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Thread: Watch Tools

  1. #1

    Watch Tools

    Hi all

    I have a couple of vintage pieces on the way so:

    Can anyone recommend a fairly cheap but reasonable quality loupe and measuring callipers?

    I'd also be interested in any info on the pro's & cons of amplitude meters and the best ones to get. And anything else recommended for tinkering with older pieces!

    Cheers

  2. #2
    Master .olli.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Hampshire
    Posts
    2,157
    For occasional use the chinese eye glasses you can buy on eBay are not too bad and do the job. However for a little bit more you can get the Bergeon ones. They are not actually too expensive for a Bergeon product and the lens quality is better.
    Buying cheap ones means you can experiment with magnification and see what works best for you. If you are going to do work on movements, it is good to work with at least 2 magnifications, x4 for general work and x12 for close up is a good start, although this will be a matter of experimenting and finding what works best for you. Higher magnification will help for jewel and pivot inspection for example, eye glasses will typically go up to x20 or x25 magnification.

    For occasional use I would say any decent vernier gauge will do, even the cheap ones are very accurate. Draper or similar, will no doubt be made in China, but will do the job fine. If you want to spend more money you can treat yourself to brands like Mitutoyo (beware of counterfeits on eBay) - but probably over the top for occasional use.

    Using a timegrapher is pretty much a must if you are going to work on movements, you are working in the dark without it. It will give instant measurement of rate, reat error, and amplitude, all of which cannot be measured easily without the device.

    And for anything else, I would recommend spending the money on good, Swiss made screwdrivers (Bergeon, Horotec or AF Swiss) and tweezers (Dumont or Bergeon). Vetus "swiss standard" tweezers although not made in Switzerland are not bad at all for the price.
    Last edited by .olli.; 19th September 2018 at 09:58.

  3. #3
    Thanks Olli that's just the kind of advice I was after. Bergeon Loupe and cheap callipers ordered from Amazon as a starting point!

  4. #4
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Wakefield, West Yorkshire
    Posts
    22,498
    I’ll echo what Olli’s said, although I have to confess to using fairly cheap magnifiers!

    Don’t overlook your work area, good lighting is a must. I started off working on a tray to catch parts, I then had a workbench made with a lipped edge.

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