In this irregular series, "From the Clock Repair Shop.", we took an antique pillow clock (without an alarm function) that was a favorite of the grandfather of a Web Chronos system manager to a repair workshop in Kobe. The inscription on the dial reads,O.JOSEPHSON & Co CALCUTTA / FRANCE MADE" In the early 20th century, pillow clocks were produced in large numbers in France, ahead of those in England and Germany. This clock is thought to have been made in France and delivered to a clock shop in Calcutta, India.
When I told the client about this, he said that his grandfather used to work for a Japanese trading company, and that it was probably acquired at that time. At the same time, he suddenly remembered stories he had heard from his grandfather when he was a child, when he lived in many countries, including Calcutta and San Francisco. It's interesting how antique clocks and other objects that are passed down have the power to preserve such memories.
This is the person who requested the repair:
Yasuo Mizutani
He began repairing watches while in junior high, helping out at his father's shop, Mizutani Watch and Glasses. When he was 30, his father passed away, and he took over the business, changing the name to Mizutani Watch Repair Workshop. Because his father passed away before he had mastered all the necessary techniques for watch repair, Mizutani says he "frantically learned most of them through self-study." His skills are widely recognized, and he has received requests to repair a wide range of watches, from traditional Japanese clocks, including those of feudal lords, to historically valuable items such as marine chronometers from the Age of Discovery, to luxury brand timepieces. As one of the leading antique watch repairers in the Kansai region, his shop has been a beloved small town watch repair workshop for over 50 years.
Assuming the cause of the malfunction or breakdown, proceed with disassembly
First, let's hypothesize the cause of the malfunction. If there was a problem with the winding mechanism, there would be a strange sensation when winding the mainspring, but there was no problem in that regard. I wound the mainspring slowly to ensure power, and when I touched the balance wheel with tweezers, it moved back and forth a few times before stopping. Based on this, I assumed that there was no malfunction elsewhere, and that the problem was with the oil sticking, so I proceeded with the overhaul.
The included key has a tube on the top and bottom, as the thickness of the tubes required for winding the mainspring is different for the two locations: a thick tube for winding the mainspring and a thin tube for setting the time.
When disassembling the watch, the first step is to unwind the mainspring to release the energy and completely stop the movement. In the photo, the part where the tube is inserted is the barrel arbour, and the gear that runs through the center of the barrel arbour outside the main plate is the ratchet wheel, and what surrounds it is the stopcock and stopcock spring.
To prevent the mainspring from unwinding rapidly the moment the click stopper and gear are disengaged, the click stopper and ratchet wheel are held firmly in place while the spring is unwound, as shown in the photo on the left.Then, disassembly begins from the regulating mechanism at the top.
On the left, the balance wheel has been removed. The balance cock that covers the pallet fork and escape wheel has hollows at the beginning and end of its base, so insert tweezers into these holes and slowly lift the cock out of the case. As shown on the right, the entire regulator escapement is removed, and the main plate in that area is also disassembled by loosening the screws. The two pins remaining on the main plate are the dowel pins that regulate the movement of the pallet fork.
The old oil has hardened and turned black
On the left is a photo of the escape wheel seen from the side. Old oil has hardened on the pinion, making it pitch black and clumping in places. Of course, it's not just the escape wheel; the oil used in other parts has also become old and hardened. Incidentally, this escape pinion is made long because it passes from the upper regulating escapement through the main plate and meshes vertically with the gear train inside the case. When you look at the gear train in the photo on the right, it meshes with the gear on the far left, which has a serrated outer edge like an umbrella.
The gear train holder has been removed.
