Hello, I saw another watch thread here people were responding to so hopefully this question isn't too retarded. Pic related is my grandfather's old watch. It runs fine, but the second hand doesn't turn. I think it has to do with this copper wire you can see in the upper part of the mechanism. Anyone know what that's for/what it might be replacing? Potential fix? I know nothing about watch mechanics but I have a good amount of small general tools and my day job is electronics repair so I'm not bad with my hands.
>>2949909Bro you have a fucking chiming watch movement, don't touch that shit. Take it to a professional and if you can't afford the $10,000 to fix it then sell it to some one who can.
>>2949916And yeah, that gold gear with the tiny ass teeth on the bridge that is being held by wire should be touching the gold gear in the center with the tiny ass teeth, that is what turns the seconds hand.
>>2949916What does that mean, chiming watch movement? Sorry, I don't know anything about this stuff. Any guess on the purpose of the wire?
>>2949949It has a built in alarm that rings every hour etc, it's the circular ring around the outside. It's way more complicated and rarer than a normal movment.As for why it's like that idk, it seems more deliberate than just something broke and that was all they could do to fix it. That bridge seems to be for more than just holding that gear in place, maybe tying up those parts disables the alarm idk.
>>2949949>>2950122it kinda looks like someone wired the hammer that hits the chime to make it stop chiming
It looks very similar to the mechanism in this listing, I think op has a chronograph and they disabled the chrony function.https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/antique-quarter-repeating-chime-chronograph-pocke-1001-c-a584da29c8You can see in this video that the wired up wheel shifts to the seconds hand when he presses the chrono button.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbkEujMvyAIn either case, OP has a work of art and shouldn't be fucking around with it. Take it to a professional to have the wire job undone.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqGsFLlQCdA
OP here, thanks for the replies. The chrono button doesn't appear to want to press down (obviously I'm not putting substantial force, I don't want to break something). I'm guessing it's stuck in the down position, potentially due to the wire. It does strike me as odd that if the wire is meant to silence the chime for whatever reason that it was also placed in a way that prevents the second hand from moving too. Wouldn't it make more sense to put a damper on the hammer that hits the chine itself? Professional service is out of my budget for now so I think I'll just leave it for a while until I can afford it.
>>2950328you might be able to get a big youtuber to do itthat guy wristwatch revival will do stuff like that, and this movement would be something he would like to work on im sure.
My watchmaking school days are far away but I reckon that it's not a "second hand" that you have in the center but the chronograph's hand. When you press the button, (1) the start/pause cam turns one increment, (2) the chrono's cam, pushed by its spring rotate in place (3), and put its wheel ,which is connected to the main gear train and is always turning, in driving range of the central hand (4), causing it to turn (5).Pushing the button again will turn the start/pause cam an other increment, pushing away the chrono's cam, and thus the central hand will receive no more input force.You can see a gap below the chrono's cam. It's there to allow the axle to move.You can't press the button because the start/pause cam can't overcome the tension in the copper wire. My theory is they blocked it because the chrono would often trigger in the pocket which puts a higher load on the spring, sometimes enough to stop the balance from oscillating and stopping the watch.I don't think anything is broken with it, but like other anons says, pocket watches with a chiming movement are worth quite a bit of money. You have one beautiful watch on your hands.
>>2951003This is a very detailed response, thank you! So in your view that wire can be removed without damaging the watch? Do you think it's risky or worth trying?
>>2951285It's not holding anything broken, just stopping the chronograph from being driven by the main gear train so no risk on a mechanical standpoint. Like I've said imo the purpose of the wire is to avoid accidental chrono start in the pocket.Since you're used to working with delicate and small parts, you should have the confidence to work on something at such a scale. It's the usual, have good lighting, steady hands, know what your cutting pliers will touch as to avoid scratching the delicate brass. You know the drill. Then after that you can untangle the wire.If you're not feeling it, just take it to a jeweller (they're usually cheaper than watchmakers which in these days are glorified wriststraps and battery changers) and it should take them 10 minutes and hopefully they shouldn't charge much.So yeah, low risk unless you have butter hands. The only real risk in the operation is, when cutting, that you have a small piece of wire falling down below the bridges, into the gears, which would then need a disassembly, but it should be alright if you take your time and watch what you're doing
>>2949909Interesting thread and great replies. Not a watch person myself, but will keep an eye on this thread just because it has piqued my interest.
>>2951317That watch is a 100 years old probably, it needs a disassembly and clean/ oiling regardless if he actually plans to run it.
>>2951331It looks well maintained, last revision was probably done last decade. The true test is if the balance lacks amplitude. I reckon it's not that urgent, but yeah if you can spare the cash it's never a bad idea.
OP here. >>2951317 gave me the confidence to take a shot at the wire. I was able to remove it with no trouble. No need to cut as it was easy to just untie by hand. The functionality does not appear to have changed, however. The timekeeping works, including the second hand (not what I now know is the chrono hand). The chrono mechanism still doesn't work. The chrono button doesn't want to go down. I suspect it is already stuck in the down position. >>2951331This is a Soviet watch that has an inscription from 1964 (or possibly it's a western watch that was smuggled in around that time). So maybe not quite that old. >>2951334As far as I know this has been sitting in my grandmother's drawer for probably at least 30 years. The timekeeping mechanism seems to run just fine, though. I have no equipment to really accurately test the timekeeping, but it kept 5 minutes without being off by a noticeable amount.
I poked some parts with a toothpick a bit and I think I might know what the problem is. The chrono cam (2) doesn't have the range of movement to actually put the chrono gear in contact with the central hand's gear. It gets close, but the end of the cam close to the pillar (1) actually comes in contact with the edge of the screw before the gap between the chrono gear and the central gear (3) closes fully and the gears engage. I think maybe if I just turn the screw on that pillar a little clockwise, it might let the cam move far enough to get the gears to engage. Not sure how much room for error there is for something like this, but maybe whoever did the service last time didn't care about the position of that screw since the chrono was wired away from that section in any case. Only problem is, even my smallest flathead doesn't fit into these heads. I don't want to use pliers on something this delicate, though. Maybe a knife... I'll wait a while first and see if anyone here wants to weigh in on how I'm about to catastrophically destroy my apparently valuable watch.
>>2951747The watch in that video I posted earlier does have the screw in a different position.I wouldn't try it without the right screw drivers, it wouldn't be hard at all to slip and gouge the teeth on that tiny fucking gear.
>>2952391
>>2952391The problem is, even if I allow the chrono movement to engage, I don't see a way to release the chrono button. It seems to push something deep into the mechanism that I can't get into without pulling the whole movement out.
OP here with an update. I turned the screw with a knife in the end. Aliexpress takes too long to deliver these tiny screwdrivers and I'm not willing to pay for a quality set. The gears have engaged and the chrono hand turns. I'm converting a video of the movement in action now. It has a stutter which is almost certainly beyond me to fix, and still no clue about the chrono button or how to get a chime out of the thing.
>>2954006Finally got the video to convert. Sorry for the quality. As you can see around 21 seconds the central two wheels start skipping for a bit. It seems that the engagement between the gear attached to the chrono cam ((2) in >>2951747 ) and the leftmost gear with the movement itself isn't so good. I don't see an easy fix since the gears are all screwed in place... as usual, open to suggestions.
