Here is an 8 size swiss in a .800 silver case. Nice dial & hands. It is dirty inside probably why it won't run unless you shake it gently.

Any help will be appreciated.

I bought the watch from a guy in the U.K.

Regards,
Jerry

The Movement

Inside the cover

another inside the cuvette (sp) with initials N.B. and Cuivre

Rear of case

Another

That's a nice small cylinder escapement watch. If I had that I would give it to my Watchmaker Mr. Vladimer for cleaning and minor restoration. Please dont shake it too much as the cylinder escapements are ready to break at any moment.

Hello Dave,
To what are you refering when you say;

"as the cylinder escapements are ready to break at any moment"

Thanks,
Jerry

Jerry,
As Dave says, your watch has a Swiss cylinder movement, but I wouldn't go as far as to say the cylinders are ready to break anytime.
These are generally much tougher than any lever escapement.

The cylinders only break if the balance cock is pressed and pressure put on them, or the person stripping it is cack handed pulling the balance out - they're hardened steel and don't bend.

In that repect they're brittle, and will break, but very unlikely to do so from shaking them as a rule - I've never broken one that way anyway and I've handled hundreds of them, maybe Dave's had less luck with them though.

You're probably more likely to break a pivot plug shaking it, and they will be brittle.

Your watch is likeley to have maybe 4 or 5 jewels, but probably just 4 on the balance though from it's appearance.

These are notorious for wearing the pivot holes out and will need bushing and pivots refacing if too worn.
The mainspring will almost certainly be 'Set' and likely the main reason it won't run - a Very Very common fault with these types.

Check too to see how much the barrel 'tilts' when you put light pressure on either side.
There's only one pivot on these and it's dangerously thin on the edge where the click is hidden under the dust cap - if you don't believe, just take off the cap and take a look, makes me wonder why more don't snap to be honest.
The bridge is also only about half a millimetre thick at this point too, hence the tendency to snap or wear badly.

What can also happen, is the bridge splits along that thin part and emulates a banana, putting the barrel out of correct depth to the train and allowing the barrel to rub the underside of the centre wheel.

These are a 'labour of love' to restore if badly worn, and caution needs to be taken if paying a 'Pro' to restore one for you.

As a movement type, they're simplicity itself, but to repair, can be outrageously time consuming to get running well again - but not always!

To follow up on Dave's comment about the cylinder though, if you do break one, you're better off spending time finding another movement than a cylinder, and very few people on the planet are capable of making those I can tell you!

A good clean and a mainspring should put it back into running order, and if you expect timekeeping accuracy to vary around a minute a day, then you won't be disappointed.
There are no pretentions to any compensation devices on these, so position and temperature errors are what you'll get.

Nice to see some of these little gems appearing though, thanks for posting it.

Best regards

John

Jerry, forgot to add this, but I'm posting it separately so as not to lose it in my last reply.

The word 'Cuivre' stamping on the inner dome is French for 'Copper'

This dome is Silver plated, and thus marked 'Cuivre' to avoid the public being deceived by a retailer or manufacturer.

It was made law by the assay offices that any material used within the construction of a precious metal item, that was not of the same material assayed, should be visibly marked as such if made to appear to be the same.

In this case, it's a copper cover made to appear silver and used within a silver watch case.
Had it not been marked 'Cuivre' a buyer may well have thought the watch to be solid silver throughout, which it isn't.

Not the best brief explanation, but hope you get the drift anyway.

Best regards

John

Thank you John, I see why you are the European Moderator, you provide sooooo much information on these type watches....I really appreciate you....

Dave, thank you also for your input, I think you are one of the best and I respect your opinion very much....

Regards,
Jerry

Thanks Jerry, truth is when you're a 'bottom feeder' like I am, you tend to mess with these things more than anything else.
Good for improving watchmaking skills though

I've added a few photo's which include the escape wheel, cylinder & Balance, and a typical 'set' mainspring.
The escape wheel in the photo's is actually 6mm diameter, so gives some idea of the grief involved changing a cylinder or a pivot plug.

The pivots are machined on a short stub which is pressed into each end of the cylinder. The bottom plug is a taper fit, and the top is parallel walled.
These require a special cylinder plug punch to remove them, then another offset punch to put the new ones back.
I'll add photo's of these later.

Best regards

John

Balance and cylinder, sowing the 'working end'

John

'Set' mainspring.
This is probably the main cause of most of these watches failing to run - that and bone dry pivots!

John

Thanks again, John, for your detailed explanation....I do appreciate it. I will be sending this one out for a complete COA and mainspring replacement....

Best Regards for the New Year to you and yours....

Jerry

Many thanks Jerry, and Best Wishes for 2009 to you and yours also

If your chap gets stuck for a mainspring, let me know the height, thickness and length in millimetres, and I'll see what I've got here, still got a good range of the smaller stuff.

BTW, the image below is the spring above coiled inside the new replacement - probably the same size as the spring in your watch.
The replacements come over length and need either the end heating and bending back to form the hook, or a rivet making and staking on the end.

Best regards

John