Category: Repairs

Tag Heuer is a brand we regularly see in our workshop. Tag Heuer in its current form was established in 1985, though the Heuer company has existed since 1860. Watches are produced both with quartz and automatic movements in a variety of different models including the Aquaracer, Kirium, F1 and Carrera.

Our workshop holds a parts account with Tag Heuer so we are able to obtain genuine Tag Heuer parts and repair many different faults with these watches.

This particular Tag Heuer came into our workshop in poor condition. It was water damaged, as can clearly be seen by the white ring around the inside of the glass. The dial itself was also water damaged, as were the hands. On inspecting the movement, we found water had damaged this too.

Water damaged Tag Heuer

Other issues included scratching all over the case and bracelet, missing lume from the marker on the bezel, and the black infill missing from the number “1” of “10” on the bezel.

To get this watch working again we needed to completely replace the movement. This involves swapping out the entire movement in a like-for-like exchange. We were able to order the model specific dial, so this was changed as the existing dial was too badly damaged. After speaking to our client, we re-used the original hands, though cleaned these up as best we could.

Fully restored Tag Heuer Watch

The case and bracelet were given a thorough clean before then being refinished. This massively improved the appearance of the watch. We could then carefully reapply the black infill to the bezel, as well as the luminous marker.

Now we just needed to reassemble the watch – fitting a brand-new set of seals and making sure it passes as water resistant.

As a Tag Heuer parts account holder we are able to obtain any case parts which may be required. Besides the repairs needed to this watch, other common repairs include bezel replacement (most often necessary on F1 models where the numbers can fade easily), crown replacement and fitting new pushers to chronograph models. We are able to repair very water damaged watches like this one – obtaining anything which needs to be replaced including the dial, hands, seals and of course the movement.

 

Do you have a Tag Heuer watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any Tag Heuer watch and with our Tag Heuer parts access we offer a comprehensive service. We cater to clients all around the UK thanks to our fully insured freepost watch repairs service. As a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award accredited business, you can be confident when dealing with us.

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

A recent job in the workshop involved servicing and refinishing the case and bracelet of a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date.

Rolex are arguably the biggest name in the world of watches, with numerous inventions, innovations and awards to their name. Their range of watches includes some truly iconic models including the Datejust, Submariner, Air King and Day-Date.

This particular Rolex is a Date model and uses a Rolex calibre 3135 automatic movement. These movements are excellent quality. They are certified chronometers, so fantastic timekeepers, and they are very reliable.

Rolex calibre 3135 movement

To service the movement, it is completely stripped apart, before going through a full cleaning cycle in a specialist watch movement cleaning machine. The movement is then carefully reassembled, with oils and greases used in certain places to ensure optimal performance of the watch for a full-service interval. A new mainspring was fitted during the reassembly process too.

On top of the work to the movement we refinished the case and bracelet.

The refinishing process involved stages of polishing each element of the case using a few different techniques. This is all done using our Durston double polishing motor and a variety of mops and compounds.

Once the refinishing of each part of the case is complete, they are given a final ultrasonic clean. Each part is then steam cleaned to ensure everything is spotless before reassembly.

Reassembling the case is a matter of initially refitting the case tube and glass, before then fitting the friction fit bezel. Once this is done the movement can be re-installed into the case, before the case back is fitted.

The finished fully restored Rolex watch

After all the work was completed, the watch undergoes rigorous testing for timekeeping. It is initially regulated by our watchmaker and checked in multiple positions to ensure it is performing as expected. It then is testing for automatic winding on our Elma Cyclomotion winding machine, as well as for power reserve and performance after 24 hours has elapsed.

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

 

Do you have a Rolex watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any Rolex 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.

A recent restoration project for one of our clients involved fully servicing an IWC Mark XV automatic watch. These models are very desirable – great looking military style watches, with excellent quality movements.

IWC was founded in 1868 – so over 150 years ago. The company is well known for producing military/aviation style watches, just like the Mark XV.

On arrival in the workshop this watch was not working properly and failing to keep time. Inspection of the movement revealed a lot of dried-up oil and debris in the movement, so a full service and a new mainspring was required.

During a full service we completely disassemble the movement, carefully inspecting each component and pre-cleaning in sections as we go. We then run the disassembled movement through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine. We also run the case through a separate ultrasonic cleaner. After cleaning, the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled, before being adjusted and tested.

The movement powering this IWC Mark XV is an IWC calibre 30110, which is based on the ETA 2892-A2 but enhanced by IWC in-house. The 2892-A2 is a good quality automatic movement, which runs at 28,800 beats per hour and has 21 jewels. These movements as standard come in various levels of finish – this IWC version is very nicely decorated and after a full service it is working very nicely indeed.

After work is complete our testing procedure involves testing the watch on an automatic watch winding machine as well as testing under manual winding only. We ensure the watch is tested across a range of positions to confirm it is working as expected and within tolerances.

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

A recent restoration project for one of our clients involved fully servicing and repairing a great Omega Speedmaster.

Omega as a brand have a huge, interesting history – they are one of the most prominent watch companies in the world, with numerous inventions, innovations and awards to their name. Their iconic Speedmaster was launched in 1957 and was the first watch worn on the moon. These models features in their range amongst other popular models including the De Ville, Constellation and Seamaster.

The manual wind Speedmaster “Moonwatch” is very well known –  it was worn during the first US spacewalk as part of NASA‘s Gemini 4 mission. It was also the first watch worn by an astronaut walking on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The Speedmaster Professional remains one of several watches qualified by NASA for spaceflight and is still the only one so qualified for EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity).

While the Speedmaster is commonly associated with space missions, these models were originally produced in the late 50s as sports watches to complement Omega’s sponsorship of the Olympic games. The name “Speedmaster” was coined due to the tachymeter scale and followed the conventions set by other model lines such as the Seamaster.

On arrival in the workshop this watch was not working properly and failing to keep time. Upon inspection of the movement there was a lot of dried up oil and debris in the movement, so a full service and a new mainspring was required. 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.

Following our service, this Omega Speedmaster is working again just as it should be. It’s a superb watch.

Do you have an Omega Speedmaster in need of repair? If so, get in touch and see how we can help. We are watch repair specialists with a fully insured freepost watch repairs service.  We offer repairs to clients all around the UK and we are experts in the repair of modern and vintage watches. 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 deal with a huge variety of watches in our workshop, ranging from modern Omega and Rolex through to vintage wrist and pocket watches. Vintage watches often need extra special care and attention, especially if the watch in question has not been regularly serviced over the years.

In this particular instance we received a vintage Moeris watch in for servicing and repair. Moeris are a quality Swiss manufacturer, with a history dating back to the late 19^th century. Inspection of the movement revealed dried up oils and greases, alongside some wear around the centre wheel. A full service and mainspring, alongside work to correct the wear was required.

The movement 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 was cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner. After an initial clean, corrective works were conducted to fix the issue with the centre wheel.

On disassembly of the barrel, the mainspring itself was found to be “set”. This is when the mainspring has, in effect, lost much of it’s spring. The upshot being a significant reduction in power. It was also an old carbon steel mainspring – these are more prone to breaking. We needed to measure up the mainspring and barrel to source the correct modern equivalent mainspring for this job.

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.

No additional works were carried out to the case, dial and hands, so these were all left in original condition for our client. All that’s left is to test the watch before it’s ready to go back to its owner.

 

Do you have a vintage watch in need of repair? 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.

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