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