WATCHPARTS

WATCH PARTS

One of the most difficult situations with the watch collecting and repair hobby is when you discover you have a broken part. When this occurs, I usually get a sinking feeling in my gut that the watch is worthless. There is a chance that your watch can still be saved.

Sometimes the replacement of a broken part can be difficult and require great skill to get it right. You may want to call on a watchmaker when it comes to balance staffs, or if one of the gears is broken. These jobs are tricky. If you don't have a watchmaker see WATCH REPAIR SHOPS for info on finding one.

For the beginner, some easy parts to replace on your own are: crystals, hands, mainsprings, detents, clicks, click springs, cannon pinion, winding gears, crowns, stems etc.

You can sometimes find a "donor" movement by searching on ebay. For example if you perform title and description search for "ELGIN 670", you will find some movements for sale that you can salvage parts from. Read on to learn which CALIBER movement you have.

Another source for new parts is a major watch parts distributor that has really impressed me: Cas-Ker. Their webpage does not have inventory of evey part available, but trust me, they have almost any part you might be looking for. Their info is:

Cas-Ker Co.

2550 Civic Center Drive

Cincinnati, OH 45231

800.487.0408

Before calling, be sure to have the calibre or caliber of movement you are looking for. "Caliber" is simply the "model" of the movement. It is stamped right on the movement somewhere (NOT THE CASE). Sometimes it is stamped on a bridge, sometimes it is stamped under the balance, sometimes it is even stamped under the dial.

Here's an example: You have a watch with a broken mainspring. The following words appear in various places on the movement:

ELGIN 670 U.S.A. = Manufacturer and Caliber/Model

21 Jewels = # of jewels

ADJ'D = Adjusted

R 382566 = Serial Number

Call Cas-Ker and tell them you need a "mainspring for an Elgin 670"... it's as easy as that!