A Pair of Double Barrel’s

Had a pair of double barrels come in for service. One had an out of round escape wheel. I was fishing for a while as newer pieces tend to not have this problem to often. In the vintage world of repairing Pateks and VC’s it’s a daily routine. I was fighting for a while with some other problems in the auto unit on the same watch and it still wasn’t hitting the diagnostic outcome I needed. This one would stop randomly and/or slow down... [Read More...]

Double Barrel and Multiple Retrogrades

Here is a double barrel timepiece with a wonderful engine turned dial that came in with problems that would certainly get past most trained Watchmakers. In fact I think the customer who owns this $60,000 – $80,000 piece had it serviced outside of the company, as there are some hack marks inside the movement (and the screw heads) due to bad screwdriver sharpening and misuse. Are you  a Watchmaker and have wondered why I have so many screwdrivers.... [Read More...]

Dr.Ruth Westheimer Vacheron Constantine

I do get a few celebrity watches in and can’t always gather the time to post them. This one is the famous television celebrity Sex Dr.s watch that we all know and adore. Kind of special to me as I was on her show with my mother once. Dr. Ruth wears a Vacheron Constantine solid 18K gold model. This model has a wonderful caliber 1056 29 jewel movement. In addition you Click to Open and Read More / Click to Close should be able to see it has... [Read More...]

Tourbillon Repair 2 / Leviev / Christophe Claret

Here we have another Christophe Claret Tourbillon in for service. This particular one had to be disassembled down to the plates due to many problems that were deep down into the movement. It seems the timepiece had some winding problems reported by the customer of this $250,000 piece. This piece was one of the first issued of the limited edition run so it has certainly [Read More...]  Read More →

Double Barrel / Perpetual Calendar Retrograde / Reserve DeMarche / Complicated Watch Repair

A double barrel timepiece with retrograde functions and perpetual calendar on the retrogrades is quite a complication. In mechanical terms this complication combination on a timepiece only 40 years ago would have taken the finest Master Watchmakers all trapped in a little room separate from the normal factory years to accomplish, by hand. Each piece cut by hand on the micro Watchmaking lathes we use on a “per piece” basis. Today thanks... [Read More...]

Tourbillon Repair / Christophe Claret / Leviev

Not sure many of you get to see one the World’s most incredible Tourbillons outside of it’s case, especially inside the U.S.A. boarders. Special tools are needed just to get inside this baby. Once inside you need special tooling designed for the movement to do anything. So, if you are a Watchmaker and considering having a dabble inside please consider a second option. This movement is art that needs a no time limit work approach and many... [Read More...]

Eterna Madison Spherodrive

Our Swiss friends at Eterna research and development have discovered an entirely new way to mount the barrel. I would love to have a rip down on this movement to see the end play between the bearing and barrel arbor after a simulated 3 years of use. Looks like the balls are ceramic as well. I wonder if this will end the oblong wear (such as what happens on Rolex barrel bushings). Nice job Eterna [Read More...]  Read More →

Memovox Jeager LeCoultre

The vintage Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox has crossed my bench quite possibly 500 or more times for service over the years. What you are seeing above is mainly the automatic bumper unit on my bench along with some other parts. Touching base on this movement: Automatic Bumbers x2 (I love this!) 241 pieces 18,000 bph Alarm At the time of manufacture for these watches an alarm watch was quite an achievement. I must say I have worn a memovox myself for... [Read More...]

Rolex oyster perpetual

When working on ladies Rolex Oyster Perpetuals it calls for extreme patience due to the smaller size of the movements parts. In addition, many testing procedures are quite different for the automatic unit on these. They are more prone to damage and not timing correctly [Read More...]  Read More →