Most mechanical movements only need to be disassembled and cleaned once every 3 to 5 years. Yes you need a few consumables such as o-rings and few micrograms of lubricants of different grades. But a well serviced movement can last few decades. If you pick a mass produced movements, replacement part are relatively easy and cheap to source. The Swiss ETA2824 movement for example has been in production since circa 1974! Can you imagine such a long product life cycle in the world of electronics?

In this day and age, software is wrapped in many layers of abstraction. but there is no abstraction to be found in a movement, only leavers and gears and everlasting bearings made of ruby. I find it refreshing!

Posted in: s/minimalism

😎 decant

Feb 26 · 3 months ago · 👍 Addison, lufte, uncreativedan

9 Comments ↓

🐝 Addison · Feb 26 at 17:35:

I aspire to the purity of the blessed machine.

👤 AnoikisNomads · Feb 26 at 20:58:

other than the Z80 microprocessor, ...not really. ;)

💎 istvan · Feb 28 at 04:03:

My 1890 Elgin watch is still running.

😎 decant [OP] · Feb 29 at 01:19:

Hey istvan, is your Elgin a pocket watch? I always wanted a pocket watch or wrist watch with pocket watch movement. Because larger movements are much easier to work on. I've been looking at the Seagull Ref. 3017H. The movement has a swan neck regulator, so I hope it is at least some what accurate.

💎 istvan · Feb 29 at 01:43:

Yes, I only collect pocket watches. I have a couple Egins and an American Waltham from the 1880s.

I have a 1920s Peerless watchmakers lathe for machining parts as needed (also use it to machine dops for gemstone cutting), though to be honest the AW was beyond my skill level and I had to have it overhauled by an old watchmaker in Beijing.

Have one watch that was hopeless though. Very sad I couldn’t save it because it had a beautiful gold filled case with birds on it.

😎 decant [OP] · Mar 07 at 01:41:

ah! I try to stick with newish calibers. I imagine really old watches cost an arm and a leg. I like calibers that are simple and robust. The most complicated caliber I own is a SL4510 that I salvaged from a second hand fake Daytona with stucked reset. I've not had the opportunity to play with a real 4130, But the 4510 has rhodium plating and is otherwise well finished. I've been trying to find a good case for it without the Rolex logo and preferably doesn't look like a Daytona, it's been a pain. After that, my next step is to find a real 4130 balance wheel assembly as the old one has a large positional error, but I think this part costs many time what I paid for the watch!

😎 decant [OP] · Mar 07 at 01:55:

The caliber is currently +5spd with a full wind dial up. But at 50% wind, it goes to +35spd! could this be the hair spring or is the mainspring also badly made?

💎 istvan · Mar 08 at 20:48:

@decant Not really. Most of my 1800s watches only cost $100-$300. I've gotten as inexpensive as $60 if they needed quite some works.

😎 decant [OP] · Apr 09 at 01:57:

@istvan The reset is fixed! my first EVER chronograph repair! the previous owner must have pushed reset while the chrono is running and snaped the reset arm. It was very nerve wracking to take the caliber apart!