A sad day
That's the detent spring and cover plate of my Oris military watch. As you can see, it's broken. That residue was my effort to super glue it together, but I knew that it was futile. The spring had long been broken, but I never opened the watch out of fear of breaking something, or discovering that it was broken. I knew that something was wrong, but was too scared to face it.
Today I opened it. I wore gloves and a gas mask, the whole shebang, because the dial has radium paint. While I have been playing an unhealthy amount of Fallout 4 recently, I know there's no RadAway in real life. I have got radium paint on my skin before and I'm still waiting for superpowers. Breathing in that dust is a lot different. That's where radium gets you.
Anyway, the cover plate and detent spring is broken and parts for the Oris calibre 454 are quite rare. I'm going to ask the man I bought it from if he by any chance has some spares. I'll also ask my watchmaker, but I can only hope that either of them have the part. If both endeavours are fruitless, I guess I'll have to buy from eBay for the first time and just stomach shipping and duties.
If anyone here has Oris cal. 454 parts (what am I saying, it's more likely that I find someone who owns a dragon) please give me a shout.
I'm going to piece the watch together now and just have to stomach not being able to use it for a while.
Here's what it looked like before the part split cleanly in two; I still used it while the part likely had a crack in it. I can't be too angry, the thing is over seventy years old.
EDIT: The calibre 454 is the centre seconds variant of the calibre 451. There aren't any known differences between calibres 452 and 454. The light at the end of the tunnel is that the calibre 453 is the famous pointer date movement. My watchmaker has a good few of them sitting around as donor movements, so I might be able to find the part I need when I visit him tomorrow.
A famous Dutch saying: “𝘕𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘣 𝘫𝘦, 𝘫𝘢 𝘬𝘶𝘯 𝘫𝘦 𝘬𝘳𝘪𝘫𝘨𝘦𝘯.”
Good luck mate 🤞🏻
Good luck mate 🤞🏻
Thank you!
From a bit of reading the 454 movement is a family of movements, the 451 movement is the same mechanically just the amount of jewels is different, I believe that particular part of yours that's broken is part 1175, searching online you can find 451 movements in various states of disassembly for not much money so it might be worth starting there.
From a bit of reading the 454 movement is a family of movements, the 451 movement is the same mechanically just the amount of jewels is different, I believe that particular part of yours that's broken is part 1175, searching online you can find 451 movements in various states of disassembly for not much money so it might be worth starting there.
Yep, I dropped a message down at a website that I forgot the name of looking for part 1175. Thanks for reminding me, because I have only searched for calibre 454s on eBay, even though I knew that the whole family is the same.
The watchmaker who sold me the watch got back to me and said that he'll look for spares in his shop when he gets a chance. I'm hoping that he finds something. Cheers!
Pro tip: have someone copy and 3D print the part. A watchmaker I follow on YouTube 3D prints rare parts that are difficult to impossible to find. Never give up hope on a watch you love.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/385469750498?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=veh--irnt9m&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=Jpxl5Uq6SpG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Another long shot, but a jeweler might be able to weld it if they have a laser welder. A custom jeweler friend of mine has done amazing things with his.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/385469750498?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=veh--irnt9m&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=Jpxl5Uq6SpG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I've seen this one, but there is a donor movement for sale for cheaper. I would feel bad leaving a 50s gem for dead after taking one if its parts.
Pro tip: have someone copy and 3D print the part. A watchmaker I follow on YouTube 3D prints rare parts that are difficult to impossible to find. Never give up hope on a watch you love.
That's possible! It might be tricky seeing as I don't know anyone that does 3D printing and that the part is now in two pieces, but if I don't get a part, I'll give that a shot.
Another long shot, but a jeweler might be able to weld it if they have a laser welder. A custom jeweler friend of mine has done amazing things with his.
Wow! This might be my best choice if I can't get a part. I'll just need to find someone who can laser weld.
I feel the pain… trying to get any part for my vintage HMT watches is next to impossible. Have to buy cheap boring ones to scavenge parts 😂
That should not be an impossible part for any competent watchmaker to reproduce, it will depend on their interest and your willingness to pay. I figure a whole spare movement wouldn't be that expensive either.
That should not be an impossible part for any competent watchmaker to reproduce, it will depend on their interest and your willingness to pay. I figure a whole spare movement wouldn't be that expensive either.
A spare movement is about 50 USD equivalent or so, give or take. I have seen one for sale for a bit less, but I want to see if I can't locally source the part or have it reproduced, because shipping and taxes will likely nail me.
If it's a spring, I assume it is beryllium copper. And tiny. Machining this would be a bear, even with CNC, given the organic shape. Were it not so tiny, I'd wonder about soldering. At least it's a flat part, so that may still be an option.
If it's a spring, I assume it is beryllium copper. And tiny. Machining this would be a bear, even with CNC, given the organic shape. Were it not so tiny, I'd wonder about soldering. At least it's a flat part, so that may still be an option.
For the meantime, I'm just going to continue using the watch and manually keep the crown in the second position when setting the time.