To-Do List For New Replica?

[aceman_1]

Hi All-

I know that the second my Concord C1 A7750 hi-beat arrives I am going to want to tear it out of the box and start playing with it. Not that they don't exist, but after searching I've found far less posts on caring for your watch both out of the box and on your wrist than I've seen posts on what to buy and/or how to fix it when it breaks.

As I've just dropped $300 on a rep, it scares me to read in several places that it may only last a couple of years. Tell me this isn't true! [smilie=cussing.gif]

SOOOO....

What should I do with the watch out of the box in terms of winding it? What is the proper way to wind a watch out of the box?

General care advice to keep it ticking? I've read something about not changing the date during a certain time window?

What kind of service is required, and how often?

Advice on the type of service shop? Obviously wouldn't take to the nearest Concord dealer!

Thanks in advance!

 

[levelmanroger]

OK - I'm certainly not the expert here, but hopefully others will correct any errors I make here.

You'll probably want to hand-wind it initially. Do this by unscrewing the crown and letting it pop out to the first position. You should wind it clockwise - it will give some resistance but neither the time nor date sould move. Give it about 15-25 turns. After that, normal wear should keep it running.

Either keep it on a watch winder, or at least wind it once a week to keep it loose. You don't want it to sit for long periods of time, lest it not be sealed properly and humidity helps it seize up.

As for service, many recommend getting it serviced when relatively new, and again every 2-3 years. Find a small, independant, local watch-smith (I found a gem - an old Chinese guy here near Dallas that REALLY knows his stuff). Tell him up front you know it's fake, but that you really like it and just want to get it serviced to keep it running well. It should cost $100-300 depending on the watch smith. My guy charges less.
A local, small, independant watch smith is more concerned about the business and the money than about calling you out to the gen police.

FYI - a lot of posts about the A7750 integrity lately. Cross your fingers! :roll:

Last - be sure to post pics when you get the watch in. Wristies are a must!

ENJOY!!!

 

[andreww]

Firstly, hand winding an A7750 should be avoided. Hold the watch face up in your palm and give it 30 seconds of rotation. That should be enough to get it going. If not then slowly hand wind until it starts running. Wearing the watch daily should be enough to keep it running.

To set the date, advance the time until the date changes then continue until 6:00 a.m. Pull the crown out one stop and advance the date to the day before the required date. Pull the crown out to the second stop and advance the time past midnight and continue to the correct time. If you follow these steps you will never screw up the date.

Tighten all small screws and the caseback. Some will use locktight and grease the seals, but at the very least make sure everything is tight. You don't want to have to look for a hard to find screw or deal with a fogged up crystal.

Lastly, I've always found screw down crowns to be the bane of rep watches. Be very gentle when screwing down the crown, you don't have to crank it down.

 

[levelmanroger]

Thanks for the correction, Andreww. I'm not up much on the subtle differences in winding the 7750 - I don't own one.
And good point about the crown. I can't tell you how many "crown tube stripped" threads I've read. Just be soft, slow and careful.

And also, Andreww alluded to a very important tip in the rep world. Never, EVER set the date between the hours of 10pm and 2am (I use 9-3 just to be safe), as this is the time the watches are going through their date change-over mode and you can screw it up forever. I'm sure this rule is more important for some movements and less important for others, but just apply it across the board to be safe.
If you find you need to set the watch during these hours, first change the watch time to 6am, then set the date, then re-set the time.

 

[aceman_1]

First of all, thanks andreww and levelmanroger. I don't want to make a noob mistake and break it out of the box! A few follow-ups...

Firstly, hand winding an A7750 should be avoided. Hold the watch face up in your palm and give it 30 seconds of rotation. That should be enough to get it going. If not then slowly hand wind until it starts running. Wearing the watch daily should be enough to keep it running.

When you say give it 30 seconds of rotation do you mean spin the entire watch (think helicopter rotor)? Clockwise, counterclockwise, does it make a difference?

To set the date, advance the time until the date changes then continue until 6:00 a.m. Pull the crown out one stop and advance the date to the day before the required date. Pull the crown out to the second stop and advance the time past midnight and continue to the correct time. If you follow these steps you will never screw up the date.

This has a locking crown, do I unlock by turning the crown clockwise or counterclockwise (if you're looking directly at the crown)?

I remember there is a slight "pop" once it unlocks (I've handled a gen C1), once it's unlocked, if you pull it out one stop that's the date setting, if you pull it out a second stop that's the time setting, right?

Tighten all small screws and the caseback. Some will use locktight and grease the seals, but at the very least make sure everything is tight. You don't want to have to look for a hard to find screw or deal with a fogged up crystal.

I'd love more information on how to do this. Would you recommend locktight on all the screws, even the ones that will need to be removed for service? I'd imagine this involves removing the screws, applying locktight to the threads, and screwing them back in, yes?

What seals would recommend sealing and what product is recommended to do such a job? Is it well worth it to do these steps?

Thanks!

 

[levelmanroger]

OK - winding the watch:
Hold it in your hand, dial facing up. Swirl it as you would a glass of wine, but with a bit more vigor/movement. I do mine a minute or two in each direction. DON'T shake it violently.

The crown should un-screw by turning it counter-clockwise. Once it's completely unscrewed it will pop out very slightly by itself. This is position 1, and is used for manual winding. In this position, turning it clockwise will wind the spring.
Pull it out a bit more, and that's position 2 which is used for setting the date. If your watch (other models you may eventually own) has both a day and date, this position is normally used to set both. Clockwise rotation moves one, counter-clockwise changes the other.
Pull out all the way to position 3 and that is used for setting the time.
Push the crown all the way back to the tube and turn gently clockwise to screw it back down. THIS is where you have to be careful to feel what it's doing. If you press hard and torque on it, you can cross-thread it and strip the tube.

As a noob, I'd avoid loc-tite. Just get a small precision screwdriver (any hobby store, Radio Shack and even Home Depot) and make sure all the screws you can access are tight - INCLUDING any on the bracelet. These are the ones that usually fall out when new, because they were never tightened. Just check it every few months for tight screws and you'll be fine. I tighten all of mine when I get the watch, and I've NEVER had one come out or get significantly loose down the road.

SEALS - the main and most inportant is the rubber gasket on the crown tube. You'll see it when you unscrew the crown to set the date. IF it's there, the watch should be relatively water resistant. If it's not there (as with many reps - even high-end ones), then be very careful not to immerse the watch or even wash it under a stream of water. You will end up with water in your movement and fog under your crystal.
I'm not sure how to lube these gaskets. Many others can probably explain this.

 

[higgy]

Here's a little advice/hint on screwing down crown.

Push crown down to tube, turn counter clock like loosening until you fee a small click. This click feel,is the threads of crown and tube aligning. Continue holding the crown down on the tube and switch to clockwise turning. This prevents cross threading. Like said before....just snug it down...don't gorilla tighten.

I've never stripped or cross threaded a screw down crown tube.

Higgy 8)

 

[clkcadet]

This is great info. I would also recommend when storing it try to use a watch case or a put a cloth on a table so the watch is not on a hard surface.

 

[CRK]

Something I do to all my steel bands....

Take them off the watch and soak them down with WD-40. Work all the links back and forth then hit it again with more WD. Give it some time to soak in. Then with a tooth brush clean the band. Last thing, wash with a light amount of soap and water, rinse. Then another VERY LIGHT coat of WD and wipe it all down..

It will make the band move silky smooth

 

[CRK]

One more thing, some reps use double sided tape to secure the bezel insert. WD-40 will eat this up and your bezel insert will come off. I have fixed this by gluing it on with epoxy or the like.

 

[fakemaster]

I wouldn't use WD40

 

[watchbuff]

No WD 40
Use a water based lubricant or just remove the bracelet and use some household oil.