How many have struggled putting in a new roller jewel pin? Or had it pop out of regular tweezers, and you had to get down on the floor to find it (sometimes). Use the proper tool, and it becomes much easier.

This is a great tool. I actually had the attached picture ready in case the topic came up. It shows how the jewel is held in this little beauty. According to the instructions you can actually hold the jewel in place in the roller, with the roller table resting on the flat part of the tool, and heat the shellac at the same time. The round cutout is to allow for a one-piece combination double-roller.
[I have not heated the roller this way, as I am not convinced that I won't discolor the roller or harm the tool, but it is a sure way to install the jewel].

This is the paper that mine arrived in.

When im Working on a watch it seem i spend half the time on the floor with a lite looking for parts. Are they hard to find?

Ted Steuernagel
I have seen them for sale on e-bay and in quite a few marts. Many times they are just in a pile with other tweezers, and you have to look at each one to find one with the correct points. You might put a post in the "Wanted to buy" section of Chapter 185 discussion site.

The last time this topic came up (June 12, 2003, to be precise), I posted the image below, which shows a profile of the tips of roller jewel tweezers like those Wayne mentioned above:



While roller jewel tweezers are great for manipulating roller jewels, I personally have found a number of tools to be more useful for securing the jewels while cementing them in place. My personal favorite is tool "Q" in the image below, however tool "D" also works well, as does tool "W," and many similar tools.

The reason I prefer tool "Q" is that it holds both the jewel AND the roller table, so that once the two are correctly positioned, they will remain that way until the jewel cement has hardened; the other tools hold only the jewel, and the roller table is free to float about, and very likely become misaligned:



==============

Steve Maddox
Past President, NAWCC Chapter #62
North Little Rock, Arkansas
IHC Charter Member 49

...Steve...am curious as to what you may think of this jig/tool for inserting r/jewels...thanks...Jim

Jim Cope
Thanks for posting the photo of that tool. I have never seen this one before. Could I ask if you would be able to scan the enclosed document and e-mail it to me? Thanks


Steve Maddox
I may have asked the question June 12, 2003, it has taken me this long to find a pair of "roller jewel pin tweezers" so I could post a photo of them.

...will do Wayne!...for the benefit of others as well I have attached a photo of the tool 'how to use' instructions...Jim C

Wayne -- I don't recall who posted the previous topic about roller jewel tweezers; I just noticed the date on my image (which is hosted in my AOL space), and I didn't bother looking up the original topic. None the less, if you were able to find your tweezers above as a result of my assistance, I'm glad to have been of service!

Jim -- A friend of mine here who's an eye surgeon spent a couple of fruitless years searching for a Presto # 5 like the one you've shown above. He'd been having HUGE problems with roller jewels, and was certain a Presto # 5 would be the solution. I finally found one for him, but I seriously doubt he's any better off than he was before. I know I'm not any better off, because after all the years of searching, the good doctor paid me exactly what I paid for the tool, which if I recall correctly was $20, and like yours, it came with the box and instructions.

I never attempted to use it myself, as I delivered it to the doctor at the same "Mart" in which I purchased it. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever read the instructions, and I enjoyed reading yours. To me, it seems like a gimmick, but perhaps it's actually a wonderful tool I shouldn't have been able to do without for all these years!

===============

SM