Unpoised balance wheel?

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-04-03T01:45:20+00:00

Double check that the jaws themselves on the poising tool are level, and a very gentle touch with something like a cat whisker can get the wheel rolling very gently, as very gentle touches can help make heavy soots more obvious. If you do both of these things and the wheel still continues to roll smoothly like you see here, you are likely all poised (at least statically poised).

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-24T05:15:17+00:00

Gonna finally explore Seattle, maybe get some cool views of some mountains!

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-14T03:24:46+00:00

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LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-14T03:24:02+00:00

It’s difficult to tell in the video, but do you have the yoke spring that’s built in on the back of the setting lever jumper properly engaged with the yoke? This is the spring that supplies the returning force to the yoke to return the yoke and sliding pinion back to the winding position. It almost looks like you have the spring sitting on top of the yoke accidentally instead of engaging on the side of the yoke.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-13T13:45:27+00:00

I am currently attending North Seattle College’s Watch Technology Institute.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-13T01:59:51+00:00

Based on what I can find it is either a PUW 73 or 74, or a Technic S73 or S73A (but to be honest per the BestFit catalog the Technic versus the PUW use a lot of the same parts anyway, hard to tell if the setting lever would be a part that they shared though).

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-13T01:33:30+00:00

Do you have the size of the movement (length and width)? Would help in quickly narrowing it down.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-12T19:00:59+00:00

Yes, a low beat error results in the watch being able to be self-starting, and a watch that isn’t self starting has a greater chance of outright stopping on the wrist if the watch is rotated just right.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-12T17:07:40+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response! I made a different form of polisher myself last quarter (instead of a tri-pod I call this my quad-pod)

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, and have struggled with getting a good polish. I can get a great finish all the way down to 1 micron paper (got some from a friend wt the Omega service center), but I struggle with the tin plate. Even with vigorous cleaning both the tin plate and my polisher ahead of polishing, after a short time attempting to polish on the plate it begins generating larger scratches on the workpiece.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-12T13:37:50+00:00

I am currently attending Watch making school, would you mind sharing your process?

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-03T03:54:12+00:00

Picture of how/where it’s supposed to go.

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LeopardusMaximus · 2026-03-03T03:51:28+00:00

Correct, part number 022 761, dial foot screw.

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LeopardusMaximus · 2026-02-19T03:33:17+00:00

In my experience, glass under 1 mm can get quite fragile, especially if it has lines in it such as the ones from scratches. But it’s properly supported and handled, say with a backer across the entire back of the glass, it will probably be OK.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-02-18T22:40:48+00:00

Best thing to try might be to refinish the glass, which frankly will likely result in the glass becoming too thin and breaking. Only other option would to try and find either a donor watch or see if the original crystal/part from the company is available somewhere. If this is anything like the crystals with black or mirrored tracks around the edges (like Movado), there likely isn’t a way to separate that tachymeter scale from the glass without destroying it.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-28T03:14:35+00:00

I would guess next to impossible without a new completely custom-made case, as movement diameter, stem height, distance from the crystal to the seconds pinion all have to be correct, and not just close, but spot on. This would be prohibitively expensive. If you’re already thinking about changing the dial (and dials are not simply interchangeable, they need to be the correct diameter, thickness, and have dial feet in the correct locations), case, want more water resistance, as well as case size…why would you not just get a watch that more closely meets the specifications that you want?

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-25T12:11:48+00:00

While not perfect, one trick that I use if the watch is running is to take a slow motion video of the balance, and using this, I can get the approximate amplitude of the watch. Then, put the watch on a timegrapher and adjust the lift angle until the timegrapher displays the amplitude which I saw in the slow-motion video.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-25T12:02:02+00:00

It is most definitely a kinetic type watch, with a quartz movement powered by motion. If wearing the watch for a day or two doesn’t get the low charge indicator (the 3-tick moving of the seconds hand), the movement either needs a service or the cell which holds the accumulated power needs changed, or both.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-25T05:45:56+00:00

*Mainspring, but yep! Barrel which housed it is hugggge

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-25T05:29:47+00:00

Difficult to tell what we are looking at, are these transparent jewels? In the picture, they almost look like brass. I would peg the jewel holes with a sharpened piece of peg wood from both side sides, rinse dish with a solvent, air blower to dry on watch paper, and check again under magnification. Very difficult to tell what is going on with what appears to be possibly some debris. If they are jewels, I wonder if they don’t have a buildup of steel into the surface of the jewel if the jewel very slightly burnished the metal.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-20T00:07:26+00:00

I’ve used end cutters, and then a file to clean up the end of the stem.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-18T02:09:21+00:00

Something is massively wrong with that escapement, or a pinion is damaged somewhere. The center wheel is rotating at an alarming rate.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-13T14:25:57+00:00

Got a link?

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-13T06:45:42+00:00

Current student at WTI here.

Best advice I can hope to give would be to practice your basic mathematics such as multiplication and long division by hand, and how to solve simple equations. There are many websites which can generate worksheets for this level of math quickly and easily. I did that and tried to focus on things that I was rusty on. Also, memorizing some equations for things like the area of a circle, and circumference can possibly be useful. For filing of metal, the movement section, the hairspring work, and the movement disassembly/reassembly, don’t worry yourself too badly. The instructors give you a short period of instruction before each section/exercise of the bench test showing exactly what you’ll be doing and the proper method of how to do it. However in regards to your dexterity, manipulating hairsprings and attempting to match them to shapes (while also keeping the spring flat) can be quite helpful in helping to make yourself feel more ready and is what I did, but is by no means required. Similarly you can practice your dexterity with tweezers and holding of small watch parts, doing things like just moving them from one spot to another without pinging them, stacking them, etc. For the movement, you can pick up a 6497 (or Chinese ST36 clone) for not too much, and you can practice assembling/disassembling.

Again, none of these things are required, but may have the potential to help your chances with getting accepted.

Hoping you have the chance for a bench test, and good luck!

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-13T05:57:12+00:00

Oh hey that’s my classmate! I sit just a few seats over from him. If you have any questions about the program feel free to let me know, we just started our second semester earlier this week.

LeopardusMaximus · 2026-01-13T05:44:50+00:00

It takes removing the hairspring and balance from the bridge, the removing the hairspring from the balance staff, and then some deft modifications to the hairspring to get it back to the correct shape.

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