Removal of jewel caps.

[Anthony J. Bonanno]

Hi all,
I am in the process of cleaning and oiling a Lady Hamilton 757(?) wrist watch . The jewels are covered with a cap that is not screwed down but all you can see is the smooth nib of a rod- like piece in between the two cap jewels. My question is how do I remove the caps to oil the pivots? Thanks for any help. abona2

 

[Anthony J. Bonanno]

Hi all,
I am in the process of cleaning and oiling a Lady Hamilton 757(?) wrist watch . The jewels are covered with a cap that is not screwed down but all you can see is the smooth nib of a rod- like piece in between the two cap jewels. My question is how do I remove the caps to oil the pivots? Thanks for any help. abona2

 

[Kate N]

Anthony, the balance jewels have Incabloc shock protection, so the gold colored spring is what holds the jewel assembly together.
Read this thread for a bit more info:
old ref::Incabloc

There are more threads on Incabloc on this forum. You can use the find button to locate them, if you'd like.
Hope this helps.

Kate

 

[Timm]

It's been a few months since I worked on a 757 but perhaps you are seeing the bottom of the screw (or the end). Might the screw head be on the under side of the plate? We're talking about plate jewels here, not balance jewels.

Just a thought.

 

[Anthony J. Bonanno]

Thanks for your ideas.These are plate jewels caps and not balance jewels caps.I think they were pressure fitted which I have not yet come across until now. I have no idea how to remove them in order to clean the hole jewels. They could be pryed off but may damage the plate,
I plan to get a copy of Henry Fried to see what he says about them. abona

 

[Timm]

Anthony,

Do not pry them off! You'll ruin the watch for sure.

I just looked at some pictures I took of the 757 I worked on. You have to disassemble the watch completely in order to get to the underside of the plates to remove the cap jewels. They are secured by screws from underneath.

This should not be a problem as long as you are cleaning it and have to take it apart anyway.

 

[Anthony J. Bonanno]

Tim,

Thanks for your info about removing the cap screw from the back side of the plate. I did see the screw when I looked for it in that manner.Do you think that design was a wise one? I mean having to dissemble a watch to check on or remove a plate jewel. I guess it is not for me to say.Anyway I did appreciate you help.

Anthony