What number are YOU?

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
ehjones
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:17 pm

Post by ehjones »

I've got a Malvern Automatic 0037
It's gained about 15 seconds per day consistently since I got it about a year ago. Great watch, just needs a new strap as the leather surface has all worn off and it's gone a dirty orange colour.

Ed
User avatar
Hans
Administrator Emeritus - Founder
Posts: 2266
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 11:24 am
CW-watches: 7
LE-one: yes
LE-two: yes
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Hans »

I hear that a lot, that the Automatic gains a lot per day. If it is 15 seconds constistantly, it is actualy very accurate and can be easily adjusted (by a watchmaker) to run around +3-5 sec a day.
carman63
Senior
Senior
Posts: 197
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 8:38 pm

Post by carman63 »

My number appears to be 0745. I'd have to remove it from my wrist to be certain, but I don't see that happening right now ;)
CDesign
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:56 am
CW-watches: 0
Location: Nunspeet The Netherlands

Post by CDesign »

Hans wrote:.....it is actualy very accurate and can be easily adjusted (by a watchmaker) to run around +3-5 sec a day.
My Malvern Automatic #0732 (one month on te wrist) runs around +15-20 sec a day. The first few days it was +30-40 sec. How long will it take (approx) to run constant?

And what are your experiences with "your" wachtmaker when you hand over your CW for adjustment?
...only time can tell...
phubbard
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:47 pm
CW-watches: 1
Location: San Diego, CA

Regulation

Post by phubbard »

Mine arrived fast, ~25s/day. Chris advised me to regulate it myself, and it took me three tries to get the error under 2s/day.

After a couple of months of wearing, it's slowing a bit and I'll probably need to regulate again. Drat! For a while there, it was withing .2s/day.

Anyway, I'd give it 2 months, if you wear it all the time, that's what mine seemed to need. If you can't wait, adjusting it is pretty easy and kinda fun too.
joerattz
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1281
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:34 pm
CW-watches: 8
Location: Alpharetta, GA

Re: Regulation

Post by joerattz »

phubbard wrote:adjusting it is pretty easy and kinda fun too.
Yes, that does sound like fun. BUT, how would someone like me know how to do it? If only there were a video.
C5SWT (#316), C5AKS (#316/1936), C5AWS (#789/1936), C6-ForumLE (#3/100), C6SYS (#347), C6-T3LE (#130/300), C6SWS (#601), C3SKS (#1204)

Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 : http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590597893?tag=netsplore-20
phubbard
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:47 pm
CW-watches: 1
Location: San Diego, CA

Regulation how-to

Post by phubbard »

CDesign
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:56 am
CW-watches: 0
Location: Nunspeet The Netherlands

Post by CDesign »

Such small screwdrivers........

Image

These are my kind of tools, so I'll take it to the watchmaker. In a month or so, or sooner if it stays at +15 seconds.
...only time can tell...
joerattz
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1281
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:34 pm
CW-watches: 8
Location: Alpharetta, GA

Re: Regulation how-to

Post by joerattz »

phubbard wrote:http://christopherward.nl.eu.org/viewtopic.php?t=22

Not a video, but pretty close.
That is a very well done post by Hans. However, some people need a video. This is a bit of a joke.

Now that I think about it, perhaps I should make the video. I am sure it would be a lot more entertaining than one would be if it were made by someone who knew what they were doing.

To give you an idea, I was planning on taking the same watch courses Hans refers to in that post. I am still planning on doing them once I get past a personal project I am working on that is eating up way too much of my time to be able to play with watches. The TZ watch school has a free sample lesson that I recommend anyone interested in learning this stuff take. It will give you a quick idea of what it is like to actually do this type of work.

I'll give you my perspective of it, some of which will be entertaining and some informative. I ordered a couple old crappy mechanical/automatic movements off ebay to mess with. They warn you not to work on a good watch for a while. Take my word for it, that is a true statement. Plan to ruin the first N number of watches you work on. I don't know what N is because I haven't reached it yet. I assume it varies from person to person. :D

So, I have my movement and some tools I ordered, and I read the free sample lesson. It basically gives you some fundamentals of watchmaking, and then the basic lesson is take out some screws and replace them. That's it. That's it? That's a lesson? Or so I thought.

Ok, now the lesson warns you about losing parts. I will add one warning that I don't think they mentioned. When you put too much pressure on a screw while holding it in the tweezers, it doesn't fall out of the tweezers. It shoots out like a rocket. Somewhere. I removed one of the screws from a bridge plate that when my wife saw it, she didn't believe it was a screw. She thought it was a grain of pepper. She didn't believe it had threads and a slot on top. A look through the loupe convinced her otherwise.

Getting the tiny screw out was not that much of a challenge. Getting it in? Well, I guess I'll never know what that feels like. I lost that tiny screw three times that night trying to get it back in its cozy little pore of a thread hole. Losing it three times means I was fortunate to find it twice. The last time I wasn't as fortunate. I am holding the screw in the tweezers. It isn't in the tweezers at the correct angle, so not enough of the thread is exposed to be able to get it in the hole properly. I reach down with my left hand to try to nudge it slightly in the right direction. You know how some people can't walk and chew gum at the same time? Apparently I can't move my left hand and maintain constant pressure with my right. I felt it pop. You can feel the tweezer tips clink together and the slight release of pressure. Followed by silence...for a second or two..followed by another clink as it hits the floor or some other hard surface, assuming you have been fortunate enough to get a clue where it might have landed. My clink sounded distinctly like it hit my hardwood floor. Now imagine, I am trying to find something the size of a grain of pepper on my floor. My floor is not that dirty, but I can tell you that there were plenty of specs that big. No, the naked eye would not suffice to detect this screw; a loupe was required. If you haven't used a watchmaker's loupe, they have a focal distance of about 2-3 inches. This means I would need to be about 2-3 inches off the floor to focus on what I was looking at. So there I am, crawling around on my belly in our breakfast nook with my eye two to three inches off the floor. After about an hour, I gave up on that approach.

I thought, maybe a broom will knock it so that I see it. So, I swept the breakfast nook...2 times. So, my wife walks in and what am I doing? I have my face buried in the dustpan with my loupe on looking through the microscopic particles of dust that previously adorned our floor. Of course, there is enough dust to conceal the screw, so I also have to be knocking it around the dustpan with my index finger.

I never found that screw. It was so tiny, it is even feasible that it stuck to my feet, and fell off somewhere else in the house. It could have even fallen between the planks of the floor.

Anyone want to buy a used, "as-is" watch movement?
C5SWT (#316), C5AKS (#316/1936), C5AWS (#789/1936), C6-ForumLE (#3/100), C6SYS (#347), C6-T3LE (#130/300), C6SWS (#601), C3SKS (#1204)

Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 : http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590597893?tag=netsplore-20
CDesign
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:56 am
CW-watches: 0
Location: Nunspeet The Netherlands

Post by CDesign »

After reading this I definitly hand it over to a watchmaker.

Great story joeratzz :lol: :lol:
...only time can tell...
User avatar
Hans
Administrator Emeritus - Founder
Posts: 2266
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 11:24 am
CW-watches: 7
LE-one: yes
LE-two: yes
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Hans »

Brilliant post Joe! :lol: And yes, it is very easy to loose parts that small. Some people mount a large magnet on a stick, so that they can sweep the floor and hope that they will retrieve a lost screw....
joerattz
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1281
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:34 pm
CW-watches: 8
Location: Alpharetta, GA

Post by joerattz »

Hans wrote:Brilliant post Joe! :lol: And yes, it is very easy to loose parts that small. Some people mount a large magnet on a stick, so that they can sweep the floor and hope that they will retrieve a lost screw....
Yes, I think that the free lesson even discusses that...I know I read about it somewhere and even saw a picture of one. It had a head several inches wide, kind of like a squeegee, with a magnetic strip running across it. I have not made me one of those yet. But, once I get back to working on watches, that will definitely be one of the first orders of business.

The second order of business will be a proper watchmakers desk. Well, maybe not a proper one, but one the right height and with good light. Not having a good work surface, coupled with trying to use the loupe, is why it was taking me 30 minutes to change a strap. I can't remember if I posted about it or not, but since you posted your video on how to change a strap, I have cut my changing time down to a couple minutes. Where was I going wrong? I was trying to use the loupe. The problem is that I don't have a work surface at the correct height. Trying to hunch over a dinner table, with a loupe on, requiring me to be 2-3 inches from the lugs and pins, and trying to get enough light between me hovering over the watch and the watch, made it very difficult to change.

After watching your video, I decided I would try to change a strap. I know it sounds stupid, but in that thread I actually asked you about how you changed the other side, because you appeared left handed. You responded that you just rotated the watch. Duh! I should have figured that out. But, I never had. So, I was working on the wrong side of the watch for me being right handed. When I approached it from the opposite side, it got easier. Then, I just spun the watch to do the other side. But, I still had trouble. I couldn't get enough light at what I was looking at, and hold the strap, and hold the spring bar tool, while hunched over a normal dinner table. I watched your video again to see why you could do it so easy while I was having such a hard time. Hey, I don't see your head in the video crammed over the watch! At that point I realized that you weren't using a loupe. Once I ditched the loupe, it wasn't any trouble to remove the strap. I was making it harder than it needed to be. So, your video definitely paid off for me. Thanks.

But, before I resume my watch destruction endeavors, I will get a work surface at the proper height and a good poisitionable lamp.
C5SWT (#316), C5AKS (#316/1936), C5AWS (#789/1936), C6-ForumLE (#3/100), C6SYS (#347), C6-T3LE (#130/300), C6SWS (#601), C3SKS (#1204)

Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 : http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590597893?tag=netsplore-20
PatrickB
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 1:59 pm
CW-watches: 0
Location: Maryland, U.S.A.

Post by PatrickB »

Edgar wrote:My CW arrived yesterday. #626
I just got mine on Monday 04 Dec 06. It's a Malvern Automatic and the number is #646
Edgar, what model is your CW?
When did you get it?
Watch.aholic
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:25 pm
CW-watches: 0
Location: manchester england

Whats your number

Post by Watch.aholic »

I got my new Aviator special eddition on wednesday 29.11.06 #55 after seeing a review in a magazine. I ordered the watch on the sunday and it arrived on the wednesday.
GaryRH
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2007 6:35 pm

Post by GaryRH »

My Aviator special edition arrived yesterday #0159
First class service from start to finish.
my wish list...I wanted a watch that has character and is unique....I've ended up with a CW watch that satifies both these requirements.
Wife likes the promo one too.
Thanks also to postings on here which contributed to my choice of watch.
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post