I enjoy seeing these unusual escapements in watches. If you ever run into a detent escapement, it would be great to see. (I realize it’s a bit of a rare bird.)Your micro photography is excellent, and your use of the computer rendering of the action is really illuminating. I look forward to what you find interesting.
I would love to do the detent escapement one day. It's not that they are rare, just expensive. But very interesting. I would love to do a duplex one day but those are really rare.
Although the escapement has a bad reputation, the same goes for the early wristwatches. The reason why both are difficult to repair is simply because one cannot now get the parts. Many of these were for Swiss cylinder watches, these were standard and interchangeable, but now are not available.
I have a watch that has an identical mechanism but is not working. I think the teeth of the escape wheel fit into the balance cylinder and therefore the latter moves too much. I also believe that the rocker does not hold its position because the pivot is broken (or at least I think so). basically the rocker swings until it engages with the nearby wheel. Is yours like this too? what kind of manufacturing is your movement, mine doesn't have a name
I can imagine that cylinder escapements are a nightmare for many watchmakers. I have at least one every week on my workbench. Given their age, these watches always show a lot of wear and tear and you often come across poorly executed restorations from less experienced watchmakers (I'm not trying to judge; I'm convinced they all tried their best). Despite all those things you come across, I really enjoy restoring them, although it is very time consuming.
I am glad to hear that someone is still repairing them on a regular basis. I know a lot of watchmakers who just don't want to do repairs on them at all. I have a repaired a few in the past(full repair), but a lot of the time people don't want to pay for a full repair, which I totally understand.
Nice video I have a clock like that with missing crown and broken upper pivot in the cylinder escapement unfortunately... Anyway did you know why we can't find the manufacturer name clearly and usually you don't have many jewels (maybe one) ...
It is not uncommon for older clocks and watches to not have the brands marked on there. This is often because the movement and the watch casing where from different makers and such. If you really want to know the brand of the movement there are books where they have drawing of all the movements front and back sorted by size. But in order to repair those you dont need to know the brand. It is possible to repair them without knowing the brand. That being said your best chance is to just find a replacement cylinder.
I'm a hobbyist and had bought a pin set movement to restore. As I examined the movement I realized something was different with it. The escape wheel was different than what I had ever come across. I removed the balance assembly and then noticed the pin on the side of the balance and that there was no pallet fork. after some sleuthing I realized this was a cylinder escapement. I found your video and am now afraid to continue without asking about balance assembly replacement. I am not equipped to do repairs to the balance if it is worn but the watch was working before I started. If I continue, is there anything special I need to do as I try to replace the balance assembly into the watch to avoid damaging the cylinder staff or escape wheel teeth? If I continue to disassemble the movement is there anything else I should be watching for. As it was working I don't want to destroy the watch if I can avoid it. Thanks, Les
Well if it was working than maybe you get away with just a maintenance. Disasmebly, cleaning, putting it back together and oiling. Like you would do with any other movement. Just be careful to disarm the movement before removing the balans sinds once removed and there still is power on the geartrain it all gets released things might go flying and the hairspring is very fragile.
Thanks for the video! I have the same looking movement over here.. 1st real watch to repair, (or so I hoped..) . My staff is broken.. Can't see any brand so hard to look for replacements.. do you got any tips where to look?
Well you do not need to look for a brand sinds the cylinder parts are interchangeable. You could change out the pivots but it is very delicate operation and needs a few specific and obscure tools. So I defently do not recommend that for a first watch. What I would try is to get hold of an assortment of cylinders and a Sirius ruler. Those rulers pop up on eBay from time to time. They look like ruler with a bunch of cirkels on and in the middle you have smaller holes and most important it says Sirius above the cirkels and holes. And they basicly show the relation in size in between the cylinder and the cylinder gear. If the the cylinder gear fits in the bigger cirkel the small cirkel shows the diameter of the cylinder and vise versa. Or you could also do it without the ruler and just mesure your cylinder to find a new one based on the size. If you go about removing the cylinder and placing the new be very carefull sinds most of it is cut out you are not left with much and it breaks easy. So lot's of small taps with a hamer instead of one big one. Good luck with your repair. I am going to do a video in the distant future about this subject in case you can't figure it out.
I just took apart my 1st watch of which was an escarpment. A bit challenging not know what to expect. I wish I had seen this video first…😅. Now I’ll attempt to put it back together….
Yes, this balance wheel doesn't have adjustment screws. Pretty sure they would interfere with the little blocking pin under the escapement bridge and well sinds the quality of those watches is low I just think they didn't bother with it. But most movements don't have them either these days. They are adjusted at the factory and while you can still adjust them afterwards it is not as handy. Balance wheels with screw used to be much more common. Which was nice because it gave a skilled watchmaker a lot to work with. I am thinking about doing a full video about it now. Stay tuned for that.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for posting this. Always wanted to see a cylinder escapement in a watch. Well done!
Thank you very much. Anything else you want to see?
I enjoy seeing these unusual escapements in watches. If you ever run into a detent escapement, it would be great to see. (I realize it’s a bit of a rare bird.)Your micro photography is excellent, and your use of the computer rendering of the action is really illuminating. I look forward to what you find interesting.
I would love to do the detent escapement one day. It's not that they are rare, just expensive. But very interesting. I would love to do a duplex one day but those are really rare.
Although the escapement has a bad reputation, the same goes for the early wristwatches. The reason why both are difficult to repair is simply because one cannot now get the parts. Many of these were for Swiss cylinder watches, these were standard and interchangeable, but now are not available.
Well I still have access to the parts but even than it is a complicated to replace them.
A very nice watch. And a very nice video showing how escapement works. Good luck!😀
I have a watch that has an identical mechanism but is not working. I think the teeth of the escape wheel fit into the balance cylinder and therefore the latter moves too much. I also believe that the rocker does not hold its position because the pivot is broken (or at least I think so). basically the rocker swings until it engages with the nearby wheel. Is yours like this too? what kind of manufacturing is your movement, mine doesn't have a name
I can imagine that cylinder escapements are a nightmare for many watchmakers. I have at least one every week on my workbench. Given their age, these watches always show a lot of wear and tear and you often come across poorly executed restorations from less experienced watchmakers (I'm not trying to judge; I'm convinced they all tried their best).
Despite all those things you come across, I really enjoy restoring them, although it is very time consuming.
I am glad to hear that someone is still repairing them on a regular basis. I know a lot of watchmakers who just don't want to do repairs on them at all. I have a repaired a few in the past(full repair), but a lot of the time people don't want to pay for a full repair, which I totally understand.
Nice video I have a clock like that with missing crown and broken upper pivot in the cylinder escapement unfortunately... Anyway did you know why we can't find the manufacturer name clearly and usually you don't have many jewels (maybe one) ...
It is not uncommon for older clocks and watches to not have the brands marked on there. This is often because the movement and the watch casing where from different makers and such.
If you really want to know the brand of the movement there are books where they have drawing of all the movements front and back sorted by size.
But in order to repair those you dont need to know the brand. It is possible to repair them without knowing the brand. That being said your best chance is to just find a replacement cylinder.
@@Mr-Wonderfullthanks a lot for the reply I was interested in learning the history behind the clock. About repairing yes it's very simple mechanism .
I'm a hobbyist and had bought a pin set movement to restore. As I examined the movement I realized something was different with it. The escape wheel was different than what I had ever come across. I removed the balance assembly and then noticed the pin on the side of the balance and that there was no pallet fork. after some sleuthing I realized this was a cylinder escapement. I found your video and am now afraid to continue without asking about balance assembly replacement. I am not equipped to do repairs to the balance if it is worn but the watch was working before I started. If I continue, is there anything special I need to do as I try to replace the balance assembly into the watch to avoid damaging the cylinder staff or escape wheel teeth? If I continue to disassemble the movement is there anything else I should be watching for. As it was working I don't want to destroy the watch if I can avoid it. Thanks, Les
Well if it was working than maybe you get away with just a maintenance. Disasmebly, cleaning, putting it back together and oiling. Like you would do with any other movement. Just be careful to disarm the movement before removing the balans sinds once removed and there still is power on the geartrain it all gets released things might go flying and the hairspring is very fragile.
Thanks for the video! I have the same looking movement over here.. 1st real watch to repair, (or so I hoped..) . My staff is broken.. Can't see any brand so hard to look for replacements.. do you got any tips where to look?
Well you do not need to look for a brand sinds the cylinder parts are interchangeable. You could change out the pivots but it is very delicate operation and needs a few specific and obscure tools. So I defently do not recommend that for a first watch. What I would try is to get hold of an assortment of cylinders and a Sirius ruler. Those rulers pop up on eBay from time to time. They look like ruler with a bunch of cirkels on and in the middle you have smaller holes and most important it says Sirius above the cirkels and holes. And they basicly show the relation in size in between the cylinder and the cylinder gear. If the the cylinder gear fits in the bigger cirkel the small cirkel shows the diameter of the cylinder and vise versa. Or you could also do it without the ruler and just mesure your cylinder to find a new one based on the size. If you go about removing the cylinder and placing the new be very carefull sinds most of it is cut out you are not left with much and it breaks easy. So lot's of small taps with a hamer instead of one big one. Good luck with your repair. I am going to do a video in the distant future about this subject in case you can't figure it out.
@@Mr-Wonderfull I am also about to replace a cylinder staff, and your tips and warnings have been invaluable. Thank you!
I just took apart my 1st watch of which was an escarpment. A bit challenging not know what to expect. I wish I had seen this video first…😅. Now I’ll attempt to put it back together….
Good luck putting it back together.
Notice that the balance wheel has no adjustment screws..like today's movements
Yes, this balance wheel doesn't have adjustment screws. Pretty sure they would interfere with the little blocking pin under the escapement bridge and well sinds the quality of those watches is low I just think they didn't bother with it. But most movements don't have them either these days. They are adjusted at the factory and while you can still adjust them afterwards it is not as handy. Balance wheels with screw used to be much more common. Which was nice because it gave a skilled watchmaker a lot to work with.
I am thinking about doing a full video about it now. Stay tuned for that.
I have a watch with a nearly identical movement, so this video is very helpful; thanks. But... I keep losing focus looking at the dirty fingernails!
I am glad my video could be of any help.
Too bad most of the 1890s pocket watch in France are cylinder escapements witch make family watches difficult to repair.
Yea you see them a lot. I guess it's because they where cheap.
Some washmakers can shope with the escapement
Ofcourse and so do I.