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poorly made watch

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

I made a watch from parts I ordered on Ebay, AliExpress, and Amazon. It turned out to be quite tricky, and while the end results looks okay, the cheap parts were my undoing. One of the two dials didn't fit the case properly, and naturally it was the one that everyone said looked better of the two (a dash of blue to complement the otherwise all-silver case and bracelet). So I had to spend 90 minutes filing it with an old 1000 grain file until it fit. The hands went on well enough (another hour) but the screws to hold the dial to the movement were far too tiny for me to install. I think in the ensuing juggling to get it together I must have damaged the movement be sure it won't run properly. I have found a cheap quartz movement of the same dimensions and have now ordered that. It's a very simple movement but it has the date wheel that the dial and crystal need (the crystal has a cyclops for magnifying the date).

I have to say the Miyota movement was a real disappointment. Winding the thing it felt like there was grit inside it. Maybe I bought a lemon. Who could know, buying from sources like Ebay!