Other tools needed for opening casebacks
Hi all! I was thinking of trying my hand at some regulation with some of my watches and wanted to know if there was anything that would be good to have when doing so, aside from the tool itself. One question specifically is that I’ve heard o-rings need to be replaced when sealing a watch back up, is there a way to gauge the size you need? Thanks!
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Use a vernier and get an assorted pack of gaskets
O rings vary in size. If they’re modern watches, you might be able to just lubricate them.
The bigger concern here is the age, movement and how far out they’re running. Have you ran them on a time graph? How’s the amplitude? Beat error? Are they running minutes off or a few seconds?
Adjust it the way you think then wear it a couple days for results then repeat. Eventually replace the gasket through Ebay.
Unless we are talking about an old watch you can remove the gasket, clean it if necessary, and apply new grease and reuse it. That part is easy.
As @bikerbill said: Regulating a watch is tricky business, and one of those things where you can actually do damage. Magnification is a must, and I always touch the regulating lever from the top and work my way slowly to the side I want to apply pressure on. The force applied should be minute, not only because a little bit of travel goes a long way, but you really don´t want to slip and jam your tool into the hairspring.
O rings vary in size. If they’re modern watches, you might be able to just lubricate them.
The bigger concern here is the age, movement and how far out they’re running. Have you ran them on a time graph? How’s the amplitude? Beat error? Are they running minutes off or a few seconds?
I don’t currently have a timegrapher, but I’m definitely gonna be picking one up in the next few months. Currently I monitor rate variation through a dedicated timing app on my phone that just compares the shown time to atomic time. For simple day to day monitoring it’s fine, but I’m looking forward to the extra information a timegrapher can give. Stuff I wanna regulate generally falls at +/-10 sec/day and above, do you think with enough patience I’d be able to better that?
Unless we are talking about an old watch you can remove the gasket, clean it if necessary, and apply new grease and reuse it. That part is easy.
As @bikerbill said: Regulating a watch is tricky business, and one of those things where you can actually do damage. Magnification is a must, and I always touch the regulating lever from the top and work my way slowly to the side I want to apply pressure on. The force applied should be minute, not only because a little bit of travel goes a long way, but you really don´t want to slip and jam your tool into the hairspring.
Good to know! I’ll add it to my list of things to pick up! Thank you! :D
Thanks to everyone who replied! I’m still fairly new to watches (in the grand scheme of hobbies) and these are all super helpful responses!
I don’t currently have a timegrapher, but I’m definitely gonna be picking one up in the next few months. Currently I monitor rate variation through a dedicated timing app on my phone that just compares the shown time to atomic time. For simple day to day monitoring it’s fine, but I’m looking forward to the extra information a timegrapher can give. Stuff I wanna regulate generally falls at +/-10 sec/day and above, do you think with enough patience I’d be able to better that?
It’s doable. I use a pointed wood dowel rod. Just a light touch. It won’t seem like you even did anything.