Posts by quality

Exactly! You’ll see a steady stream of bubbles shooting out of the leak point (the crown, the crystal, or the caseback). Because you pull it out of the water immediately, the internal air pressure actually keeps the water out while you find the leak. It’s brilliant. If there are no bubbles, your seal is perfect.

Never do that unless you want to rust your newly serviced movement! You need a dry/wet pressure tester (like a Bergeon or a cheaper hobbyist clone). Here is the safe way to do a wet test:

Here is the safe way to do a wet test:

1. You hang the watch above the water level inside the sealed chamber.

2. You pump air into the chamber to increase the pressure (say, 3 atmospheres).

3. You let it sit for a minute. If the watch has a leak, high-pressure air will force its way inside the watch case.

4. Then, you submerge the watch in the water and slowly release the air pressure from the chamber.

You want a microscopic film. The easiest way is to use a gasket greaser box—it’s a little round tin with two grease-soaked foam pads inside. You drop the gasket in, close the lid, twist it, and it comes out perfectly coated. If you see chunks of grease squeezing out of the caseback, you used way too much and it’s going to migrate into your movement. Also, don't forget the crown gasket! Everyone forgets the tiny o-ring inside the winding crown or on the stem tube.

Absolute myth. Silicone grease does not seal the watch. The physical compression of the rubber gasket against the metal seals the watch. The grease is just a lubricant so the turning caseback doesn't pinch, stretch, or tear the rubber as you screw it down.

Heavens no! Clean the case crystal seat perfectly. Check the I-gasket (the plastic ring the crystal sits in)—if it’s shaved or pinched, replace it. Then, press down gently until you feel it seat, rotate the case 180 degrees, and press again. This ensures it goes down perfectly flat. If it goes in crooked, it will crack or leak.

Crystal pressing is all about die selection. You need nylon dies that match the exact shape of your watch.

• For the bottom die (holding the case), it needs to support the bezel firmly without pressing on the case lugs.
• For the top die (pressing the crystal), it must be slightly smaller than the crystal if it’s flat, or hollowed out if it’s a domed crystal so you aren't pressing on the highest point of the dome.

Then you use the wrench, but you must adjust the prongs so they fit the slots perfectly with zero wiggle. Put plastic wrap over the caseback first to act as a barrier, push down with 90% of your force, and twist with only 10%. It’s all about downward pressure so it can't slip. For snap-on casebacks, look for the tiny "lip" or notch. Use a proper case knife, leverage it against your thumb, and pop it away from your body so you don’t stab yourself if it slips.

Oh, the classic slip-and-scratch. First trick: ditch the metal wrench for a moment and grab a sticky friction ball. It’s just a grippy rubber ball filled with air. You press down hard and twist. It won't scratch anything, and it opens about 80% of screw-down backs.

ahha your right next me, That’s completely normal! A lot of beginners treat the case like an afterthought, but it’s the armor protecting all your hard work. If the case fails, a single splash of water ruins the movement anyway. What’s giving you the most trouble right now?

Think of a watch movement like a tiny, high-performance car engine. It ticks hundreds of thousands of times a day. Over 3 to 5 years, the micro-lubricants dry up or turn into a gritty paste mixed with microscopic metal dust. Without servicing, the watch will start losing time, stopping randomly, or literally grinding its own gears down.

Yes, significantly. For modern watches, high-quality reluming can restore functionality. However, for vintage watches, reluming almost always destroys the collector value. Vintage collectors highly prize original, aged tritium or radium lume (patina), even if it no longer glows.

Absolutely — especially if the objective is to understand mechanical watchmaking rather than simply complete a movement swap.

A large hand-wound movement gives you room to develop the fundamentals: handling screws, manipulating bridges, installing the train, checking endshake, working with the keyless works, lubricating correctly and diagnosing why something isn't behaving as expected.

Once those habits become natural, moving onto something like an **ETA 2824 or Sellita SW200** makes much more sense. The principles haven't suddenly changed; everything has simply become smaller and more compact.

That’s probably what makes these Swiss movement families so interesting. The **2824/SW200** can be practical everyday workhorses, the **2892/SW300** offer a slimmer platform, while the **Unitas family** provides that wonderfully large and understandable traditional layout.

Different movements for different jobs — and plenty for a watchmaker to argue about over a cup of tea.

That’s my thinking too. What about the Unitas movements?

The 6497/6498 look ideal for learning because everything is larger and easier to see.

For everyday servicing, I’m quite happy with Sellita.

The **SW200 and ETA 2824 families are very similar in general architecture**, so anyone familiar with one isn’t going to feel completely lost with the other. There are differences between versions and components, of course, so I wouldn’t automatically assume every part is interchangeable just because the movements are closely related.

Personally, I think the bigger question is the grade and condition of the movement.

I’d rather have a properly regulated, well-maintained SW200 than an ETA 2824 that somebody has abused for fifteen years and is selling at a premium simply because it says ETA.

The SW300 is interesting too. If you’re building a thinner watch, that difference in movement height can become surprisingly important.

I’ve been comparing the ETA 2824/2892 with the Sellita SW200/SW300. Sellita seems much more common for new builds now.

For servicing and reliability, which would you choose?

Is this your site Ricardo? I see your Admin who is balancewheel? that's first ever user.

Get some pictures on it I would like to see them all so I can get a idea how they are graded in looks and prices. That would be very helpful! Also add the price range lowest to highest. I will help you get the posts after you put the pictures.

Honestly, from a practical standpoint, they are effectively the same movement at this point. Sellita actually spent decades as an outsourced assembly house for ETA before Swatch Group began cutting off external supply, so it’s not like they just copied the blueprints yesterday without knowing what they were doing.If anything, Sellita has modernised things. The SW200-1 fixed the early gear-teeth issues the original SW200 had, and the Sellita SW300-1 is giving the premium ETA 2892 a serious run for its money because it's thinner and easier for independent brands to source. If you want true "soul" or traditional heritage, you have to look at hand-wound classics like the Unitas 6497/6498 pocket watch movements—but for a modern everyday wearer, I'll take whichever one keeps the retail price lower and makes servicing cheaper for my local watchmaker!

It's not all bad I also see you fixed the double post, thanks for deleting the double topics I made.

Does anyone know anything about the aftermarket about this?