Month: December 2022

The brand Mont Blanc are best known for their range of luxury writing instruments. Their most famous model – the Meisterstück (Masterpiece) was introduced in 1924 and the brand soon went from strength to strength. After 1935 a range of leather goods were introduced including wallets and pen cases. We have to wait until 1997 for the first collection of Mont Blanc watches – these continued with the brands aesthetic, though over the years some models have moved away from an exclusively classic look. Top Mont Blanc models include the TimeWalker, Tradition and, as we have on the bench today, the Star.

Our client’s Mont Blanc Star is a quartz watch of good quality. On arrival in the workshop it was not working. Opening the case back revealed the movement – a modified ETA 955.112. These are reliable, solid movements and, in the case of a fault, they can be repaired (rather than simply replaced!).

We tested the watch using our Watch-Master Quartz Analyser. This allows us to diagnose faults with a quartz watch. The fault found was with the circuit. Visual inspection confirms this – there was clear damage to the circuit and battery isolator caused by a battery leak. To repair this watch we need to replace these parts, as well as conduct a thorough service.

Servicing a quartz watch follows similar principles to that of a mechanical service. The movement is completely stripped down and we run the parts through a specialist watch movement cleaning machine. The movement is then rebuilt and oiled as per the manufacturer’s specifications. While a quartz movement has less parts, the wheels are generally speaking much smaller. The nature of a quartz movement means cleanliness is perhaps even more important than with a mechanical service (and it’s of paramount importance in a mechanical service!). For instance –  just the smallest piece of debris or lack of oil (or too much oil) will be problematic and likely stop the watch or cause too much power consumption. As part of the service we replaced the damaged circuit and battery isolator. Alongside the work to the movement, the watch case was ultrasonically cleaned.

Now we simply assemble everything. The dial is fitted to the movement, before the hands are fitted. When fitting the hands we use a hand press tool made by Horotec. These tools are a great way to ensure the hands are fitted completely parallel with the dial (and each other), and that the spacing is appropriate and uniform. After these are fitted we fit this back into the case. One last test of the movement to ensure it is operating within the manufacturer’s specifications before the case is sealed.

Finally the complete watch is pressure tested to ensure it passes to the original rating of 30m water resistance using our Sigma SM-8850 pressure testing machine. This is able to test watches rated up to 300m water resistant.

Do you have a Mont Blanc watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any Mont Blanc watch and we offer a comprehensive watch repairs service. We cater to clients all around the UK thanks to our fully insured, freepost watch repairs service. As a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award accredited business and Business Partners of  the British Horological Institute you can be confident when dealing with us.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA

Managing Director

W.E. Clark & Son Limited

This watch is a vintage Longines Ultra-Chron model dating from the 1970s. It has a gold plated case, a cross-hair dial and a date at 3 o’clock. The Ultra-Chron is an automatic high-beat watch. This means the watch effectively ticks more per second than many other mechanical watches. The old standard for mechanical watches is to run at 18,000 BPH. This is 2.5Hz, or 5 beats per second. The Ultra-Chron doubles this – running at 36,000BPH – 5Hz or 10 beats per second. This – in theory – makes it easier for the watch to attain an excellent level of timekeeping accuracy. It also makes the second hand run more smoothly if you closely examine it.

There are however disadvantages to high beat movements, The fact the watch is beating so fast means the need for regular servicing is much more important, as parts will wear out considerably quicker. Indeed, there’s still a conversation ongoing about which standard is best, with the four main standards we see being 18,000, 21,600, 28,800 and 36,000 BPH.

On inspection of this particular watch, the amplitude of the balance was found to be very poor, This is often a sign a watch is in need of a thorough service. We also noted the date change was not working properly, so this required some attention.

To service the movement it is completely disassembled and pre-cleaned, with each part inspected. The disassembled movement is then run through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine, while the case was cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner. After an initial clean everything is checked before it then goes through a final cleaning cycle.

The movement powering this watch is a Longines calibre 461. This is a 17 jewel automatic movement of good quality. Inspection of the date change components found a replacement spring had previously been fitted, and this was too weak to provide the correct, snappy date change required. We were able to source and fit a replacement and this resolved the problem.

After all the movement parts are completely clean, it’s time to begin reassembly and oiling. The movement is rebuilt in stages, with everything checked to ensure it is just as it should be before moving on to the next stage. Once the movement is back together, the dial and hands are then refitted before the watch is cased up.

Do you have a Longines, or in fact any vintage watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any watch and we offer a comprehensive watch repair service. We cater to clients all around the UK thanks to our fully insured freepost watch repairs service. You can also bring watches in to our showrooms based in Lewes and Uckfield, Sussex. As Business Partners of the British Horological Institute and a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award accredited business, you can be confident when dealing with us.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA

Managing Director

W.E. Clark & Son Limited

In the first part of this blog post we covered some of the potential causes of water damage. But what should you do if the worst does happen and water ingress occurs? In this part we’ll look at what to do (and what not to do!) to give your watch the best chance of being successfully repaired.

If you notice water has made its way into your watch, firstly, immediately stop using the watch. That means take the watch off and under no circumstances should you start pressing buttons or attempting to pull the crown out, adjust the hands etc. This could cause more damage to the movement.

It’s very important you get in contact with a reputable watchmaker like us as soon as you possibly can. Depending on the level of exposure and type of water, your watch may need to be urgently booked in for attention.

If you wait a week before contacting a watchmaker, this gives the water a week to do further damage to the sensitive mechanism. If your watch has been exposed to salt water, this is enough time to completely destroy the movement. When you’re dealing with small parts even one drop of freshwater is enough to ruin numerous components in a short period of time.

Once water has entered the watch, do not attempt to remove it yourself. Don’t heat the watch on a radiator or give it a shake/spin. Doing so will only cause further damage. Until you’re able to get to a watchmaker, putting the watch in a bag with some kind of absorbent like silica gel won’t do any harm, but it certainly won’t fully deal with the problem. There is no short cut solution – we’ve seen numerous watches which have been kept in a bag of rice to dry them out, but on opening the back we find the movement swimming in water.

As you can see, water ingress can only be properly dealt with by a professional watchmaker. Water ingress can result in a hefty repair bill even if the watch is promptly disassembled – this is because watch parts need to be in excellent condition to work correctly. We strongly encourage our clients to have their watches regularly serviced (usually every 3-5 years) and to have water resistance tested every year. By doing so your watch is checked and unless there’s user error (eg. The crown is left pulled out, glass damaged etc.) you can be confident in the level of water resistance your watch is able to provide.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA

Managing Director

W.E. Clark & Son Limited

In the world of watches you’ll undoubtedly be familiar with the big names like Rolex, Omega, Tag Heuer and Breitling. What you may not realise is quite how many micro-brands there are. These smaller watch companies produce watches ranging from super high-end, through to cheaper quartz watches. Each brand has its own respective niche and story to tell.

The watch on the bench today is made by Halios – a relatively new company, with the brand starting in 2009. Halios watches were influenced by conversations with online watch forum members. By talking directly with the target market, the watches were tailored to suit their thoughts and suggestions.

This model is a Seaforth – a great looking, water resistant, automatic watch. It’s powered by an ETA 2824-2 movement. The 2824-2 is a reliable, good quality automatic movement, as found in watches by some of the brands listed above, like Tag Heuer and Breitling.

Initial inspection revealed the watch to be working, albeit poorly based on the readings from our timegrapher testing machine. A full service and replacement mainspring was required.

The watch is completely stripped down before the movement parts are thoroughly cleaned. We clean parts both by hand and then using a specialist watch movement cleaning machine – this way we can be certain everything is in good order and as clean as we can possibly make it.

After cleaning, rebuilding and oiling of the mechanism can begin. We use a number of different oils and greases in different parts of the mechanism. We follow the manufacturers guidance for this, including the use of epilame treatment on a number of parts to prevent the spread of oils.

The case is given a thorough ultrasonic clean and we then reassemble the complete watch. After pressure testing for water resistance, this wonderful Halios Seaforth goes on our automatic watch testing machine as part of its final testing before release to our client.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA

Managing Director

W.E. Clark & Son Limited