A Vintage Olma Watch With A Story

This watch was a peculiar find.

I came across this watch on eBay and was intrigued by its copper tuxedo dial. The patina was so pronounced that you can't even read the brand anymore.

I did some research on the Olma brand; they were around since 1924 under Numa Jeannin SA, based in Fleurier Switzerland.

Going through sold listings on eBay, I found out that this watch went through several owners.

The original condition had its crown and stem missing, along with the small seconds hand. The previous watchmaker that bought this did their best to repair it, but in the end couldn't get it to run and sold it.

I took a chance to see if I can pick up where the previous owner left off. Nobody was bidding on this watch since it was a non-runner.

The watch arrived with a new stem and crown, and a very rough-looking seconds hand. It looked like it went through the ranks of the Yakuza, and eventually had its fingertip snipped off for dishonoring their superiors.

The movement 'seemingly' looked clean, and I slowly disassembled the balance and train bridge to check for clues on why this watch wasn't running.

Upon closer inspection, I found a few loose screws, debris, over-oiled jewels and a cannon pinion with greased teeth. What haunted me was seeing a coagulated pallet fork jewel that shouldn't be oiled, and a close-up of that snipped seconds hand.

The balance complete was in good condition, but needed a lot of adjustments. During the time I serviced this watch, I ordered a donor movement just in case I happen to break a part or two (which does happen). The donor still had its original hairspring, so I ended up using that to check how it seats under the center wheel.

After removing some oil and dirt, the main reason why the balance won't run was because of a loose pallet bridge. The balance wheel was scraping against that bridge and wasn't moving freely. The over-oiled pallet fork jewels also contributed to the issue.

The watch has an FEF 310 for its base movement. I was surprised to see that the keyless works was correctly applied with Molykote grease. Some parts still needed more, but this was a relief to see.

I sadly didn't take photos for this part, but I found that the staff for the center wheel was oiled, along a loose cannon pinion. That part should be free from lubrication and should be friction-fit. If you have a loose cannon pinion, the watch hands won't move despite having a running balance.

Lanterning a cannon pinion is a tricky job without a staking set or lanterning pliers. I had to learn to improvise with household tools. A blunt nail clipper or nipper surprisingly does the job at crimping metal without snipping it.

After a few tries, re-fitting that pinion on the staff should have some resistance and a firm 'click' noise to it once it's seated.

Now it's oiling time!

Re-oiling non-incabloc cap jewels are another challenge onto itself. I do appreciate the larger, simple profile of these older end caps, but it takes more time and skill to work on these since you have to fully remove the hairspring from the balance.

Here's now tiny the parts are compared to my stylus and pinky finger. Very easy to lose that screw next to the regulator arm.

So far so good, right? I was confident I could come out unscathed during this repair job...

...or so I thought.

During my attempt at adjusting the hairspring and roller table, I unfortunately chipped the tip of the roller jewel. I used to get heavily discouraged every time I break a part, but now I just laugh and view these mistakes as a rite of passage.

Viewing the top profile of the roller jewel, I was curious if a chipped jewel with most of its sides intact can still keep accurate time.

I put everything back together, oiled all the train jewels, and with a few adjustments to the regulator and hairspring, this was the result I got...

It can still run -/+60 seconds in different positions, but I'm happy to see it keep decent time again. I can likely get that amplitude up once I service the mainspring, and get that beat error down to 0.0ms by adjusting the hairspring collet.

I ended up replacing the snipped seconds hand with the donor watch using the same movement. The hand color still doesn't match, but the cleaner profile is starting to grow on me where it just highlights the blue hour and minute hands.

I'm grateful and relieved to have worked on this watch. I thank the previous watchmaker for the attempt, fixing this watch was no easy feat. Mistakes were made along the way, but in the end with got another one running.

Thank you for reading!

UPDATE 1:

Standard procedure is to wait 24 hours to get the new oils settled. Field-tested the watch for a full day and I'm happy to see that amplitude climb up on its own. I'll have to do another adjustment after servicing the mainspring.