I managed to get a replacement click spring and install the click and ratchet wheel.
Also, because of my less-than-deft handling of the balance, the hairspring had come out of the guide pins that keep it secure to the balance cock. Once pressed between the pins the balance wheel could move freely and began beating strongly. It was alive with a beating heart.
I wound it fully to see how long it would run, and I was excited to see it running after 6 hours, then 12, then when I woke the next day, eventually running down after 25-26 hours. After the hands and dial are attached the full run time can be measured.
I tried to regulate the watch timing with the movement out of the case, but it was so quiet that my makeshift audio rig would not pick up the ticking sound over the ambient noise in the room (mainly computer cooling fans). So I decided to go ahead and assemble the face and hands to the movement because the regulator adjustment was easily accessed by removing the case back. So regulation was left for the end.
Honestly, I didn't notice a huge difference, but they did look good.
Next was to install the new crystal. The old one (below, middle) was slightly scratched and probably could be polished, but I was able to get a new crystal (below, right) from G-S. This crystal glues onto the front of the bezel. It happened to fit perfectly, and maybe because I built so many model airplanes as a kid I managed to avoid getting any excess glue on the crystal. The old crystal is curved with beveled edges all around, while the new one is curved top to bottom and is probably more original.
Seeing the final product I think it went together pretty nicely. The original dark crocodile strap happened to be the wrong width, 17mm instead of 16mm, and was jammed between the lugs so tight that I could not remove it without damage.The new Hadley-Roma genuine lizard strap was fitted, and I think the color is nice with the gold finish. I had to steal the gold color clasp from the original strap, but it wasn't using it any longer.
Before and after.
The Audacity freeware audio recording and analysis software allowed me to record the escapement ticking sound over a period of time and measure the period between a number of ticks to extrapolate the standard "seconds per day" accuracy rating. I arbitrarily chose to record 100 seconds of ticking then used the cursor the compare the the time for 500 ticks. (The 980 movement beats at 5 Hz or 18000 vibrations per hour or 0.2s per tick.) With this rig I don't know how to measure beat error or amplitude, though there is probably some way to derive it by analyzing the waveform. (Note that in the waveform below the ticks are the big impulses while the shorter regular waves are 60Hz hum, possibly from the lamp on the table or a fan.)
The first test was with the regulator set to the 2S (slow) marker, and the result was about 80 seconds/day slow. I moved the pin to 0, and the timing was about 27s/day fast (image above). The final adjustment setting was 0.5 Slow, and the result on the test was a pretty decent 7s/day fast. (In the waveform the 500th tick occurred at 99.992s,) It is desirable to set the watch to run a little fast rather than slow since a) they tend to slow down a little, and b) if you are early, you are on time.
I'm waiting to install the balance assembly until everything else is assembled since it is somewhat delicate, and the less handling afterward the better. So now we flip over to the dial side and install the cannon pinion on the shaft of the center wheel, in the center of the photo below. The minute hand attaches to the cannon pinion shaft.
The hour wheel slides over the cannon pinion, so it gets a dab of oil. (The hour hand attaches to the hour wheel, logically). The brass dial washer is placed on the shaft of the hour wheel, I believe as a spacer between the hour wheel and the back of the dial.
Now only two parts remain, the balance assembly and its screw. This took a long time to place. At first it would not swing freely, and it would scrape against something. I found one of the balance screws around the periphery of the wheel was partly unscrewed and was wobbling and rubbing against the pallet cock. This may also have affected the timing of the balance, making it run slower than it should.
After tightening the balance weight it still would not run freely. The balance wheel would swing only about 90 degrees for a while then stop. I took it out and reinstalled, but still the vibration was too small, so I looked closer and found microscopic bits of lint or hair, about three of them stuck in the hairspring and the pallet, messing up the works.
LESSONS LEARNED: 1) Keep the work area clean. 2) The longer it takes, the more gunk you collect.
Another issue I saw was that the hairspring is not perfectly centered, meaning that the coils of the spiral are tighter on one side than the other. This is not something I have any business trying to fix at this point, so I left it at is.
I don't have the instrument to measure amplitude, the degrees of rotation of each swing of the balance spring, but to my eye it appears to be well more than 180 degrees. HandyDan says >200 is the goal, so I think it is enough to be healthy. Here's a clip of it running:
I wound it fully to see how long it would run, and I was excited to see it running after 6 hours, then 12, then when I woke the next day, eventually running down after 25-26 hours. After the hands and dial are attached the full run time can be measured.
I tried to regulate the watch timing with the movement out of the case, but it was so quiet that my makeshift audio rig would not pick up the ticking sound over the ambient noise in the room (mainly computer cooling fans). So I decided to go ahead and assemble the face and hands to the movement because the regulator adjustment was easily accessed by removing the case back. So regulation was left for the end.
Final assembly
Before installing the dial I cleaned the faces of the numerals very gently using just a toothpick dipped in cleaning fluid. The dial was in pretty good shape as is, and I didn't want to take a chance of cleaning off the printing. So the only other thing to clean was the hands by sticking them in a piece of pith wood and taking them for a swim in the ultrasonic cleaner.
Honestly, I didn't notice a huge difference, but they did look good.
Next was to install the new crystal. The old one (below, middle) was slightly scratched and probably could be polished, but I was able to get a new crystal (below, right) from G-S. This crystal glues onto the front of the bezel. It happened to fit perfectly, and maybe because I built so many model airplanes as a kid I managed to avoid getting any excess glue on the crystal. The old crystal is curved with beveled edges all around, while the new one is curved top to bottom and is probably more original.
Seeing the final product I think it went together pretty nicely. The original dark crocodile strap happened to be the wrong width, 17mm instead of 16mm, and was jammed between the lugs so tight that I could not remove it without damage.The new Hadley-Roma genuine lizard strap was fitted, and I think the color is nice with the gold finish. I had to steal the gold color clasp from the original strap, but it wasn't using it any longer.
Before and after.
Regulation
The last part of the process was to regulate the timing and test the run time. I laid the watch in the case atop an old computer microphone connected to a laptop, then covered it with towels in an attempt to reduce ambient noise.
The Audacity freeware audio recording and analysis software allowed me to record the escapement ticking sound over a period of time and measure the period between a number of ticks to extrapolate the standard "seconds per day" accuracy rating. I arbitrarily chose to record 100 seconds of ticking then used the cursor the compare the the time for 500 ticks. (The 980 movement beats at 5 Hz or 18000 vibrations per hour or 0.2s per tick.) With this rig I don't know how to measure beat error or amplitude, though there is probably some way to derive it by analyzing the waveform. (Note that in the waveform below the ticks are the big impulses while the shorter regular waves are 60Hz hum, possibly from the lamp on the table or a fan.)
The first test was with the regulator set to the 2S (slow) marker, and the result was about 80 seconds/day slow. I moved the pin to 0, and the timing was about 27s/day fast (image above). The final adjustment setting was 0.5 Slow, and the result on the test was a pretty decent 7s/day fast. (In the waveform the 500th tick occurred at 99.992s,) It is desirable to set the watch to run a little fast rather than slow since a) they tend to slow down a little, and b) if you are early, you are on time.
Run Time
The final observations were to measure the run time on a full wind. First I set the time to match my radio clock, which is always on the exact time to the second. (The 980 does not stop the seconds while setting the time, so there is about 30 seconds difference.) After 38 hr 22 min, the watch is still dead on! About two hours later, it stopped running, which says the run time on a full wind is around 40 hours.
I was probably insufferably pleased with myself at this point. Not only does the watch look sharp if not exactly new, it is a functional timepiece and not just wrist bling. I could not be
happier with the results!
