass dome was left “as is”, likewise with the one piece steel case. In many instances originality is of great importance and we are only too happy to oblige. We can also offer our advice on what is best for the specific watch in question if our client is unsure. Once the watch is fully cased up it’s ready to go on test before returning to our client.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

One of the most frequent jobs we tackle in our watch repair workshop involves replacing the watch crown and/or stem. The crown, also known as the winder, is used to both set the time, and to wind up a mechanical watch. If the watch crown is pulled out incorrectly, or caught in a certain way, it’s quite easy to break it off. Depending on how it’s broken, we may be able to recover the original crown, and simply replace the stem. If the watch crown itself is damaged, or the stem is broken absolutely flush with the crown, this may require the crown to be fully replaced.

Assessing a watch for repair

In this example we are replacing both the crown and stem on a Raymond Weil chronograph watch. You can see the watch stem has broken very close to the crown itself, so this will make removing the old stem extremely difficult. In some instances we can do this, but most often a new crown will be needed. If you look closely, you can see how water damage has affected the stem, causing it to rust. This has weakened the stem and over time has led to it being so weak it has broken.

We were able to source an original crown for this Raymond Weil watch model, as well as a replacement stem. To fit the new crown and stem we need to trim the stem to fit. For this we fit the stem to the watch movement and measuring off how much excess metal we need to remove. We use the old broken stem as a guide. The stem is removed from the watch movement, and held in a pin vice. It is trimmed and filed down, allowing the new crown to fit smoothly.

Replacing the watch crown

There’s a bit of an art to getting the stem to the exact size, and it really is a case of practice makes perfect. The crown should sit flush against the side of the watch case, without a gap. Care is needed, if the stem is cut short, the stem won’t reach far enough into the movement, causing the watch movement to be stuck in date-change, or hand-setting mode (or if it’s cut far too short, it won’t be held in place at all!).

When we are happy with the fitting, we again remove the crown and stem, then take the crown off. We put a tiny drop of threadlock glue on the end of the stem, before reattaching the new replacement crown. This allows us to be doubly sure the new crown will remain in place long into the future. Now we refit the crown and stem, and that’s this part of the job done!

Expert watch repair service

In addition to the steps outlined above, we often take care of additional jobs at the same time. For example cleaning the case and bracelet, replacing the glass or fitting a new battery. Our watchmaking workshop is well equipped to deal with a wide variety of repairs to almost all watches, both modern and vintage.

Do you have a watch in need of replacement parts or a new crown? Contact us to see how we can help. We offer a watch repairs service both locally via our shops in Lewes and Uckfield, as well as nationally via our fully insured secure postal repairs service. Our master watchmaker in an expert in the repair of watches and have the skills to take on a huge variety of repairs. We are business partners of the British Horological Institute, and hold a Platinum Trusted Service award from Feefo – testament to the consistent, excellent reviews we receive from our clients.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director

We deal with a huge variety of watches in our workshop, ranging from modern Tag Heuer, Breitling and Omega through to vintage wrist and pocket watches. Vintage watches come in all shapes and sizes. They often need extra special care and attention, especially if the watch in question has not been regularly serviced over the years.

This watch is a vintage C5 Galaxy mechanical watch. It’s a watch which has obvious aviation inspiration – It’s named after the large military transport aeroplane and features a clear disc with the silhouette of the C5 Galaxy acting as the second hand.

On opening the watch we are able to inspect the movement. This watch uses mechanical movement branded from the Hafner Watch Co. It’s actually a Baumgartner calibre 866, which in its standard form is a workhorse pin pallet movement. This iteration is upgraded to having 17 jewels, so this is a positive – the jewels act to reduce friction and so reduce wear.

We can see quite a lot of dirt and debris throughout the movement, so a full service and a fresh mainspring is in order. The movement is completely disassembled and pre-cleaned, with each part carefully inspected for wear. The disassembled movement is then run through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine, while the case was cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner.

After cleaning the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled. The dial and hands, plus the unusual second hand disc are then refitted, before the complete movement is fitted into the case.

No additional works were carried out to the case, dial and hands – these were all left in original condition for our client. Now before returning the watch we put it on test to confirm the timekeeping accuracy and make sure everything is just as it should be. Another job well done!

Do you have a watch in need of repair? No job is too big or too small – Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any 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 see many different types of watch come through our workshop. From quartz watches powered by batteries, through to automatic mechanical watches, we service and repair a huge range of timepieces, both modern and vintage. Recently, we’ve seen quite a few automatic watches, all of which share a fault – a heavily worn reversing wheel. In this blog post we’ll discuss the automatic winding mechanism found in many modern watches and why it experiences such wear.

The automatic winding mechanism deals with keeping the watch wound up as you move around. It consists of the rotor (or oscillating weight as it’s also known) and a series of different wheels, sitting between two bridges. As you move around, the rotor always wants to be towards the lowest point of the watch due to gravity. For example if you’re holding your automatic watch with the crown pointed in a downward direction, the rotor will be hanging down in the same way. The rotor is weighted on its outer section to encourage its motion.

As the rotor moves, a series of wheels transmit the force through to the rachet wheel, which thus winds the mainspring. The construction of the automatic system can vary from watch to watch, though the majority of modern Swiss watches use a similar design which features bi-directional winding – i.e. The rotor winds up the watch regardless of the direction it is turning. In order to allow for this bi-directional winding, a wheel called a reverser must be used.

We won’t go into the technicality of how a reverser works, though suffice to say they are a fantastically clever piece of engineering. As you can imagine, if a watch is worn on a regular basis, the automatic winding mechanism is moving all the time. It’s been said that a reverser changes direction of movement between 10⁶ and 10⁷ times every year. These are vital components to ensure your automatic watch continues to wind, so they need to remain in excellent condition.

As you can see from the images, these reversers are in quite the opposite – a terrible state. This is what can happen if a watch is not kept regularly serviced. The pivots have massively reduced in diameter, simply due to being thoroughly worn out. A reduction in diameter of only 10% equates to a strength reduction of approximately 1/3, so you can imagine how weak the pivots must be in these examples. The automatic winding mechanism was not functioning properly in these watches, and it’s clear to see one of the reasons why!

Like anything with moving parts, a mechanical watch needs periodic servicing in order to allow it to continue working properly for years to come. Even if you’ve had a watch for many years and it has never seen a watchmaker but it’s still ticking, this does not mean everything is fine and it does not require any attention. The longer these watches are left, the more likely it is we find additional worn parts. We advise our customers to have their watches serviced every 3-5 years, depending on the model. There are of course some exceptions, though this is a general rule.

When you have a quality timepiece from the likes of Rolex, Breitling, Omega or Tag Heuer, it makes sense to look after it. By ensuring your watch is kept regularly serviced it will continue to provide you with years and years of reliable service.

Do you have a watch in need of servicing? Contact us to see how we can help. We offer a repairs service both locally via our shops in Lewes and Uckfield, as well as nationally via our fully insured secure postal repairs service. We are experts in the repair of watches and have the skills to take on a huge variety of repairs. We are business partners of the British Horological Institute and we hold a Platinum Trusted Service award from Feefo – testament to the consistant, excellent reviews we receive from our clients.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director