I had this watch restored by . He did a nice job, but shortly after the restoration the case popped open. I sent it back in Feb 2012, and just got it back yesterday (6 Dec 2012) untouched/not repaired. 11 MONTHS !!!
The watch is a 1960 President with a 10BZC movement. The stem came out and the case came open. The stem has a short extension with a notched triangle shaped point. It looks like the notched point should fit into the winding mechanism. The stem does not appear to be badly worn or damaged. Looking for advice as to how to do the repair, and level of difficulty.
Thanks Ken S
It shouldn't be too hard Ken, its a 2 piece stem, and the parts interlock by sliding them together.
You will have to pre-align them straight up and down on both the female (part in the movement), and the male in the case, them carefully slip them together while installing the movement in the case. It may take a few tries, and make sure you pre fit them outside the case, some 2 piece stems will only go together one way.
Also, when you pre-fit them, check to see how tightly together the fit is, it could be that the female part of the stem is spread apart and will not hold the male end like it should, and will pull apart the first time you set it.
I am not sure what kind of back your watch has, but it sounds like a snap together style, and it should just snap on.
Greg
If the movement comes out through the crystal, you will need a tool called a crystal lift, it grabs and compresses the crystal just enough to remove and insert the proper crystal...and it sounds like the crystal might have been too small if it fell out. These types of crystals are not glued in, they use pressure and a small flange to fit in the crystal groove. Installing the movement to the stem on a front loaded watch is the same way as as a rear loader.
Ken, if you put the movement into the case, then push in the male part attached to the crown, and gently twist the crown you should feel when the two parts are meeting, and then you need to push the crown/male part in a little harder so it pushes into the female part of the stem. If it will not go into the female part, you have the wrong length stem, and will need to get it measured, and the correct stem fitted by someone who knows what they are doing.
The crystal should not just "pop off" either, and it sounds like your watch was fitted with the wrong crystal. I should definitely get a competent restorer to do the work, and there are a couple on this site who should PM you if you ask nicely.
Good luck with the watch this time!
Bob.
EDIT:- Anyone else got an idea?
I used my loop and saw exactly what Bob described. I put the movement/face/crystal assembly into the case, but it was not a tight fit and I did not want to force it. I don't see how the winding stem alone could hold the watch together. The attached Pix shows the case and how the movement/face/crystal came out.
KS
The crystal should be a pressure tight fit into the case, not on the dial/movement.
Take the crystal off of the dial, and place the movement/dial assembly into the case and then try to fit the crown/male stem into the movement/female stem as in my above post, try holding the movement assembly in place with two fingers, preferably with thin rubber gloves on.
If you can push the stems together and they stay in place, try fitting the crystal and see if it fits.
Bob - Once again you were right on. I did not want to force anything, but with a little pry the crystal seperated from the face/movement. The movement dropped right in and the winding stem snapped into place just as you said it would. I am having difficulty getting the crystal to snap into place - probably because I don't want to force it. Do I need to get a crystal puller to replace the crystal, or just press harder with my thumb/fingers?
Thanks Again.
P.S. - I was going from memory on the description of my ladies watch I put up for identification. I will post more details today.
KS