Reply To: Wittnauer day/date troubleshooting question

[c.kelly]

Thanks for info. I just checked out watch as you suggested. I had observed that stopping of a second hand hundreds of times but I had never related it to a trouble shooting method. When I tried it on this watch the second hand didn’t even offer to hesitate. Tomorrow I’m on a vacation so I will probably take it apart again and try the fingernail clipper trick on it. Hadn’t thought of that even though I have used them for other things. I do not have a staking set at the present. Have been looking for one to go cheap on ebay but haven’t had much luck. What I do now if I need a part is search ebay or Dashto, get a donor movement with part I need and end up with extra spare parts. May not be the best way but has worked pretty well so far. On some of the wristwatches I have worked on it may be the only way for me. I had searched for a balance for a Gruen 400 movement. When I finally found it the cost was more than buying a donor watch, case, dial and all. Never did find a balance staff at all.
I should have told my son-in-law that I don’t mess with these automatic watches but he would never have it fixed unless I do it. I have taken the day/date dials off watches from three different companies and they are each totally different. It’s something to practice on anyway.