We would like to visit the technicians working in various watch repair workshops and share with you some of their perspectives and struggles. This is the idea behind the new series "From the Watch Repair Shop." This is the first installment of the editor-in-chief's version.
A super complicated clock that doesn't work
It seems that Takai, the person in charge, has started a fun project. Repairing a watch and writing an article about it, all at his own expense, is so fantastic and inexplicably beneficial that it's hard to believe. He might run out of ideas soon, but I thought I'd jump on board while I could. That's because all I have left is a watch that looks like a corpse. Repairing it wouldn't be any fun, but if it could be used to write an article about it, it would be worth fixing. Or rather, I don't think I'd ever get it fixed in my life unless I had an opportunity like this.
The first subject I chose was Citizen's Avalon Super Calendar, first released in 1989. This super perpetual calendar, which allows you to call up a calendar from 1899 to 2099 with just the push of a button, attracted the attention of watch enthusiasts at the time due to its complexity. Since then, Citizen has expanded the Avalon collection, adding features such as a world timer and alarm, but it seems that sales were not very good. The only watches you see on the market are the Super Calendars.
However, now that nearly 30 years have passed since it was first released, it's difficult to find a decent copy. The one featured this time, like many others, has a broken calendar. I bought it from Lemon Co. in Ginza for 27,000 yen (tax included). I knew it was broken when I bought it, but when I later looked on Yahoo! Auctions, I found a copy that looked to be in good condition for 40,000 yen. It's too late to regret now. Since it's come to this, I'm determined to fix it.
It usually doesn't fix it, but there's a small chance
The Avalon was released in 1989. Nearly 30 years later, Citizen no longer accepts repairs for this watch. It seems reasonable that they would not accept repairs, as parts have likely been out of stock for a long time.
However, while it is generally said that quartz watches cannot be repaired, if the movement can be disassembled, there is a good chance that it can be repaired. Moreover, the Caliber 6700 that powers the Avalon Super Calendar is one of Citizen's most premium watches, and is designed to be easily disassembled. Furthermore, although production of the Avalon has been discontinued, Citizen still produces the improved Caliber 6704, which is used in the Campanola. In that case, it is likely that it can be repaired.
I set two standards for this repair. The first was to restore it to its original state as much as possible. If I was going to repair it, I wanted it to be "the best clock I could imagine." The second was to avoid using "power plays" as much as possible. If I told the manufacturer that it needed to be repaired because of this and that, they would go to great lengths to repair it. However, I have never resorted to such and such, and I would prefer not to do so this time either.
Grand ambitions suddenly thwarted
The other day, I gave a lecture at the Citizen flagship store in GINZA SIX. A watchmaker is always on-site, and in addition to providing simple maintenance, they also accept repair requests. While I was there, I brought my watch in to see if it could be fixed. The watchmaker entered the movement number and spent a few minutes looking at the screen. "Oh, we can't fix this," he said, a sudden death sentence. "But they still make derivative movements, don't they?" "The good movements are probably fine, but I don't think they have the exterior parts." Wow, a sudden setback.
