BTF Daytona 4130 movement quality

[dogwood]

I recently received a BTF 116500LN and removed the caseback to take a look (at least superficially) at the movement under my digital microscope.

I saw some good things, specifically that there was a nice reservoir of oil under the cap jewel of the shock setting on the balance bridge:


But I also saw some not so good things... I saw two pieces of lint / fiber, one of which had already found its way into a jewel bearing and was busy wicking away the lubricant.


I'm still somewhat new to this hobby, so I'm not great at looking at a jewel bearing through a microscope and determining if it has lubrication or not, but it looks like most of the jewel bearings on the automatic module are running dry (please correct me if I'm wrong)


I haven't taken the movement out of the case or removed the automatic module to dig deeper into the movement to look for any other issues... but the lint was enough to give me pause. I know we can't (and don't) expect these movements to have been assembled in a clean room; and there's a perennial debate on this forum about whether or not to get a movement serviced as soon as it arrives in your mailbox. I don't have an answer for that question, but I thought I should share what I found.

 

[The1stWright]

Always a good rule of thumb to have the movement serviced after you decide the watch is a keeper. That's what I do.

 

[p0pperini]

Always a good rule of thumb to have the movement serviced after you decide the watch is a keeper. That's what I do.

Or, you can wait until any signs of a problem show up, and then take a look or get it serviced. That's what I do.

 

[muiramas]

Agree with Pops. No. 1 rule in life - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. My wife is forever pestering me about doing jobs which actually don’t need doing. Horology provides me with some respite from this torment.

 

[The1stWright]

Or, you can wait until any signs of a problem show up, and then take a look or get it serviced. That's what I do.

That works as well, most of the time i'm changing something if the watch is staying might as well service while that's taking place.