hi i have a question our two on pateks.the first one is how do you get the dial off without doing damage to it?i have looked at it and it looks like it snaps on i dont see any screws.also dose anyone know how much prewind do you give the mainspring (on a patek) before you install the geneva stop gear? thanks james

Hi James,

I have worked on several of these recently I don’t know how practiced you are but it is very easy to cause serious damage on these. Examine the dial carefully you will see it is like a cap and fits pressure fit only over the top of the plate on the one I have recently repaired. The seam is a very good fit and hard to see.
It takes a lot of never and care to work around the edge and lift off. If I remember there are no locating studs so alignment is critical on reassembly

hi chris thats what i thought it would be did the ones you worked on have the little maltese cross gear on the mainspring barrel? thanks james

A lot of these higher end watches seem to still have the Genève stops. If anyone has a definitive answer on setting please add. I normally count the barrel arbour turns to full wind then calculate middle spring +/- for operating band of stop, then check for tension both end of stop to stop,

hi ok thats what i thought it would be.you dont want it on the high end or low end.thanks james