Just bought a nice little 1918 model 1908 15j waltham 16s from Andy. The ceramic dial has a few hairlines (as he mentioned) and right away I set to the task of soaking them out...

Removed the movement and removed the hands...and went to loosen the dial foot screws...and no screws?? Can any one guide me in removing the dial. Searched the repair forum unsuccessfully...this is not a metal dial so I assume it doesn't "pop off". All I see around the outside of the movement are some very tiny slots.. Help!

Gary

Did you slide the dust ring off.

duhhhh....no! Obvious now that you spell it out...thanks. Surprised I've not encountered one before this watch.

Ignorance conquered once again Thanks.

Gary, having the dust ring on the watch is a good sign. Better watchmakers did not throw them away when servicing the watch.

Makes me question many of my watches that I have collected...not many have them. I'm also disheartened by the number of altered case screws, seems like cutting corners became prevalent.

Just to add

I have had [past tense] watchmakers who showed me boxes full of dust bands they had removed from watches and didn't put back on Why not?? Maybe because they forgot to put it back on when installing it back after repair, maybe it was recased and now fit a tad too tightly, or perhaps too much workload after the fact.

Another thing is that any person in the lifetime of a particular watch who has uncased it for whatever reason, may have had a bit of difficulty in putting a mvmt back in the case, sometimes. The little band serves it purpose well as to not allow dust and contaminates into the mvmt. by creating a tighter fit between the case/mvmt. And it also helps keep clumsy fingers [mine] away from contacting the balance wheel that invariably sits very close to the edge of the mvmt. when uncasing same

It just goes with the territory [as we used to say on the rr]. Who knows who and why of what we are left with except the fly on the wall

In my own personal experience of a lifetime, I would say that 50-60% have still had the dust band in place. So who knows as to the whys and the who did its

Half head case screws are another whole new subject and a pet peeve of mine. It was a period in time when watchmakers were needed at an all time high to repair them and some looney tunes guy came up with the bright idea to do this so that the mvmt. could be uncased without taking the screws out all the way. It apparently caught on like wildfire and the majority of the watchmakers filed them down. This alone has contributed greatly to defacing the thin rims that hold the mvmts. in place because the sharp corners of the filed screws will cut away the small area of case material. I always change out and throw away any half head screws if I have any whole screws to replace them with and I encourage you to do the same to protect your prize or investment[s] for the future.

regards,
bb

It will likely work out closely to what you (Buster) say...60+5 have them. I have so many I have not taken out of their cases... The movements I have bought uncased seldom have them (these would seem to need them most).

I'm so new at this it did not occur to me that with filed heads on the case screws you don't even need to put a screwdriver in the slot! You just use a larger size and put it in the filed off area (works like a cam)! That does damage of course but makes for fast in and outs. When you start adjusting sleeves etc I can see why it was popular...but I hate it.