Week 1 July 26-30, 2010

The first week was not a full week. I was technically still on holidays so I didn't come in every day or stay very long. It's not easy getting started on a project this big when there are many unanswered questions about what I am going to be doing at each step. So I figured I would just start by refinishing a few parts. All of the parts are from the setting/winding mechanism. These parts are just chrome plated on the original watch which just looks plain ugly. On the flip side of that, the finish on these parts has absolutely no impact on the look of the watch because all of these parts will be hidden under the dial. Nonetheless this is a part of fine watchmaking and is important.

All of the parts on the left are the originals, and the refinished ones on the right. Hopefully you can see that the ones on the right are much nicer. The are straight grained and the edges are beveled and polished by hand using files and special paper.

The part with the pins was the most difficult. There was no way to make the straight graining without first cutting off the pin. Then I had to drill a new hole in the same place the old one was. Next I had to make a new pin. The diameter of this pin is 0.50mm and the length is 1.00mm. I then had to make the nice straight graining on the top of the piece and also bevel and polish the edges. Then the last step was to push the new pin in place. The pin was 0.02mm bigger than the hole so that it is friction fitted and will hold when pushed in. I also had to be careful not to touch the finish or the piece would be ruined. The whole process took about 3-4 hours.

Unfortunately for me I had to do it twice because I used the wrong piece! There is also a mirrored version of the 6498 called the 6497. Basically all of the setting/winding mechanism parts are the exact opposite. So I was dumb and didn't check which one I was using. But on the plus side, the same part will be used in the WOSTEP school watch so it wasn't a total waste as I can use it in that watch.

So that was the first week.