My very love 1133B simply won't keep time. LA Watch Works no longer services her and none of the highly recommended watchmakers will take her in. "Is that the one with the micro rotor sandwiched between the movement? That one is a nightmare" a watchmaker in SF said. Another reject. World-Time in San Jose is recommended by an esteemed colleague and the biggest watch nut I know. A quick online search of "World Time San Jose” revealed photos of any typical watch service shop: Rolex, Rolex and more Rolex photos. eh, I don't feel a connection there, but my option is limited. I called the shop and made an appointment. I requested to see Son, the owner and the primary watchmaker of World Time. Son stepped out of his glass work shop and started with: "No one will service your watch, no parts" Damn! that's a downer. Son paused, then he followed up with, "I own an 1133B and I have spare parts" Tear of joys rolling down my cheeks. That's all I needed to hear. Son pulled out his phone and shows me photos of Caliber 11s and 12s he serviced over the years. He kept record of interesting pieces. That's my guy! He called me last week and told me he'll begin to disassemble my baby at 11:30am, I can come see it, if I wanted to. YES, YES I DO... “May I take a few photos?” “That’s fine” So if my boss asks, I'm in a meeting with one of you between 10:30 and 1:00pm, on Friday. Every Friday! I took a few photos and some videos of Son disassembling my baby. Every few minutes, he stopped to show me an important bit of my Monaco and how it functions within the movement; which parts often failed and how watchmakers could miss this or that. That was generous of him to take the time to give me a crash course in watch making. This isn’t just a donor watch I see a million times on YouTube, it’s my very own 1133B. My cherished fifty year old baby that served a retired physician faithfully her entire life, before me. There’s an emotional attachment that come with opening her up. Every time Son unscrews a part, I can’t help but holding my breath, as I see Son holding his. Son of World Time isn’t just a mighty fine watchmaker, the man is also a generous horological nerd that enjoy sharing his 30+ years of knowledge with anyone who wants to come by and see his magic in person. Oh, and of course he’s fully booked from 3-6months. Here are some photos of the disassembly of 1133B. I’ll update the thread and add more photos over the next weeks.
Amazing. The world needs more people like this. And that Monaco dial looks gorgeous. Now I want to see photos of it reassembled!
Thank you. It's my fav. The hour markers will be cleaned up, so will the date window. I did ask if I can come see the reassembled. He said "maybe". haha. I did take too much of his time. We counted 12 different screws types. The main spring is deformed and looks like it came straight from hell.
Got my old lady back. She’ll be on my wrist for the rest of the month. Gotta dig out her bracelet though.
