So I bought myself a Bellmatic on Evilbay...It was described as 'working'. When it arrived, it was keeping good time, but the day did not change, and the day and date would not 'quickly' advance. My local watch mender wanted silly money just to look at it (£250), and told me all watches of that age had plexiglass, so thats what they would fit! It was also filthy....so I appealed for help here, and several people gave advice, and offered to help.
Being a novice in vintage watches, I had to take a punt and chose someone, almost at random. This is the story, no watches were damaged in the telling.
On agreement of a pricing structure, i posted my watch off and waited....this is what was sent..
My craftsperson gave it a good look over, described the faults and I agreed to a re-price.
It was dirty, did I mention that...
The lume had gone.....
The dial support pins were....dodgy
It stayed in the hole....
The day activation pin (
next to the number 10) was misaligned
Soon stripped.....
Pin replaced correctly
Rebuild.....
During this process, i was kept up to date daily with pictures and a running report.
When it was rebuilt, it was time for a running check.....
Before....
After....
The final result....
This is now a stunning example of a lovely watch. Not bad for a watch that is 50 years old this year!
Sir Alan, (Simon, from this forum) is to be congratulated on his attention to detail, fine workmanship and communication. Thank you sir. 🏆
Simon told me that he feels this watch is 9.8/10 for cosmetics and running performance. Just the strap to sort out then!
And thank you Simon for allowing me to use some of the 0.5 Gb worth of pics you sent to me.
I am eagerly awaiting the postman's visit ......
So there you have it, a bit of a journey. There was always the question should I buy an expensive 4006 with hidden faults, or take a punt on a cheap 4006, and just put up with the knowledge that there would be some things to sort out?
Well I am glad I chose the later, even though it cost me more than I was expecting. An expensive 4006 could still have had the same problems hidden away. I have today looked at Evilbay, and there are a lot of watches twice the price of mine with advertised faults.
If you were wondering the initial purchase was £105.00....Simons work....priceless.
Dave.
Being a novice in vintage watches, I had to take a punt and chose someone, almost at random. This is the story, no watches were damaged in the telling.
On agreement of a pricing structure, i posted my watch off and waited....this is what was sent..
My craftsperson gave it a good look over, described the faults and I agreed to a re-price.
It was dirty, did I mention that...
The lume had gone.....
The dial support pins were....dodgy
It stayed in the hole....
The day activation pin (
next to the number 10) was misaligned
Soon stripped.....
Pin replaced correctly
Rebuild.....
During this process, i was kept up to date daily with pictures and a running report.
When it was rebuilt, it was time for a running check.....
Before....
After....
The final result....
This is now a stunning example of a lovely watch. Not bad for a watch that is 50 years old this year!
Sir Alan, (Simon, from this forum) is to be congratulated on his attention to detail, fine workmanship and communication. Thank you sir. 🏆
Simon told me that he feels this watch is 9.8/10 for cosmetics and running performance. Just the strap to sort out then!
And thank you Simon for allowing me to use some of the 0.5 Gb worth of pics you sent to me.
I am eagerly awaiting the postman's visit ......
So there you have it, a bit of a journey. There was always the question should I buy an expensive 4006 with hidden faults, or take a punt on a cheap 4006, and just put up with the knowledge that there would be some things to sort out?
Well I am glad I chose the later, even though it cost me more than I was expecting. An expensive 4006 could still have had the same problems hidden away. I have today looked at Evilbay, and there are a lot of watches twice the price of mine with advertised faults.
If you were wondering the initial purchase was £105.00....Simons work....priceless.
Dave.
