What would you have done? Swapped movement on Orient Maestro.
Earlier this week I posted about my Orient Maestro. It was my first love when it came to mechanical watches, and it helped me fall back in love with photography. So when it stopped keeping good time, usually faster by 2-5 minutes a day, I wanted to figure out what I should do to have it running within spec again.
Long story short, the movement itself was kaputz, so I bought a replacement movement and swapped it myself. Working without a loupe was brave and stupid, and while I didn't damage the dial, I'd left a considerable amount of darned dust underneath the crystal. Working at such small scale, dusting away particles with a small brunch and handheld dust blower, I prepped the wristwatch for its first photoshoot.
What would you have done for the movement? Would you have tried taking it apart yourself? Sent it in for servicing? Sold it for parts? For context, if you're wondering, it was still running fast after being demagnetized.
I'm an engineer by day and photographer by night who's just started collecting watches.
Am I right in saying that to do visible cleanup only requires unscrewing the case back and pulling the winding stem? The hard work is the dial and hands IME.
Am I right in saying that to do visible cleanup only requires unscrewing the case back and pulling the winding stem? The hard work is the dial and hands IME.
For this model, it's actually easier than that. The crystal pops off along with the bezel if you wedge the case knife at the right point, so visible cleanup was easy to access. The most difficult part for me when I was swapping the movement was definitely getting the hands back on. It was my first time ever working on a watch, so I'd actually snapped the counterbalance on the seconds hand and ordered a new one.
For this model, it's actually easier than that. The crystal pops off along with the bezel if you wedge the case knife at the right point, so visible cleanup was easy to access. The most difficult part for me when I was swapping the movement was definitely getting the hands back on. It was my first time ever working on a watch, so I'd actually snapped the counterbalance on the seconds hand and ordered a new one.
The snapping off the seconds hand was actually a sign. The universe wants you to work on watches ... 😉
The snapping off the seconds hand was actually a sign. The universe wants you to work on watches ... 😉
The temptation is real... but only when spare time permits!