Horology expert Donald de Carle reveals how to repair and adjust the modern...

Dealing with a complicated watch used to be a rare job for the watch repairer, but with the popularity of the automatic, it is almost commonplace. Furthermore, the increased interest in calendar work, alarm watches, and chronographs will undoubtedly bring more and more complicated work into the workshop. This book deals with complicated work essentially from the repairer's point of view. The action of each mechanism is briefly and clearly described because understanding this is essential to proper servicing, repair and testing for functioning. Dismantling and assembly instructions are given, as well as oiling charts and - most important - hints on fault-finding and their rectification. Another essential feature of the book is that it deals with all complicated work - from the relatively simple automatic to the triple-complicated watch with chronograph, calendar and repeater work, and the very complicated clock watch. Exceptional care has been taken in the preparation of diagrams, which have been drawn from actual movements in various stages of assembly, so that the reader can actually work with the book illustrations beside the watch itself. As always with books by Donald de Carle, instructions are easy to follow and there is no reason why anyone well versed in ordinary work and able to use watchmakers' tools should not become a specialist in complicated watches and their repair.

A step-by-step instruction manual on the repair of mechanical clocks and watches. It is progressive, beginning with simple clocks and watches and proceeding to the more complicated types. It includes chapters on watch repairing that deal with chronographs and repeaters as well as self-winding mechanisms.

This invaluable, practical book is written by a watch repairer with over twenty years' experience. It is aimed principally at the novice mechanical watch repairer, although those with more experience will also find it most useful. Brimming with advice and useful tips, it provides step-by-step photographs with accompanying text and demonstrates how to maintain a mechanical watch, and how to identify problems and correct them. The author discusses the theory behind how a watch works and reveals how to take a watch apart and how to reassemble it without causing any damage. Each section of the book is related to a particular element within the watch, and the author clearly explains the function and design of each part. He covers the essential requirements of a workspace, discusses basic tools, and how to use and care for them and illustrates how to take a mechanical watch apart and re-assemble it. He goes on to examine types of watch cases, case backs and how to open and re-fit them, as well as the movement and removing the movement from the case. He demonstrates how to remove the hands and the dial, and discusses motion work and the removal of the cannon pinion. He also pays attention to keyless-work, the mainspring and the barrel, the balance wheel, the escapement, the gearing and the gear train, pivots and arbors, bearings and jewels, and much more. The book also shows the reader how to service, clean and oil a watch, and how to successfully complete common repairs and make basic adjustments. Essential reading for all those interested mechanical watch repair, and superbly illustrated with 337 colour photographs.