Re: Watchmaking hobby as a creative exercise

Rich wrote:

"Moka Java" <rtwatches@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:62g99sF21ktl4U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


A 30 - 31mm dial generally equates to a 34 - 36mm case diameter. A 6 -
8 mm thick screw back case including the crystal is going to be a
problem. I don't think you will find an off the shelf case and a
custom made case will cost considerably more than the big, thick
things shown on the O. Frei website. Another glitch in your plan is
that screw back cases tend to be thicker than one piece or snap back.

Some of the A. Schild movements here
http://www.ofrei.com/page_186.html might work for you but please read
the note at the top of the page with regard to fitting the movements
to specific cases. There's also the issue of finding a dial to fit.
Also note that these movements are old and will have been stored dry,
e.g., without oil, or worse, with oil that is decades old and caked on
the pivots and jewels. At any rate, figure that the movement will
have to be serviced.

Your best bet may be to find a vintage watch that fits your
requirements, check Ebay. Find a good watch with an ugly stained dial
and have watch serviced and the dial refinished to your specs. Kirk
Rich does very nice custom work http://www.krdial.com/ The Hamilton
Thin-o-Matic has a decent Swiss made Buren micro rotor movement that
is relatively thin.

What I might like doing at the start, to see how it goes, is picking a
particular movement to concentrate on. Nothing particularly fancy.

Something on the lines of say a PERSEUX 320:

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Peseux_320

I'd probaly try to buy parts, cases, movements based on a particular
movement. A slight problem might be that that I suspect many sellers
don't know the calibre of the movement of the watch they are selling.

I've got an ACCURST 21J watch. It has a PERSEUX 320 movement. If I could
get some more and case parts etc, I'd be happy just messin' with them.
Making a pile of of good watches out of other peoples bits and
peices / defective watches.


I don't mean to discourage you but you may end up with a large pile of junk and a few watches that don't fit together well. A dial has to both fit the movement and the case. J. Sexton posted today that he works on Elgins. Elgin is a good choice because, at least here in the US, they are very common. (IIRC, Elgin made more watches than any other US manufacturer.) Elgin made a limited number of movement shapes and sizes and NOS dials are still available from many sources. The Perseux 320 may not be common enough to give you a real chance at success.
.

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