Here’s a restoration that I did recently. I regret that I started work on the case before I started documenting progress with photographs so I have no pictures of the original condition, believe me, it was bad.

I Start with the main plate after it had been cleaned.  The balance assembly is in place, next is the incabloc jewels and setting the hairspring.  The centre wheel is put in place, the centre wheel bridge and then the train wheels.

Next is the mainspring and it’s assembly. These are the parts before being installed.                                                                                                                                                                                                      With the mainspring in place we now have power and the pallets can be installed, then the balance.   All runs well and the watch can be timed and tested in different positions. Any problems with timing will be picked up here but there will be a final timing just before the movement is cased.   Now the automatic mechanism is put in place, four wheels and their bridge is screwed down.  The last thing to be screwed in before the rotor is the rotor bearing. This has 7 steel ball bearings in this model but in the 44 jewel version they are ruby balls. The bearing is held in place with 3 screws.                                                      Now I can flip it over and start on the dial side.                 Here is main plate and in the next pic, the parts that will be installed.                                                                                                                                           Three screws hold the date plate in place and all is secure. The dial and hands await.

Now to the case. The perspex glass and the case wasn’t just scratched, it was gouged. I find that if I buff the glass too much that hairline cracks can appear so I couldn’t get the finish that I would have liked. The case could handle a good deal of cutting back. The back is another story. Like the rest of it, it was rather rough but here the more I cut back the more definition is lost.

With the case and glass finished the movement can be fitted to the case, the case ring, seal and the rotor attached to its bearing. I made a mistake in putting the rotor through the cleaning machine because the chemicals ate away all the nice printing on the rotor…..grrrrrr not happy with myself.  Put my mark with the date inside the back, screw the back on, and that’s it!