Hello there.
I thought I could post in this thread a small project on my PAM292J which, as it happens, I think is one of the best watches around.
I got the 292J about 4months ago from a trusted TD I got to know from this wonderful forum. All went perfect in the process and I was thrilled when I first got the watch. Truth be told, I immediately thought that something was not quite as it should when in my hands and wrist but the excitement ruled over rational thinking (plus this was my first ever rep watch) so, I strapped it on and went out for a stroll wearing a t-shirt so I could show off my precious.
Sat for a coffee and kept looking at it -trying not to make it too obvious though- and I was sure that this was actually a flaw that I missed when I got the QC pics. Went back and had a better look.. it was digging in my wrist so surely was not meant to be like this yet…the watch still looked beautiful. Did a google research and confirmed my fear. The crown tube was way too proud and a bit corked compared to a) the gen and b) the pics at the TD site and so the crown was sitting awkwardly in a distance from the watch case. Thought to contact the dealer at first but I realized that even if the said they would fix it I’d have to send back and really; I just couldn’t go through this process really. I said to my self it’s o.k. you have to live with the watch as is. Don’t get me wrong btw. The watch is absolutely brilliant IMHO. Apart from the crown thing, it looks and it feels one million dollar.
Anyway I’ll continue.
Though i know I said I’d have to live with this, in reality I never stopped thinking I had to find a way to fix this as it was the only part that was bothering me in the watch. So………..
About a week ago it got in my mind the idea that being sort of a handyman hey; I could possibly do this on my own!! ..and h**l.. if it went wrong I could go to a local watch repair to cry for help… that’s what I thought.. and it was set!!!
I had to do a lot of reading before I started but thanks to this –I repeat- excellent wonderful forum I got all the information I needed as it is generously provided over time from several members. Indeed, this is the reason I decided to share with you my project and hopefully I did well.
In the pictorial (sorry I’m not good in keeping records so I have some missing stages but I hope I can describe the process if needed) I have skipped the stages that have been mentioned many times over in the forum like removing the movement etc…
On to the pics.
Here is how the watch looked like when I got it.
Then I took the watch to pieces. I had to remove the tube and the metal “crown lock” (I don’t know how can I call it) from the case. This wasn’t hard at all in fact as after applying some pressure from the inside with the tool I use to remove the links, the whole thing popped out.
There was a lot of the glue thing, used to keep the parts in the case, which had to be cleaned to evaluate the situation.
This how it looks when all cleaned up.
Obviously the ceramic tube is a little on the long side. btw, one of the things I could confirm during the process is that the watch parts are top notch quality (IMO as good as the gen thing) and as pretty well put by ALE, the ceramic it is unscratch-able and -i add- veeeeery tough!!!!
Then how do I reduce the size of the crown??? I tried hacksaw, different sort of blades (including sharp knives) but didn’t even scratch it…… until it came the metal grade sandpaper.
Hard but it does the job!!! It took me roughly 1 hour and ½ something to get to satisfactory depth, sanding using circular motion the thick part of the tube as I had to test every time the progress (fearing I could damage it if I wasn’t careful).
Then I took off a bit from the tail of the metal crown lock insert to be in line withthe ceramic tube.
As you can see in the pics, the metal is longer than the ceramic because it has to be welded onto the metal ridge inside the watch.
I let it rest for the night and came back to it the next day to ensure I was happy with the results. Well I wasn’t so I shaved off some more ceramic (it was getting very hard at that stage since I was using my fingers to do it) until I was nearly 100% happy (you know you can never be 100% happy with things –I certainly can’t).
During the day I had a discussion with my local hardware store guy about the best gluing process and he advised I used an epoxy type of glue to ensure firm welding. I am not sure if I can mention the brands of the glues I used so I will skip the names for now. I took one that seemed suitable for the job and off to do the gluing part. Before I did the gluing, I gave some fine sanding around the slimmer part of the tube as I thought this would provide a better grip for the glue to set on it. Mixed it, applied it, left it 34-35 hours to dry and I was ready to try. BIG time failure…… with the first twist of pressure via the crown the tube kept turning loose. :frusty
h my…
o.k. off to the store. A more radical solution, stronger but also a little on the flexible side glue was employed this time. Same process as before and back to try the results. Not bad but I really didn’t feel comfortable with this tiny little play I could see (?) so I pushed from the inside of the case to see what’s what… POP it came out. Bummer…………. :culpability: grrrrr
Now that was a challenge right? Anyway, the same evening my wife (who’s been asking me to repair her galoshes – rubber boots) said to me.: “look, I went to a shop, said what type of glue you could use to fix my boots and they gave this waterproof type of glue. Now you have no excuse so, get on ‘cause I want to wear them tomorrow”. Well, if that’s not a sign then what is????? it was a superglue type but waterproof. The same evening I fixed the boots and within 5 minutes –superglue- the boots were better than new.
You guessed what happened next, right? only one problem.. the superglue sets in a flash so I had to be very careful in the amount to use and the pressure applied otherwise I could end up having a case stuck in my fingers and I’m sure it wouldn’t be very nice. So, I applied small little dots of glue all around the ceramic first and I did it. pushed and held the tube in the case for a minute or so. Good thing, my fingers didn’t get stuck. Then I tried the tube. Pushed it, pulled it but it sat there as an integral part of the case. Then I went to push from the back… (don't get any funny ideas) I pushed gently and then harder and harder….. (still, no funny ideas please) Nothing. No matter how hard (within reason of course) I pushed, the tube sat comfortably there.
Then on to the metal part. Same procedure again… but this time I think I was a little more generous than I should and so I ended up with a line of glue that was looking at me from the case. S@@T…
I remained calm and went on the try if the rest of it was o.k. I pushed and I pulled but no movement whatsoever. Excellent I thought so now, how to fix the other part? To cut a long story short, after trying several things I asked help from my wife (or her things) again. Took the acetone and off to the case. I put little amount on a battonete we use to clean the ears and rubbed and rubbed again. I could see something was happening so I tried even harder avoiding putting too much liquid so it didn’t go inside the tube to weaken the glued parts. After a lot of rubbing finally I DID IT!!!
Boy I was well chaffed!!!! :cheers2: I had a great sleep that night I can tell you.
The next day I went to clean the crystal from the inside so that I could put in the movement and everything else back in again but as you veterans already know…. cleaning the crystal is not an easy task. I simply couldn’t do it. So next morning went straight to my local watch repair shop and asked the guy if he could clean the crystal for me. He confirmed so I left it there with him and went back in the evening to pick it up. He had done an excellent job so my 5 euro was well spent I think.
I put everything back in the case again and...
I guess I better let the pictures speak.
I think the PIG looks just great!!!
http://i1346.photobucket.com/albums/p689/garfieldtodd/B3_zpsabbf2a8f.jpg[/IMG
...and some wrist shots (sorry for the hair :rolleyes:)
[IMG]http://i1346.photobucket.com/albums/p689/garfieldtodd/B11_zps0d69117c.jpg
Sorry for the long post and my poor english but hope that most was understood.
Have fun (I certainly did!!!)
I thought I could post in this thread a small project on my PAM292J which, as it happens, I think is one of the best watches around.
I got the 292J about 4months ago from a trusted TD I got to know from this wonderful forum. All went perfect in the process and I was thrilled when I first got the watch. Truth be told, I immediately thought that something was not quite as it should when in my hands and wrist but the excitement ruled over rational thinking (plus this was my first ever rep watch) so, I strapped it on and went out for a stroll wearing a t-shirt so I could show off my precious.
Sat for a coffee and kept looking at it -trying not to make it too obvious though- and I was sure that this was actually a flaw that I missed when I got the QC pics. Went back and had a better look.. it was digging in my wrist so surely was not meant to be like this yet…the watch still looked beautiful. Did a google research and confirmed my fear. The crown tube was way too proud and a bit corked compared to a) the gen and b) the pics at the TD site and so the crown was sitting awkwardly in a distance from the watch case. Thought to contact the dealer at first but I realized that even if the said they would fix it I’d have to send back and really; I just couldn’t go through this process really. I said to my self it’s o.k. you have to live with the watch as is. Don’t get me wrong btw. The watch is absolutely brilliant IMHO. Apart from the crown thing, it looks and it feels one million dollar.
Anyway I’ll continue.
Though i know I said I’d have to live with this, in reality I never stopped thinking I had to find a way to fix this as it was the only part that was bothering me in the watch. So………..
About a week ago it got in my mind the idea that being sort of a handyman hey; I could possibly do this on my own!! ..and h**l.. if it went wrong I could go to a local watch repair to cry for help… that’s what I thought.. and it was set!!!
I had to do a lot of reading before I started but thanks to this –I repeat- excellent wonderful forum I got all the information I needed as it is generously provided over time from several members. Indeed, this is the reason I decided to share with you my project and hopefully I did well.
In the pictorial (sorry I’m not good in keeping records so I have some missing stages but I hope I can describe the process if needed) I have skipped the stages that have been mentioned many times over in the forum like removing the movement etc…
On to the pics.
Here is how the watch looked like when I got it.
Then I took the watch to pieces. I had to remove the tube and the metal “crown lock” (I don’t know how can I call it) from the case. This wasn’t hard at all in fact as after applying some pressure from the inside with the tool I use to remove the links, the whole thing popped out.
There was a lot of the glue thing, used to keep the parts in the case, which had to be cleaned to evaluate the situation.
This how it looks when all cleaned up.
Obviously the ceramic tube is a little on the long side. btw, one of the things I could confirm during the process is that the watch parts are top notch quality (IMO as good as the gen thing) and as pretty well put by ALE, the ceramic it is unscratch-able and -i add- veeeeery tough!!!!
Then how do I reduce the size of the crown??? I tried hacksaw, different sort of blades (including sharp knives) but didn’t even scratch it…… until it came the metal grade sandpaper.
Hard but it does the job!!! It took me roughly 1 hour and ½ something to get to satisfactory depth, sanding using circular motion the thick part of the tube as I had to test every time the progress (fearing I could damage it if I wasn’t careful).
Then I took off a bit from the tail of the metal crown lock insert to be in line withthe ceramic tube.
As you can see in the pics, the metal is longer than the ceramic because it has to be welded onto the metal ridge inside the watch.
I let it rest for the night and came back to it the next day to ensure I was happy with the results. Well I wasn’t so I shaved off some more ceramic (it was getting very hard at that stage since I was using my fingers to do it) until I was nearly 100% happy (you know you can never be 100% happy with things –I certainly can’t).
During the day I had a discussion with my local hardware store guy about the best gluing process and he advised I used an epoxy type of glue to ensure firm welding. I am not sure if I can mention the brands of the glues I used so I will skip the names for now. I took one that seemed suitable for the job and off to do the gluing part. Before I did the gluing, I gave some fine sanding around the slimmer part of the tube as I thought this would provide a better grip for the glue to set on it. Mixed it, applied it, left it 34-35 hours to dry and I was ready to try. BIG time failure…… with the first twist of pressure via the crown the tube kept turning loose. :frusty
h my…o.k. off to the store. A more radical solution, stronger but also a little on the flexible side glue was employed this time. Same process as before and back to try the results. Not bad but I really didn’t feel comfortable with this tiny little play I could see (?) so I pushed from the inside of the case to see what’s what… POP it came out. Bummer…………. :culpability: grrrrr
Now that was a challenge right? Anyway, the same evening my wife (who’s been asking me to repair her galoshes – rubber boots) said to me.: “look, I went to a shop, said what type of glue you could use to fix my boots and they gave this waterproof type of glue. Now you have no excuse so, get on ‘cause I want to wear them tomorrow”. Well, if that’s not a sign then what is????? it was a superglue type but waterproof. The same evening I fixed the boots and within 5 minutes –superglue- the boots were better than new.
You guessed what happened next, right? only one problem.. the superglue sets in a flash so I had to be very careful in the amount to use and the pressure applied otherwise I could end up having a case stuck in my fingers and I’m sure it wouldn’t be very nice. So, I applied small little dots of glue all around the ceramic first and I did it. pushed and held the tube in the case for a minute or so. Good thing, my fingers didn’t get stuck. Then I tried the tube. Pushed it, pulled it but it sat there as an integral part of the case. Then I went to push from the back… (don't get any funny ideas) I pushed gently and then harder and harder….. (still, no funny ideas please
) Nothing. No matter how hard (within reason of course) I pushed, the tube sat comfortably there.
Then on to the metal part. Same procedure again… but this time I think I was a little more generous than I should and so I ended up with a line of glue that was looking at me from the case. S@@T…
I remained calm and went on the try if the rest of it was o.k. I pushed and I pulled but no movement whatsoever. Excellent I thought so now, how to fix the other part? To cut a long story short, after trying several things I asked help from my wife (or her things) again. Took the acetone and off to the case. I put little amount on a battonete we use to clean the ears and rubbed and rubbed again. I could see something was happening so I tried even harder avoiding putting too much liquid so it didn’t go inside the tube to weaken the glued parts. After a lot of rubbing finally I DID IT!!!
Boy I was well chaffed!!!! :cheers2: I had a great sleep that night I can tell you.
The next day I went to clean the crystal from the inside so that I could put in the movement and everything else back in again but as you veterans already know…. cleaning the crystal is not an easy task. I simply couldn’t do it. So next morning went straight to my local watch repair shop and asked the guy if he could clean the crystal for me. He confirmed so I left it there with him and went back in the evening to pick it up. He had done an excellent job so my 5 euro was well spent I think.
I put everything back in the case again and...
I guess I better let the pictures speak.
I think the PIG looks just great!!!
...and some wrist shots (sorry for the hair :rolleyes:)
[IMG]http://i1346.photobucket.com/albums/p689/garfieldtodd/B11_zps0d69117c.jpg
Sorry for the long post and my poor english but hope that most was understood.
Have fun (I certainly did!!!)
