The good news is that a quick lift with a tweezer sorted the mechanism. I think I tripped up the little wind/set lever. It took half a dozen cuts, but I finally I got it tight and right. Don’t actually cut like this or you’ll lose the stem I’m fussy, but any gap between the case and crown would be a real fly in the ointment. Screw that on, insert and … still too long. The temporary crown (hello dentists) went flying and it’s history. Note that I was smart enough to hold the end that I wanted to keep without them even telling me. Insert the stem and it looks like a shift knob above a center console. Oh well, flip that movement again, because this is done from the front. This is way more trouble than I was expecting.Ĭase that movement! Lifting the case from the foam in the box, I realized that the exhibition case back was also inside. I also have a box cutter blade, which finally broke her free. I have a precision screwdriver set, 16 pieces, none of which are small enough. It doesn’t help that the protruding axle means you can’t set the movement down on a table. Make that “Turn the screw…”Įxcept the provided screwdriver won’t budge it at all. That’s where the correct screw to loosen can be seen. First of all, now that the hands are off, flip it over and look at the business end. I kept turning the stem while pushing a screwdriver in what I thought was the right hole. The directions talk about loosening the stem 270 degrees while showing the screwdriver in an unmentioned place by the crown. Grab near the center and pull straight up. I’ve never used one and they don’t provide it. There is a device for pulling and reinstalling hands. The first real step: remove the temporary hands with tweezers. Despite the warning to gently place parts (especially the movement) down, I gave up and let gravity dislodge the lid. This container is probably easy to open without gloves on. The hand wind movement is provided in a clear plastic container to keep it all clean and undamaged. The provided gloves were difficult to don, so most adult males might want to provide their own. Let’s just say these were not of the “XXXL is one-size-fits-all” school of thinking. Nice tough nitrile gloves, so they don’t tear open on first snag like latex. This could’ve all been tossed in a bag but presentation countsĪs they don’t want you getting your greasy fingerprints all over that pretty movement, which will be visible through the case back, gloves are provided. The DIY ethic extends to typing in the url to access the directions. Silly me, surely there is a QR code on the box that will take me there, as with the ridiculous ‘contactless menus’ being used by restaurants. When I got around to opening the Rotate Watchmaking box of watch parts, I was rather expecting a couple sheets of directions. The skill set I have thus far: pop a snap case back off, pull a stem, crudely reinstall or adjust hands and put it all back together. I learned to straighten them out, enough. My poor handling here bent the hands so that they hit the hand beneath them. Thus I figured out how to remove the crown and stem in order to free the movement from the case. At some point, a chronograph hand either fell off or got knocked off the home position. At first battery change, I realized that the mall kiosk worker was just popping the case back off with a knife edge. My experience with watch tinkering comes from keeping my Casio quartz chronograph from college alive. Their demonstration video is seventeen minutes long. Rotate claims it should take 2-3 hours to assemble. Medium implies that it is between two things, but it is the simplest available. I prefer the smaller series of Rotate Watchmaking kits which are only of “Medium” difficulty level. The pricier, easier, kit names are Eiffel and Newton, continuing the science and engineering appellation mishmash. It and the black dial Wright model are $6 less than the blue dial goldtone case Galileo model. I chose the Edison model with a white dial. Robert Farago said, and I quote, “Better you than me.” So I got their Edison kit. So who wants to be a watchmaker? Rotate Watchmaking Kits thinks you do. Reality television has glamorized the mundane professions of auto mechanics, chefs, bakers, but not watchmakers. More pride and satisfaction exists in DIY than in throwing down credit cards. “Built not bought” is an expression among custom/performance car people.
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