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Repairing / swapping a movement on a Rep

gigi77

I'm Pretty Popular
3/8/17
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Hello everybody,

I was discussing this with a fellow RWI member and we were wondering how does one repair a faulty miyota (like on the 15400 or 5711) or 2813 (like on the ZF Blancpains)?
The movements are quite cheap (80$ for the Miyota and 15$ for the 2813) but are plain, undecorated. Can these plain movement from aliexpress/ebay be used "easily" (for a normal watchsmith) to be used to recyle the datewheel, rotor and decoplate from the rep movement? Are all 2813 the same or do you have to order a "correct" one, for example with a defined diameter (I saw the ones on aliexpress are 25mm).

Thanks a lot and excuse my noob question :)
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
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All movements can be serviced by a watchsmith. The question is typically whether the value and availability of the movement is worth the cost of the watchsmiths time. As you’ve said, an A2813 movement is about $40. A full service by a watchsmith is multiples of that.
Movements can be swapped in a watch but there are many factors to determine if it’s feasible:
- movement diameter
- movement thickness
- stem location
- hand sizes
- dial feet location
Movement parts are specific to movements. Generally speaking you cannot exchange parts between different movements. This is the general rule of thumb - but there are instances where the rule is broken. For instance close iterations of a brands movement and the Asian clone counterpart can have parts that readily exchange. Like parts from an ETA2824 will fit an ETA2836 and will fit an A2836, etc.
Hope that answers your question.
 

gigi77

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mzinski thanks a lot!

But if I exchange a decorated A2813 with an Aliexpress A2813, will the decorated parts work or there are different A2813 with diameters, stem location, ... and you need to buy the CORRECT A2813? :)
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
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mzinski thanks a lot!

But if I exchange a decorated A2813 with an Aliexpress A2813, will the decorated parts work or there are different A2813 with diameters, stem location, ... and you need to buy the CORRECT A2813? :)

The rotor, date disc, and train wheel bridge (what I think you are referring to as decoplate) should all be swap-able between 2813's.

But keep in mind these are made in China by various factories. The US watch part suppliers all put in the caveat that they don't have any communication with the actual makers of these movements, thusly not able to stand behind their consistency like an ETA, Seiko, Sellita, etc.