As my watchmaking skills are limited, I only work on cheap clones of movements or on movements that do not work, which is why for some movements I refer you to other websites. As my objective is pedagogical, I don’t follow the steps a watchmaker would to disassemble the movement and do not necessarily post the pictures in the order in which the movement was taken apart.
If you don’t already understand well how a mechanical watch movement works, I suggest you start with the explanation of a basic mechanical watch movement, then have a look at the deconstructions of the ETA/Unitas 6497/6498 and ETA/Peseux 7001, which have more detailed explanations.
Click to jump to the type of movement you are interested in:
- Modern(ish) ETA and clone movements
- Other modern movements
- Important vintage movements
- Other vintage movements
- Pocket watch movements
In addition to these simple deconstructions, you will find below a list of projects where I have either cleaned or tried to re-finish movements:
- Cleaning of a rusty movement (aesthetics only)
- Cleaning an ETA 7001 and modifying the bridges
- Aesthetic modifications to an ETA 6498 clone (ST3620) by changing the bridges’ shapes, refinishing the surfaces and creating bevels
- Another ETA 6498 clone with more internal and external angles
- Aesthetic modifications to an AS 1130 with frosted bridges and polished bevels