Category: Information and Advice

In watchmaking we use a number of different types of pivot, depending on the situation. The pivots are the end part of a wheel’s arbor – so the part which holds it in place in the bearing as it rotates. In this blog post we’ll briefly look at the different types of pivot commonly found in watch movements, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

The straight or square pivot is the most commonly found in the train – so the wheels used to convey power from the mainspring through to the escapement. These pivots have – as the name suggests – straight sides, with a squared off shoulder. Straight pivots provide good strength though the friction across both horizontal and vertical positions is fairly high, due to the larger surface area in contact with the jewelled bearing.

Watch pivot diagrams

 

A Conical pivot is commonly found on a watch balance. These pivots are paired with an olive shaped jewel and a cap jewel. The conical pivot is indeed somewhat conical in shape and it has a domed end. Due to the shape of these pivots and the respective jewels they act in, friction is reduced to an absolute minimum across both vertical and horizontal positions. The trade-off is that the pivots are weaker, hence they are found operating in shock-resistant settings, such as Incabloc and Kif.

You can also find Cone shaped pivots. These tend to be found in lower grade pocket watches (and indeed small clocks). They are used instead of conical pivots as they are easier to make. The pivots turn in cups which are made into the end of a screw. Over a number of years this type of pivot wears out – and as it does so, the area of contact at the end of the pivot increases, which increases friction and causes even more wear. The timepiece will eventually stop in certain positions as a result.

Problems with pivots can occur in a variety of different ways – the watchmaker must always be aware of possible issues with pivots which need addressing. A pivot may become “necked” for example – this is where a section of the pivot is worn into a smaller diameter than the rest of the pivot. Reducing the diameter by only a small amount causes a significant reduction in strength.

Other issues found may include short pivots. bent pivots and, of course, worn pivots. In modern watches if we find a pivot problem, the correct repair is to replace the defective part. With older watches where parts are no longer available, we may need to burnish the existing pivot to resurface and toughen it, so it can be used once more.

Do you have a watch in need of repair? If so, get in touch and see how we can help. We are watch repair specialists with a fully insured freepost watch repairs service.  We offer repairs to clients all around the UK and we are experts in the repair of modern and vintage watches. As holders of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award and business partners of the British Horological Institute you can be confident in the service we provide.

Please Contact Us for further information regarding any requirement you may have.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited

In order to check water resistance of a watch we use pressure testing equipment. In our workshop we use two different types – a “dry” tester and a “wet” tester. In this blog post we’ll discuss using the wet pressure tester and how this is used to help us check a watch case for any leaks.

As the name would suggest the “wet” tester involves immersing the watch in water. The steps involved in testing a watch are broadly outlined below.

‘Wet’ testing in progress

Firstly, it should be said we test the watch case without the movement. While in theory this precaution is not necessary (it will become clear why), we prefer to absolutely err on the side of caution. As such, the movement is removed from the case. We then re-assemble the case, so it is complete with crown and case back.

Now we have a case ready to put in the pressure tester, The case is loaded into the machine and suspended from a hook. We now need to seal the machine – tightening the retaining bolts and making sure the pressure release valve is closed.

Next, it’s time to pressurise the chamber. Our testing machine uses a manual pump, so we repeatedly pull the lever and pressurise the chamber until it reaches the level of pressure, we’re testing this specific watch to.

Once the chamber is pressurised it’s important to wait for a while. This allows the pressure in the chamber and inside the watch to equalise if there’s a leak. The case is then carefully lowered into the water. Once in the water we slowly release the pressure release value.

If there’s a leak in the case, the case will have pressurised to the same level as the air. This means as the pressure in the chamber begins to be lowered, a stream of bubbles begins to appear from the source of the leak. Here you can see why in theory a watch could be tested complete – if the pressure is higher inside the watch, air will be pushed out rather than water allowed in. If there is no leak, we do not see any streams of bubbles as the pressure inside the case remains at the level it was before going into the tester – 1 atmosphere.

Once confident in the result, the watch is lifted from the water before all the pressure in the chamber is released. When the pressure is fully released the watch case can be retrieved from the machine and dried off.

As you can see, use of this machine is very important. It helps with diagnosing the location of faulty seals, and also means we are able to say the case has been tested as properly water resistant, as opposed to if we solely used the air tester. Once the case is dry the movement is reinstalled and we then finish the job off by using our “dry” testing machine on the complete watch.

 

Do you have a watch in need of repair? Contact us and see how we can help. We are experts in the repair of watches both modern and vintage. We offer a fully insured freepost repairs service and as business partners of the British Horological Institute, as well as holders of a Feefo Platinum Service Award, you can be confident when dealing with us.

 

Please Contact Us for further information regarding any requirement you may have.

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited

In a mechanical watch or clock, the escapement is the mechanical linkage which allows the gear train to be periodically released. Controlling this release means we are able to adjust how watches or clocks keep time. There are numerous different types of escapement, though the most common one found in mechanical watches is the Swiss lever escapement.

Swiss Lever Escapement

The Swiss lever escapement operates by using pallets (small specially shaped jewels). These pallets control the release of power from the escape wheel; this is part of the train of wheels, transmitting power through the watch movement, from the mainspring in it’s barrel. During this process the escape wheel tooth gives an impulse to the pallet. This impulse is used to continue powering the escapement, via transfer to the balance.

During the interaction of the escape wheel tooth with the pallets: They are locked, unlocked, provide impulse, released. The escape wheel then moves, and then another tooth is locked on the opposite pallet.

The Swiss lever escapement even has safety features. These protect the running of the escapement in case of an impact which would otherwise cause overbanking. Overbanking is an effect when the correct sequence of the escapement gets messed up; The movement will completely stop if this happens, so it’s important to prevent it.

Does this sound confusing?

Watch escapements can be a difficult subject to break down, as there’s a lot of horology specific terminology, and it’s much more complex than outlined above. You could write an entire book on the subject, suffice to say the escapement design is absolutely ingenious.

There are numerous other watch escapements too, such as cylinders, english lever, and verge. Each escapement has it’s own specific geometry and quirks, which must be understood in order to correctly set it up in a watch or clock.

You’d hardly believe there’s so much to the simple ticking sound, when you hold a mechanical watch to your ear.

Do you have a mechanical watch in need of repair?

Here at WE Clark Watch Repairs we are experts in the repair of all makes and models of watch – from vintage pocket watches through to modern big name brands like Tag Heuer, Omega and Rolex. We offer a fully insured freepost watch repairs service to clients all around the UK. As holders of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award, and business partners of the British Horological Institute, you can be confident in the service we provide.

Please Contact Us for further information regarding any requirement you may have.

 

Yours sincerely

David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA

Managing Director

W.E. Clark & Son Limited

As experts in the repair and restoration of watches both modern and vintage, we encounter a huge variety of watches in our workshop. Through the course of our work and dealings with clients, we are often asked similar questions again and again. In this blog post we’ll look at a few common questions and give you our answers. A quick note – each watch is different, so while our responses outlined below may be appropriate to your watch, there are of course exceptions.

Why does my automatic watch stop when I take it off?

My watch has kept time perfectly for 10/20/30 years and it’s never needed a service, why has it stopped?

In short, the lack of maintenance will have likely caused some serious wear. These mechanisms rely on cleanliness, plus fresh oils and greases to work properly. Going decades without a service is not advisable and will only serve to damage the movement. The fact its kept going for so many years is perhaps testament to the genius design of the watch movement. Service intervals are usually every 3-5 years for most watches.

I have a mechanical (hand-winding) watch and I can keep winding it forever – why is this?

If you have a hand-wound mechanical watch this is almost certainly a broken mainspring. A full service and new mainspring will be required.

Why is the second hand skipping on my quartz (battery) powered watch?

Some quartz movements have an end-of-life (EOL) indicator function. This allows the watch to display to you when the battery needs replacing. When you see the second hand skipping this is a sign it needs doing.

Do you have a 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 PJDip. PJGemDip. CertGA.
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited.

In order for a watch movement to work properly it requires periodic cleaning and lubrication. This is due to the design of the mechanism – lubrication is needed on moving parts to reduce the friction which may lead to them wearing out. Even quartz watches still rely on oils and greases to operate as they should. The more complications your watch has, the more points in the movement which will require some form of oil or grease.

Of course as each movement is different the types and quantities of oils and greases will change. There are some notable movements which require, at least in theory, less regular servicing, such as movements using the co-axial escapement. Nowadays we even have pioneering horologists like Dr Roger Smith involved in research into nanotechnology which may eventually eliminate the need for oils entirely.

There is a huge range of oils and greases available on the market. Each watchmaker will have their own personal preferences on this front and it’s very rare to get two watchmakers to agree. Factors such as the age of the watchmaker and where they trained may in turn influence their choice of oils. There are still a few broad categories we can split the lubricants into.

For metal to metal we use some form of grease. There are various different types on the market and the exact type we use depends on the situation. When servicing a 7750 chronograph for example, we use a grease called Molykote DX on the chronograph work.

For low speed high torque applications we use a thicker oil. Our preference here is Moebius HP-1300 – this is often specified on the technical documents of many modern watch calibres.

For high speed low torque applications we use a thinner oil. The industry standard here is Moebius 9010. Examples of where we use this oil include the pivots of the escape wheel and when oiling the end stones of the balance.

On top of these “basic” lubricants there are many others for very specific areas of the watch movement. Sometimes these can be incredibly expensive – a pot of only a few millilitres may cost upwards of £70 for some of these! Specialist lubricants include P125 which is a braking grease used on the barrel walls of automatic watches. This lubricant is specified by many big manufacturers. Others include Moebius 941 and 9415 which are only used to oil the teeth of the escape wheel.

There are many other forms of lubrication and treatments used when servicing a watch movement – V105 f

or reversing wheels, V106 for rotor bearings – the list really does go on. We haven’t even discussed epilame – a fantastic surface treatment which prevents oils from spreading. Suffice to say, oils and greases in watchmaking is a huge topic. We follow manufacturers technical documentation where we can and for vintage pieces we adhere to industry standard best practices.

Do you have a watch in need of servicing? If so, do get in contact 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. 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.

We look forward to assisting you very soon

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJGemDip PJDip CertGA
Managing Director

Here at WE Clark Watch Repairs we repair many different types and age of watch – from vintage pocket watches through to modern watches from brands such as Omega and Rolex. One of the most common repairs we’re asked to conduct is servicing. Servicing means giving a watch a thorough overhaul – completely disassembling and cleaning the movement, before reassembling, oiling, adjusting and finally testing the watch. If a watch is not regularly maintained or is damaged in some regard, it is more likely we’ll find a number of faults which add to the workload involved in the service. These faults need correcting in order for the watch to run correctly and some are more common than others. In this blog post we’ll give you an idea of three of the faults we may encounter.

One of the most common faults we find is a broken mainspring. The mainspring is the source of power for a mechanical watch. It is coiled up inside a barrel and constantly winding/unwinding, unless of course the watch is not being worn. In vintage watches we may find mainsprings made out of carbon steel – this material is very prone to breaking (especially after years of use) and becoming ‘set’ – in other words extremely tired. Modern watches use alloy mainsprings which tend to be more hardy, though they can still become misshapen or break. Generally speaking we replace the mainspring as part of every watch service to ensure your watch has a fresh source of power.

Worn pivots are another fault we see. In order for a watch to work properly, the pivots of wheels need to be in excellent condition. Sometimes the wear can be light, other times – especially in neglected watches – pivots can be almost completely worn through. Certain parts are more prone to wear than others, and this varies from movement to movement. Take a modern ETA 2892 for example – the reversing wheel is often in need of replacement. In the image you can see an example of a reversing wheel from an Omega watch our client never had serviced – clearly this needed changing!

Broken teeth on a wheel is something we encounter from time to time. Again, a lack of regular maintenance makes this issue far more likely. Unmaintained watches may become more difficult to wind or set the time as the oils and greases which should keep everything working nicely dry up. We’ve seen watches where clients have rigorously wound or set the time despite the increased resistance, and this has broken multiple teeth from wheels. A mainspring failing may also cause a sudden burst of power to go through the movement and this can lead to multiple wheels failing.

There are of course many faults in addition to the above, though we hope these give you a flavour of what we encounter on a day-to-day basis. One of the main ways you can look after your watch to mitigate the chance of problems occurring is to ensure it is regularly maintained by a watchmaker – For mechanical watches we suggest service intervals of 3-5 years.

If you have a watch in need of attention, do get in contact 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. 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 PJDip. PJGemDip. CertGA.
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited.

Continuing on from part one, in this blog post we’ll look at some more of the tools and equipment we use on a day-to-day basis.

Watchmaking tools and equipment come in all different shapes and sizes to suit the huge variety of jobs a watchmaker’s workshop will undertake. Two types of tool we use in almost every job are watchmaker’s screwdrivers and tweezers.

Good screwdrivers and tweezers are of paramount importance. When used with the correct technique and maintenance these are tools which will last for many years. There are a number of excellent brands producing quality products out there – Our preference is to use Bergeon screwdrivers and Dumont tweezers. The set of screwdrivers we use on a day-to-day basis consists of ten individual anti-magnetic screwdrivers on a rotating stand. The sizes range from 0.50mm up to 3mm – this size range accommodates almost any size watch screw. The blades are also anti-magnetic and dressed using a sharpening stone though they can also be replaced as necessary. Our go-to tweezers are Dumont anti-magnetic “number one” – This particular style has fine strong tips. Of course many different tweezers types and styles are needed for different purposes – from epoxy coated to brass to Delrin tipped.

Having excellent screwdrivers and tweezers is all well and good, but you need to get into the watch first! That’s where our range of case opening and closing tools comes in.

Some watches have case backs which snap or press on – these can be removed with specially shaped case back removers, or, our preference is for the traditional watchmaker’s case knife. This is rather like a pen knife with two blades – the shorter of which is used to open snap on case backs.

Other watches have screw-on case backs. The case back and case are threaded, so the back screws into the case. In order to remove these backs we have a number of specialist tools. The smallest option we have is a handheld remover called a Jaxa wrench. We also have a bench top tool where the watch is held securely upside down between two plastic dies – the case back is then unscrewed by twisting the correct opening die via a large wheel. This tool is great as we can fit various different dies specific to all the different watch brands. For example Rolex, Breitling and Omega all use completely different dies.

When it comes to refitting the case back, in the instance of screw on backs it’s essentially the opposite of removal. Some snap-on case backs may prove stubborn and not snap into place by finger strength alone, so having a good mechanical press is useful. Again, we have a selection of different types. Some of these serve a double function and are also used as a glass press (for fitting different styles of watch crystal glasses). It’s extremely important to make sure the correct size and shape of die is used – hence we have a wide selection. If you don’t use the correct size, you risk misshaping the case back or damaging the case or glass.

If you have a watch in need of repair – do get in contact with us. We are watch repair specialists with a fully insured freepost watch repairs service.  We offer repairs to clients all around the UK and we are experts in the repair of modern and vintage watches. As holders of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award and business partners of the British Horological Institute, you can be confident in the service we provide.

Yours sincerely,

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Ltd.