Hello, I have a '53 cavalier that I have exceeded my abilities with. I needed to remove the stem. I reluctantly took a stab at it and THOUGHT my efforts were fruitless. I tried messing with what I believe was the screw that locked the stem in place. I didn't think I had a small enough screw driver and that my efforts were doing nothing at all. I decided against going any further and closed up the watch. When I tried to set the time, low and behold out pulls the stem. So I reopened the watch, removed the movement, did what I needed to do and I, since I wasn't sure what I did to get the stem out, and having a difficult time figuring out what to do to get the stem back in. I can slide it into place...no problem there. but I cannot seem to get it to lock into place.
What did I screw up? and how do I fix it?
signed....I fixed it so good I need a new one.
Ok, apologies for the late response, I must have missed this.
That little screw releases the setting lever, so if you loosen it, the stem will of course come out. When you carefully put the stem back in, the screw must be tightened to hold it in place. This can be a tricky procedure.
If the stem isn't replaced carefully, it can kick the yoke out from the groove on the sliding pinion, which means the stem would no longer function properly, and now the works have to come out and the dial removed to get at the problem. Also, when replacing the stem, if the groove on the stem isn't perfectly lined up with the pip on the setting lever (more of a feel thing) it will seat itself after the stem is tightened, but now the setting lever is loose, so you have to tighten just a wee bit more. Always check the tightness of the screw after the stem is in place and functioning correctly.
If your stem resists even being put back in place, this could be a sign that the yoke is out of the groove of the sliding pinion, and the pinion may have even gotten jammed or turned slightly. When the stem is out, there is only the yoke holding it in place, and it is easily dislodged. The only solution is to take the dial and movement out of the case and remove the hands and dial and take off the setting lever spring or Sautoir, part no. 445, (WOSTEP) and re-assemble the yoke, sliding pinion and stem, replacing the setting lever spring (also called a cover) and replace the dial and hands and try again.
You can see how this could get a bit fiddly. Very worn older watches are more prone to this problem, but it happens on brand new watches as well. On newer Quick-set watches, the prescribed position to remove the stem is position two, that is, the quickset position. All the way out or position three, is the hand setting position. If you have any issues I recommend seeing a watchmaker.
Well, all I got out of that is that its going back to the watchmaker. lol . All of thatis way abouve my head. Its obviously something that I should have never messed with. I did take it to my watchmaker, he's a friend of mine, he put the stem back in, but now its not running right at all so I fear I may have messed up more than I let on. He really hates it when I do this so I try not to tell him any more about what I did than I need to, but apparently I need to come clean on this one.
Apologies if this has already been said, but you may have unscrewed the 'setting lever screw' from the 'setting lever'. Happens if you turn the screw way too much....basically unscrewing it.
I made this mistake myself when I first started. Only way to fix is to get under the dial and set the screw back in place.
In reply to Apologies if this has… by mybulova_admin
In Stephen's diagram above, you can see the pip in the setting lever that fits into the channel of the stem. There is a pip on the top as well, and this fits into the finger of the setting lever spring. When in the winding mode as shown above, the sawtooth sides of the winding pinion and the sliding pinion engage in one direction only, to wind the watch, when the stem is turned backward, it uncouples and makes a clicking sound. I often get asked if you can wind a watch 'back and forth' as oppose to forward only, and the answer is of course, yes you can, the watch will not be damaged by this.
When the stem is pulled out, the yoke is pushed by the setting lever, which moves the sliding pinion along the square section of the stem, toward the centre of the movement to engage with the intermediate wheel. This wheel engages the minute wheel which turns the hour wheel and the cannon pinion at the same time, moving the hands to set the time. As I mentioned, with the stem carefully removed, only the yoke holds the sliding pinion in place, and it can be dislodged easily.