I missed the 72 hr window...
: Hello All,
: I picked up a late '60s Speedy Pro with the 321
: mov't. Nice watch, appears to be in good
: shape (better than I am at the same age ).
: Seems to keep good time BUT here's the
: sticking point ... literally. When the
: chrono is engaged, the movement stops
: functioning when the chrono second hand
: reaches the 58-59 second mark. A couple
: clicks of the top pusher and the movement
: starts up again, with the seconds counter at
: 9 o'clock moving again, and another push or
: two and the chrono seconds begins again ...
: only to stick when it comes around to the 59
: second mark again. Occastionally it will
: make several revolutions before this
: happens, and once it stopped at the :34, and
: once at the :29 mark, but the :59 mark os
: the only place where it will 'stick'
: somewhat reliably. When it sticks, gently
: tapping the case on the desktop gets the
: movement moving again.
OK, so it sounds like it needs some work on the movement, but as you say it is about 40 years old. It doesn't sound like scrap.
: The dial definitely needs cleaning (some
: discoloration on white hands, hour markers
: etc.) but the mov't makes me nervous.
I wouldn't automatically say that if a watch has patina that it should be re-worked & made to look new. I did tha recently with my flightmaster, but I have plenty of watches that don't look new, show their age & I like them like that !
I have a 72 hour return window on the watch. If
: these problems are simply related to a lack
: of maintenance, I had already planned on
: finding a good watchmaker to clean and
: lubricate, etc. But if this is a symptom of
: a deeper problem, would I be better off
: simply returning the watch and finding
: another example? The fact that it seems to
: be working well (other than the
: aforementioned 'sticking') throws me for a
: loop.
I don't think we know enough to answer that here. Apart from the fact that I've missed you 72 hr window :-( - Sorry I was away for a few days.
It doesn't sound like a HUGE movement problem, to me. I'd probably take it to my local watchmaker.
BUT, influencing factors for me here would be :-
- What did the watch cost ? If it was expensive, it should work properly. If it was "the right price" I'd accept some work.
- How was it described ? as fully functional ? as recently serviced ?
- How long have you been looking for a 321 ? If this is the watch that "speaks to you" then maybe I'd be prepared to accept a movement check. If it "just" a 321 speedy maybe I wouldn't accept it.
- Did you point out the problems to the seller ? maybe you could split the cost of a service ? at a watchmaker that you know & trust ?
- What is the rest of the watch like ? Box, papers, right bracelet ? etc etc
: Thanks in advance for any advice!
: ~G
I know some other collectors have very different standards to mine. So I'm sure some guys out there, will disagree with me ( as Georges did already )
Steve
