Service: Helvetia Watch with Helvetia 830 Movement

This is a charming Helvetia watch from the UK for a service.

It has an in-house movement, as most of them do. In this case, it’s the Helvetia 830 movement with an unusual design.

The ratchet wheel, the crown wheel, and the click are “hidden” underneath an extra cover.  This movement also has an intermediate wheel between the 4th wheel and the sweep second pinion.

It’s always fascinating to see something that isn’t like most movements, and it keeps it interesting.

The watch is from the mid-1950s.

Disassembly

Remove all the power from the mainspring before you start working on the movement. If you don’t, you could damage one of the pivots of the wheel train or the escapement.

Because the ratchet wheel and crown wheel are underneath a cover, the click isn’t immediately visible. It’s bottom left of the crown wheel, near the 3rd wheel. I’ve added a red arrow pointing at it.

Move the click away from the crown wheel while slowly letting the crown slip between your thumb and index finger.

Lift the balance and the pallets and store them somewhere safe.

Remove the cover over the ratchet wheel, the crown wheel, and the click. Very often, the crown wheel screw is reverse-fretted, but in this case, it’s a regular screw.

Lift the ratchet wheel, the crown wheel with its core, the click, and the click spring. Then, lift the barrel bridge.

Remove the main barrel and the bridge over the 4th wheel and the escape wheel.

Lift the sweep second pinion, the intermediate wheel, the 3rd wheel, the 4th wheel, and the escape wheel.

Remove the cannon pinion on the other side of the movement and return to this side to lift the center wheel cock and the center wheel.

Flip the movement around and continue work on the bottom plate.

Remove the cover over the minute and setting wheel and lift those. Remove the set lever spring, and then the rest of the keyless works.

I decided to clean the return bar spring in situ because it was stuck firmly in place, and I didn’t want to risk any damage by forcing it.

Pre-clean the pivot holes and bearing jewels with a sharp peg wood. I always sharpen the peg wood with a pencil sharpener and then finish it with a scalpel.

Clean all the parts in the watch cleaning machine.

Assembly

Fit the center wheel and the center-wheel cock. Lubricate the center wheel post with a tiny bit of HP1300.

Place the escape wheel, 4th wheel, 3rd wheel, intermediate wheel, and the sweep second pinion in position. Use a little bit of HP1300 on the sweep second pinion.

Install the barrel bridge first.

With the barrel bridge in place, you can reinstall the cover for the 4th wheel and escape wheel.

Place the main barrel, ratchet wheel, and crown wheel with the core, click, and click the spring in position. Don’t forget to lubricate the outside of the crown wheel core before you place the crown wheel.

Reinstall the extra cover.

Turn the movement around and fit the motion works and the keyless works.

Flip the movement to the top plate and reinstall the pallets. Lubricate the exit pallet stone with some 9415.

Fit the balance and enjoy the watch coming back to life.

Remove the Incabloc chatons and capstones. Clean any hardened oil from the capstone with peg wood before you clean it with One Dip or something similar.

Lubricate the capstones with 9010 and reassemble the shock protection system on both sides of the movement.

Reinstall the hour wheel and washer, fit the dial, and case the movement with the dial. 

When the parts were being cleaned in the watch cleaning machine, I used hot water, a bit of dish soap, and an old toothbrush to clean the watch case. After casing the movement and dial, I used KT-22 grease on the tube before fitting the stem and crown.

Fit the hands and replace the watch crystal.

---

What do you think of this Helvetia? Would you add one to your collection? Let me know in the comments below.