The importance of not getting your watch serviced at Jiffy Lube

[Ascari_2]

Before I get into the post, if the admins think it needs to be moved, please do so. My purpose for posting here is that many visitors of this sub end up dealing with something old and something that's likely been at the hands of an independent watch-smith. Also, it does involve the Zenith Caliber 400 that did serve as a basis for the Rolex 4030.

Now on to the post. While I am not a full-time watch-smith, I do spend a fairly substantial of time on it. Given that I often like to pick up "projects" and bring them back to life before passing them on, I've seen my fare share of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Well, this fits squarely into the ugly category.

The watch: A Zenith El Primero Chronograph (Ref. 30.0500.400/21) from the early 2000s that I picked up about a year ago at a local auction. The watch caught my eye and, despite having obvious wear showing, I was able to secure it. Although all functions seemed to work, I had no way of knowing how well it was running until I could get it home and on a time grapher. Without a huge surprise, the time grapher showed that I was getting a meager amplitude of about 135 degrees and a delay of almost a minute a day. With that I told myself that I would service it and put it away until recently.

Service: Opening the watch didn't provide for any initial surprises. It wasn't the cleanest movement, but also not something that raised any red flags. Well, that was soon to change. Almost immediately I started to notice that there was quite a bit of oil. Oil on gears, oil on plates, oil virtually everywhere! Disappointing, but the this was just the start as I tackled the dial-side first. Flipping to the back-side revealed the really ugly side. Not only was I seeing obscene amounts of oil (there was oil between the main plate and the balance bridge ... why!?) there was crud and lint fibers all over, including the escape wheel and the balance spring. Having worked on cars before, it reminded me of a shop and someone wiping down oily tools with rags. How does someone service watches like this?

Now I said the watch is "ugly," but ugly isn't necessarily bad (though it isn't good either). The good thing is the movement seems to be in good shape and the ugliness just stems from the dirt and grime that should be easy to address. The watch is now in pieces and over the next week or two I'll be getting it all cleaned up and back together. Looking forward to seeing this beautiful movement beat the way it was meant to on day one.

Moral of the story ... have your watch serviced by someone you trust!

Now here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.