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Before the introduction of shock protection, one of the most common causes of a mechanical watch stopping was an impact or shock causing the balance to break. A watch balance generally has a large diameter and mass, but in order to keep friction to an absolute minimum it rotates on fine pivots. As such, were the watch to receive a knock, this combination of factors makes the balance prime for a broken pivot.

Shock protection was developed in the mid-1930s, but only started being widely used from the mid-1950s. Perhaps the most common and best known is the Incabloc system. This system is still used today and found in watches by many big names brands such as Omega. The Incabloc system is immediately recognisable, as it uses a lyre shaped spring which is clearly visible pressing down on the balance endstone.

Incabloc System

The Incabloc system is highly effective – it provides protection against shocks from all directions. It does this by allowing the chaton – in which the jewels sit (and the balance pivot rotates in the jewel hole) – to move, rather than the shock to be absorbed directly by the pivots.

Pivot jewel

Instead, a longitudinal shock’s force is taken by the balance staff shoulder, which is much stronger than the pivot, and the lyre shaped spring absorbs energy from the shock, as well as ensuring the chaton moves back into its correct position after the shock has happened. During a lateral shock the balance staff may touch the block, though this again is on a robust section of the staff. The chaton will have shifted to the side, but the sloped surfaces of the block and the retaining spring combined will ensure the chaton returns to its correct position. It really is an ingenious design – there’s a reason it’s been widely used for such a long time.

There are a huge variety of different shock protection systems, though they tend to operate based on a similar principle. Other major systems include Kif, Novodiac, Paraflex and Duofix. From a watchmaker’s perspective these vary in terms of the ease with which they can be oiled – some are straightforward, others can prove a little fiddly!

Note there are numerous other ways watches are given a form of extra shock protection, besides these shockproof balance settings. Take the Certina DS models for example. The entire movement is surrounded by an elastic shock absorber ring, designed to absorb kinetic energy caused by vibrations and shocks. When launching these models in the late 50s/early 60s, Certina use elaborate advertising to highlight the effectiveness of the protection – fixing watches to a 27kg weight and dropping them onto a concrete slab!

 

Do you have a mechanical watch in need of repair? Here at WE Clark Watch Repairs we are experts in the repair of all makes and models of watch – from vintage pocket watches through to modern big-name brands like Tag Heuer, Omega and Rolex. We offer a fully insured freepost watch repairs service to clients all around the UK. As holders of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award and business partners of the British Horological Institute you can be confident in the service we provide.

Please Contact Us for further information regarding any requirement you may have.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited

You may have seen the word “jewels” in relation to watches. Some watches say “17 jewel” on the dial, whereas other say “25 jewel”, but what does this really mean? Is a watch with more jewels better? In this blog post we’ll discuss what jewels actually are and how they’re used in a watch movement.

Generally speaking, in a watch movement keeping friction to a minimum is advantageous. The wheel train – a series of wheels through which the power from the mainspring is transferred – is moving, so over time the pivots of these wheels are likely to wear. To try and minimise this wear, jewels are used to act as the hole the pivots rotate in. Modern jewels are made from synthetic ruby and they are extremely hard wearing.

An automatic watch movement

If you think of a steel pivot rotating in a brass hole, the steel is harder than the brass and there will be significant friction, so it stands to reason that the brass will wear over time. This is problematic. A steel pivot rotating in a jewelled hole however, there is much less friction.

There are numerous different types of jewelled bearings – from cylindrical (a straight sided hole commonly found acting as the bearing for wheels in the train) and olive (a curved shape hole which provides lower friction but is less resistant to wear), through to the balance jewel and endstone (a two-piece arrangement of a convex jewel with a flat jewel acting as a cap, with oil retained in-between).

Watch Jewel, Bearing and Capstone

As you may have guessed by now, the quoted number of jewels quite literally refers to how many of these jewels are present in the movement. Just because a watch has a higher number of jewels does not necessarily mean it’s a better movement though. A mechanical watch will have less need for additional jewels than an automatic watch, as there are fewer moving parts. There was also a historic trend whereby watch manufacturers attempted to out-do each other by adding more and more jewels to their movements, purely as a sales technique. This relied on the ignorance of the consumer and their belief that “more must be better”. As a result, we ended up with jewels in all sorts of places where they have absolutely no purpose. The 100 jewel Orient Grand Prix is a good example of this – it has jewels fitted almost everywhere!

 

Do you have a mechanical watch in need of repair? Here at WE Clark Watch Repairs we are experts in the repair of all makes and models of watch – from vintage pocket watches through to modern big name brands like Tag Heuer, Omega and Rolex. We offer a fully insured freepost watch repairs service to clients all around the UK. As holders of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award and business partners of the British Horological Institute you can be confident in the service we provide.

 

Please Contact Us for further information regarding any requirement you may have.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited

We see such a huge range of watches in our workshop – from vintage pieces, sometimes over 200 years old, through to modern wristwatches. In this instance we’re working on a more modern watch – a Tissot Couturier.

Tissot are one of the bigger names in watches. Established in Le Locle in 1853, Tissot famously released many innovative models over the years, including the first watches made out of plastic (the Idea 2001 in 1971), Granite (the RockWatch in 1985) and wood (the Wood watch in 1988).

This particular watch was not working when received. We diagnosed a broken mainspring and set about giving it a full service, clean and light refinish.

The watch is first completely disassembled. As the case was being refinished, this was also taken apart. The movement powering this watch is made by ETA – one of the big names in manufacturing watch movements (and also a subsidiary of Swatch Group, a group Tissot belongs to). It’s an ETA 2834-2. This calibre is 25 jewel automatic with a day-date complication.

During disassembly we check everything as we go to make sure it’s in good order. Jewels are cleaned manually using pegwood to ensure dried up oil and grease is removed. We rinse parts in horological essence which acts as an initial degreasing stage. It’s important to get a movement as clean as possible, so this initial pre-cleaning helps us to achieve that goal. Once the movement is fully disassembled it’s run through our watch movement cleaning machine before it’s ready for reassembly.

Reassembling the movement is done in a specific order. As the movement is being rebuilt, we need to use certain oils and greases to lubricate the mechanism. Each watchmaker has their own preferred lubricants, though there are some widely accepted as the industry standard. The manufacturer provides a data sheet for modern movements so we are able to lubricate the movement to their specification (with vintage watches this may not be the case, so best practices and experience are relied upon).

Once the movement is ready and has been reunited with its dial and hands, we turn our attention to the case parts. The case has a separate bezel and case back which are a high-polished finish, whereas the middle part of the case has a satin finish. These are given a light polish using various different wheels and polishing compounds. Likewise the deployment clasp is given a polish.

Once the case parts are done it’s time to rebuild the case and reassemble the complete watch ready for testing.

Do you have a Tissot watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any Tissot 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. As Business Partners of the British Horological Institute and a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award

As we are now approaching a year of Coronavirus restrictions in one form or another, it feels appropriate to make this next blog post about how we’ve remained open. We’ve continued to repair watches both modern and vintage, all thanks to our fantastic postal repairs service and our wonderful watch repairs team.

As you may be aware, we operate two showrooms (one in Lewes, the other in Uckfield) where we offer a huge range of services – including watch repairs – alongside sales of jewellery, watches and giftware. In order to comply with Covid restrictions we have been forced to close both showrooms for significant portions of the past year. While this may represent a challenge, we’ve worked hard over a number of years establishing our postal watch repairs service and this has remained open throughout.

WE Clark & Son has always offered a watch repairs service. We added to this in 2014, launching our in-house and postal service. Since then we have repaired thousands of watches and restored some truly remarkable pieces. As an independent workshop we offer repairs to a huge range of watches. We are able to obtain many obscure parts through our excellent network of suppliers and our watchmakers are experts in the repair of timepieces both new and old.

Our postal watch repairs service is simple to use – you fill in the form on our website to request everything you need to send your watch to us. This includes a fully insured, freepost special delivery envelope. You then package your watch and post it to us.

Once we receive your watch it is carefully examined by the watchmaker before we get in touch to discuss the work required and the cost involved. Once you agree and proceed the work we ask for a 25% deposit to be paid. Should you decline the quote, there is a small administration fee payable and we will return your watch back in its original condition.

Once we complete the work and finish testing your watch, it will be ready to release back to you. We then get in touch to arrange payment and return your watch – again via fully insured special delivery with guaranteed next day delivery by 1pm.

With the postal repairs service outlined above we’ve been able to continue offering a comprehensive range of watch repairs to customers all around the UK. We’ve been awarded the ‘Platinum Trusted Service Award’ by Feefo – this award is given to companies who offer exceptional customer service and it’s based on feedback and ratings given by previous customers. We’re proud to offer great service – it really is the foundation of our business.

So if you have a watch in need of repair – do get in touch with us. We remain open and remain committed to offering the same high levels of customer service and quality repairs. From full servicing of an Omega Seamaster or Rolex Datejust, through to battery replacement and resealing of a Tag Heuer Aquaracer, we are able to repair almost any watch.

We want to update you all on our current status and to reassure you that we are still very much open and operational despite the recently announced second lockdown.

Firsly – Please rest assured – all our watchmakers and watch repairs team take coronavirus safety measures seriously. That means everyone is adhering to the rules and is happy to continue working throughout.

We are able to continue repairing watches during lockdown because we have our excellent postal repairs service. With our special delivery freepost service, all watches are fully insured for up to £20,000 from the moment they leave your hand.

All you need to do is to request the freepost packaging here!

We’re happy to be trusted with repairs to a huge range of watches. From sentimental antique pocket watches, to modern Omega Seamasters or Rolex Datejusts – we see a huge variety of timepieces. It’s one of the great things about being involved in an independent watch repair workshop.

The nature of the repairs we conduct is hugely varied too. From refitting a loose hand, changing a broken glass and replacing a battery to refinishing the case and bracelet or a complete service – our range of repair services offered is extremely comprehensive.

Service is of huge importance to us and we will continue to provide our first-class service solely through our insured, freepost repairs until we are able to re-open our stores.

So please – If you have a watch in need of attention, do not hesitate to get in touch. Your support of an independent business is – as always – truly appreciated.

A phrase we often hear is “my watch has kept going for years and I’ve never had it serviced”. If this is the case, why should a watch be serviced?

We’ll concentrate on mechanical watches in this instance, as servicing is a little different when it comes to the majority of quartz watches.

It’s important to note, there’s a big difference between a watch which is working and a watch which is actually keeping time. If a watch has gone decades without seeing a watchmaker, yet it is still working, this is more down to the fantastic design of the watch movement (like the wonderful Swiss lever escapement) rather than a sign that your watch is in good condition. Most relatively modern timepieces should keep time to a lesser or greater extent. If your watch is losing or gaining minutes per day, this is certainly a warning sign that it needs attention.

Even if your watch is keeping time, there are many other elements to a watch movement which require regular maintenance besides those involved purely in timekeeping. If you have a chronograph function for example, or in an automatic watch the parts needed to wind the watch efficiently. Pictured below we have an image showing the automatic work from an Omega Seamaster we recently serviced. This watch was still running – albeit not especially well – and as you can see the automatic system is looking rather worse for wear.

In order for a watch movement to operate efficiently, it requires periodic maintenance in the form of a service. This involves (briefly) the entire mechanism being completely dismantled, cleaned, reassembled, oiled, adjusted and tested. It’s also checked for wear, with worn parts replaced. If a watch is left without servicing for prolonged periods, the oils and greases start to dry up or act to actually increase friction and parts are left to run dry which then causes increased wear.

If you have a particularly rare or old watch, this may cause issues as worn parts may not be freely available. This could lead to parts needing to be made, exponentially increasing the cost of the repair. You also may have heard about some Swiss brands restricting the availability of their parts for even their modern timepieces. Another reason to look after your watch! That said, we are lucky in that we can source many such parts. Service intervals for different models do vary, though we suggest 4-5 years as a general guide.

We have encountered some surprise from clients at the need to maintain a watch regularly to ensure it’s continued longevity and accurate performance. The analogy I like to make is with servicing your car. Imagine your watch movement is like a tiny engine. If you wear it daily, it’s ticking away 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It’s a truly remarkable thing. Imagine running your car like this! The need for maintenance seems a little less surprising thinking about it in such terms.

When you have a quality timepiece from the likes of Rolex, Omega, and 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 and may then become an heirloom to pass on to the next generation.

Do you have a watch in need of servicing? Contact us to see how we can help.

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If you use your watch in or around water we recommend having it checked regularly for water resistance. Our suggestion is to have it checked every 12 months.

It’s necessary to do this because water resistance is not a permanent characteristic of a watch. In order to be water resistant, watches use various different types of seals and gaskets. These seals are perishable – the rubber can dry out for example. It’s of paramount importance that these seals are clean and in good condition.

One opportunity for a seal to be compromised is during a battery replacement – this is one reason why it’s important to take your watch to a trained watch repair specialist. There are many different ways an untrained individual may accidentally cause issues when changing a battery. We could probably write multiple blog posts about this subject alone, without even mentioning the numerous ways they can compromise water resistance too.

To give one example, if the case back is not cleaned prior to opening, dirt and debris from the case back can easily enter the case when the case back is removed. This may work its way into the movement and stop the watch, as well as interfere with the seal. If this watch were to then be worn in water, it could leak and a very costly repair bill would follow.

Suffice to say we follow industry standard best practices when replacing batteries and pressure testing watches. Let’s assume the battery has now been replaced and the seals are checked/replaced and greased properly. Once the case back is secured, this is when we can put the watch into our pressure testing machine.

We’re lucky enough to have an excellent pressure testing machine – the Sigma SM-8850. This is a brilliant piece of kit, which is able to test watches rated up to 300m water resistant. It tests using air pressure, so it is connected to a compressor (which in turn is fitted with a booster as it requires plenty of pressure). By using air pressure we are able to test the watch complete. From a user perspective it’s straightforward to use – taking just a few minutes to perform two different types of test, then providing us details of the performance of the watch alongside the overall pass/fail result. You can see some images of the pressure testing machine below.

Do you have a watch in need of a battery and/or pressure testing? Get in touch and see how we can help.

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