2023 Update

As January 2023 is already behind us, I thought I would publish a short update. I would first like to wish all my clients, followers, suppliers and fellow horologists a very happy and healthy new year.

Looking back at the past year it is fair to say that 2022 has been an exciting one. Busy times, and many watches went through my workshop. I always enjoy some variety in the work, and last year certainly delivered that. I included below a couple photos of watches that I serviced in 2022. They are quite typical of my workload. Most brands are represented, predominantly vintage watches, but also some modern watches. Projects range from manual wind to automatic and chronograph watches, and also from mechanical to quality quartz watches.

The end of the year was particularly eventful. In November 2022 I had the honour to receive the BHI prize for best serviced chronograph for 2021. COVID prevented the ceremony from taking place in the previous years, but it was definitely worth the wait! We had a fantastic day at the British Horological Institute in Upton Hall, which I was very thankful to share with friends and family.

BHI 2022 Awards day

I also moved into new premises in December 2022. Having outgrown my previous workshop, I had been on the lookout for the right space to take the business forward for some time. I am delighted to have now moved to the new workshop. The space was designed and built to my own spec, with a clean room for watchmaking, and separate machine room, cleaning and polishing rooms.

More room means more space for machines and equipment, and I am pleased to report that I recently acquired a high precision CNC milling machine.

My CNC programming experience dates back from the early 2000s, so it is nice to get to use my mechanical engineering skills in my horological career. I always thought there are a lot of crossovers between engineering and horology.

CNC Milling machine

 

This new addition to the workshop is an exciting prospect as I will soon be able to manufacture some watch parts, opening the door to more varied and complex projects.

 

 

As always, thank you very much for reading, and do not hesitate to get in touch!

All the best

Olivier

Seiko Kinetic 5M62-0BL0 Capacitor Replacement (With DIY instructions)

Today I decided to feature this Seiko Kinetic 5M62-0BL0. It is in need of a capacitor replacement. I will go through the various steps in a bit of detail, as some of my readers may be interested in attempting this themselves. Hopefully this narrative will be of help.

The procedure is achievable for a keen DIY-er. How far one takes it will depend on the level of skills and equipment. A simple capacitor replacement can be done with the movement in situ. However I personally choose to remove the movement to give the case a thorough clean without any risk to the movement. I also pressure test the watch after re-sealing it to ensure that the water resistance has not been compromised.

Seiko Kinetic 5M62-0BL0 Capacitor Replacement

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Seiko 6309-7040 Project

The Seiko 6309-7040 diver’s watch is one of my favourite watches. I have worked on many of them before, and have owned several myself. When my friend Ed got in touch a few months ago about a project involving a large number of 6309s and a box of spare movements, donor watches and other parts I was of course very interested indeed.

Ed and I met up and  we went through all the watches and movements on my timegrapher to get an idea of the health of each individual item, and decide the best course of action.

Unfortunately due to the magnitude of this project I have not had the discipline to take enough photos to do a detailed walk through of the work, it is so easy to forget when you get stuck in.

I do however have some photos, so I thought I would publish them to give you an idea of some of the work involved. After all it is not often you see so many 6309s in one place!

Here is a photo of the project once completed:Seiko-6309-7040-Project

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