Long term readers will know that over the last few years I have bought and sold a huge number of 'classic' Formula 1s, indeed at one point I had fifteen of them and was homing in on 'completion'. But then I realised that I didn't actually want twenty 30 year old watches sitting on my shelf lining up to expire on me and so I decided to sell a few. And then a few more. And then once I started selling them I just couldn't stop until I had only one left - the very first one I got.
I guess I could have saved myself a lot of hassle and just kept that one in the first place, but as usual I got carried away, over-stimulated by all the bright colours... until I realised that the only one that didn't look silly on my 7.1/2" wrist was the all black one with red highlights. Isn't that just typical?
But there was just one problem.
The watch was in amazing condition, sure... when I bought it the seller advertised it as having a new glass, strap and bezel. Unfortunately, when he had re-assembled the watch the seller had failed to clean the backside of the glass properly and while it wasn't immediately obvious on the wrist, every time I took a photo of the watch it stuck out like a sore thumb.
Of course I didn't really notice this until it was far too late to complain about it and so I figured I would live with it until such time as the watch needed some attention. Over the next 5 years the smeary glass annoyed me more and more until I eventually decided to do something about it. After all by this time I had become quite adept at changing batteries, how hard could it be to simply remove the movement clean the glass and put it back together? I mean, it's not like I was doing anything tricky like removing hands - right?
My next move was to ask on the THF Forum if anyone had any experience removing the movement and someone kindly pointed me in the direction of a YouTube video which clearly showed how it was done. Oh yes, that looked super simple. Great...
Even so I had my misgivings. Deep down I was sure this was a bad idea, but then again I felt the same the first few times I changed a battery and that had saved me literally thousands of pounds over the last few years so, you know, nothing ventured - nothing gained. Right?
And so after about a fortnight of mental preparation, I decided to go for it... and at first it went well. I pressed down on the little circle next to the arrow on the back of the movement just like the guy had in the video and sure enough the crown and stem came out of the watch easily. Sweet.
I KNOW, IT LOOKS EASY... DOESN'T IT.
Then I used a very small screwdriver to gently lever the plastic movement holder out of the case (along with the movement, dial and hands) and set it aside while I cleaned the inside of the glass with a cotton bud. Satisfied it was totally clean (cos I didn't want to have to do this twice!) I slipped the movement holder back into the case and gently inserted the crown stem into the side of the case.
Well, it went in... all the way in, but it didn't engage. At all... and immediately I knew I had royally f*cked up. I removed it and tried again, but to no avail. Oddly the watch would start ticking, but then stop, and then start again, randomly. But the crown could not adjust the hands and I knew the watch would have to go to a professional. Fabulous...
I assume I pressed too hard on the button and if I was doing it again I think I would try and set it up so that I could pull on the crown while pressing on the button so that I could remove it with the minimum of pressure. Of course I'm not sure 100% that would work either. In my defence the video clearly showed the guy pressing on the button and then pulling out the crown stem, I presumed the pressure applied to the button was to 'click' it into a neutral position and then it would 'click' back once the stem was reinserted... but who knows?
Maybe I was just unlucky, after all the watch is over thirty years old... maybe it was going to break no matter who pressed the button? Or maybe I'm just a clumsy, heavy handed clod who should leave these things to people who actually know what they are doing...
Ultimately it cost me £80 to have the watch repaired and serviced (including a new part) which is not bad considering I wouldn't want the risk of opening anyone's watch for less than £50 and of course there's VAT included in that. I'm not even sure it would have been cheaper to just ask my watchmaker to remove the movement and clean the glass as he would probably have wanted me to agree to a service at the same time to make it worth his while. Which is fair enough... after all there is always a risk of damaging a watch whenever you open it. Even if you do know what you're doing.
Oh well, at least my glass is clean now and I know to stick to changing batteries and to not get ideas above my station!
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