This SIMPLE TRICK Changed Everything for me

A great video by the way. I don’t think I’ve ever taken the balance off to do the final adjustment on beat error as you have done.

That was the worlds highest beat error on the Timegrapher. Likely due to the very low amplitude that you placed on the movement.

ould be great t adapt a lever ajustment systemm..

Another great vid Alex.

Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your knowledge. May i ask about finding the lift angle:
What could i use best to mark the balance wheel with the reference dot? It has to be smthing, that can get removed easily.

That skill for finding out the lift angle is just awsome. It is quite simple, but I never thought of that.
This video just blow my mind. I thought you are going to talk about adjusting beat error of etachron or some other movements that have easier way to adjust.
I remember the time when my instructor in my country said 'the beat error of the vintage watch isn't adjustable'. I just think 'Ok, people in the old days may thought that beat errors couldn't happen at all.' that time.
Watching your video made me realize for the first time that beat errors can be corrected! I also learned for the first time today that the balance wheel holder, which I sometimes see while shopping for watch repair supplies, is for beat error adjustment.
So many useful information you are telling, I have no idea how can I express my thank in words. I think I'll watch this for multiple times because of the English terms that I'm not used to..

Love the way you explain and show Alex, so cool calm and collected. Learnt so much from you. Keep up the great tuition. Thank you Sir.

That guy shaking at the beginning looks like me trying to remove a incabloc spring. Another great video Alex. I am trying to catch up watching them all.

Hello master watchmaker
Please teach how to replace a broken ballance staff in Nivatronic collet hairspring for example eta2824 off-centre ❤ thanks for professional teaching 🙏

Thank you! With your tutorial I was able to correct beat error on my project Poljot 2416 movement from 9ms down to 0.3! I had to disassemble balance from cock and mount/dismount everything at least 20 times :) Was too afraid to work through hairspring. I found using a marker on a balance ring to point position of an impulse jewels very helpful in identifying its position.

You make a great teacher.

Hello again Mr Hamilton, thanks again, another great lesson. I think I have graduated in terms of learning how to adjust to reduce beat error. Being careful needs to be emphasised. The balance wheel, shaft, roller, collet and hairspring are so so delicate. I found this out, my practice seiko balance wheel and the one arm through the middle are easy to push out of flatness. It only takes one heavy handed (and I am being relatively gentle) press to do what is against the mantra - "do not create issues". So lucky I am a hobbyist but know there are no excuses for this. I have learnt. So, I now have a reasonably OK working main spring (properly lubricated and I mean the Hamilton method), no issues with end or side shake, good powertrain all the way to the fork'n balance wheel. (play on words)

Previous update we discussed my over aggressive cleaning routine, first time. Found it was easy to source Ultrasonic cleaner and rejected using dish washer stuff. Now I really do have beautifully cleaned parts and amazing how new the Seiko 6139 looks. I have Hexane for the real delicate stuff. Taking out the jewels and getting the correct lube applied gettin better and just a joy to try to master. I am the guy who likes to tackle the hardest stuff as it adds a spice to the process.

Staking set is getting a work out. I must share a photo of this one day. She is GEM Dreadnought and I french polished the other day. All bits in perfect nick. Don't know when they made these tools but the curved glass is a real eye catcher. So on that, my first real vintage watch is a Moeris 1958 Grands Prix I got from Japan. Balance shaft broken pivot. Have replaced following Hamilton method but found that it is not rivetted to the wheel. Just pressure fitted. Had to be very careful with this especially during full reassembly. Still need to do the overhaul and that will be my next update. I am at the point where I can apply everything you have shared. It gets exciting. T h a n k y o u A l e x, enjoying your channel, Brett

what could be the reasonif there is a 5 seconds difference in dial up dial down position in a 7750 movement? I cannot see a significant issue on pivot and flatness of the hairspring. thank you.

This just helped me out more than all the books and videos ever did. Thank you. Keep doing what you're doing.

Hi, I think you are a cool teacher, thank you for sharing your videos!

Great job

Great videos and I like the way you present the info.!

Alex this is perfect timing (play on words ) i have messed up 3 Seiko NH35 movements trying to adjust the beat error and i have somehow caught the Hairspring and completely buggered them as in they don't even tick let alone tok i am determined to learn how to fix them as it will be a valuable lesson learned on the heart of the watch i could easily just chuck them in the bin and not tell any person but on A personal level i want to learn how to fix them i consider the balance and hairspring the most delicate parts of the watch thank you so much Alex for making these educational videos ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Alex - Have you ever discussed what it means a watch is adjusted to X positions? I know its DD, DU etc.... but what do you do in those positions to say you have adjusted the watch to those positions? Thanks!

Where did you get the clip videos from? What factory is that? Thanks

Witaj, twoje filmy są niesamowite. Uczę się od ciebie, dziękuję 😊

Thank-you again for helping me out. I really learned a lot and would love to learn more about the mysteries of the hair spring. I would like to learn more about something called "asymetrical hair spring". Thank-you again!

Alex, when I stumbled across your videos the first time, I was so impressed by how knowledgeable you were, yet you didn't make me feel stupid when watching. There have been very few people in my life who I can say that about. I started down this hobby to just learn how to maybe fix one of my grandfathers watches one of these days. Never did I think that I would start investing in all these tools, microscopes (oh my, what a game changer that was) and everything else. THANK YOU! On top of all that, I had made a suggestion to you a week or so ago, and here in this video you implemented that. It means a lot to see someone actually listen to a comment and implement that. I am humbled.

Thank you for inspiring me to keep at this hobby. Some day I hope to be half as good as you. I have a long way to go, and I really struggle at times. I'm my own worst enemy at times and I keep watching your videos to see what bad habits I may have that you don't have and give those up.

Thank you also with your patience with all of my questions... I know I ask a lot at times, and at times, you have given me an answer that possibly I didn't want, but you can't varnish the truth and sometimes it just has to be put that way.

God bless and keep up these wonderful videos!

Great video tutorial Alex! I’ve tried and still not mastered this. I will keep trying! Thanks to your Patrons!

Great video...after restoring wristwatches for a while I recently started to restore pocket watches. I have to wonder why there isn't a complied list of lift angles for at least the more popular grades, like the Hamilton 992B. Do the lift angles vary between production runs of a grade like this? I can't find any reference for a lift angle for the 992B, certainly someone has calculated it using the observation method. After I serviced my 982B it ran with such a flat and stable trace I didn't bother to calculate the lift angle and used the amplitude as just a "figure of merit" (as in, that's pretty darn strong and I don't need a new mainspring). So, why are pw lift angles complied someplace?

Thank you Alex for helping me sort my 7.1 ms beat error on my AS 1302. took 2 hours and a lot of fear but managed to get it to 0.2, i gues that will have to do, i only have a screwdriver and a microscope

😃A time saver as it took me at lest two years by myself GOOD JOB!

About 7-8 years ago, I had the EXACT same problem (low amp, bad beat error) with the EXACT same movement. At that time, I really didn't even know where to begin to get the amplitude up. I took it apart over and over (which was probably good practice) and re-cleaned again and again. In the end, I never did figure out what the problem was and ended up selling it. So I'm really looking forward to the next part of this to see where you take it. I have better knowledge now and have an idea of where I'd look to diagnose the problem, but I'm still excited to see how you go through the process. Thank you so much!

Alex. You will have to stop this!!! I'm a beginner and would have liked to stay that way. However, because of you, I am able understand what you are talking about. I can do 90% of what you show. My skill level is not yet there to make it practicable, still a long way to go, but hey, I can practice what I see. And, I have a tutor that is just for me. What a guy. Thank you.

Great stuff. When I think about guys like George Daniels who had to make these adjustments thousands and thousands of times without a microscope it truly blows my mind. Gotta be so disciplined (or completely insane)

Another good video with a good explanation, hairsprings always cause me to sweat. Will you be showing how you convert the watch to a wrist watch
H as that would be interesting.

Excellent video again, great thanks, Alex!

You are always covering topics that I'm interested in. I would definitely want to see the explanation of how beat error impacts rate. Thanks!

You are a legend and amazing Alex , God bless you ❤❤❤

i have done this probably hundreds of times, pain in the butt job. i have never heard it explained so well. i find it amazing how you make it make sense. i know how to do it, but i couldn't teach it. bravo. big fan.
todd in montreal.

Some great information as always. I appreciate your videos. Thank you

Love to see you also go through dynamic poising. Pretty sure I understand it and the process, but would love to see you go through it. You do a great job of explaining all the nuance and the "why's". Great video!

Alex, when adjusting the collet, say with a screwdriver, are you twisting the blade to open the collet or are you using the taper of the blade to open the collet by pushing the blade into the gap?

Dziękuję za super filmy. Pozdrawiam z Polski z radzieckim zegarkiem na ręku.

I am an absolute beginner in watch repair as a hobby.
I have a question. I have been using a smartphone app to check rate and beat error. For amplitude I do a super slow mo recording of the balance wheel and visually estimate the amplitude. I assume doing it this way obviates the need of a dedicated timegrapher and the lift angle value.
Am I wrong in doing it this way ?

I'm a bit confused, you said that the centerline for 0 beat error is from balance center to escape wheel center. I heard it being from balance wheel center to fork pivot center. Which is it ? Because I have been adjusting to fork pivot center. I don't have timegrapher. Thank you.

Wonderful video. What 1940s video is the opening from? That poor guy looks like he's about to have a nervous breakdown.

perfect....

Prior to having these electronic pieces of test equipment, what would the method of determining adjustment have been? Just by eye???

Another very informative and interesting video Alex. Thank you so much for what you are doing.

Great video Alex. I had to do this more than one time in the past.

Another great video Alex. I noticed some watchmaker scribe marks on the underside of the balance wheel in this video. Is this a common practice and dose it convey any information or simply a mark to identify a particular watchmaker? What are your thoughts on applying watchmaker marks in a case back or other parts of a watch? As a hobbyist watchmaker, it is a sense of pride for me to put my mark and the date of service on a watch case back as long as it is done with care and kept to a minimum. I have seen other watchmakers put marks on bridges, barrels, etc, which I think is overkill and defaces the movement or watch case in question. Would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments or in a future video. John

Great video! Love the in depth explanations. Could you make a video about the analyzer, maybe compared to a timeghrapher (I know you used it in testing the accuracy of the timeghrapher, but would like a more detailed video on the analyzer)?