Service: Titus Dress Watch with Felsa 465 Movement

On the bench, a nice Titus watch with a stainless steel case. This would be called a boys watch nowadays with a diameter of 30 mm without the (original signed) crown.

For some reason, this Swiss brand is one of the most redialed brands out there. So, watch out if you’re looking for one on eBay, for example. This is an article on how to avoid a redial.

The dial looks to be two-tone with the markers in a separate circle.

The movement is a Felsa 465, hand winder with 17 jewels. It didn’t run at all when I received it.

Because of the fixed stud holder and the characteristic red tip on the second hand, I’d date this watch to the early 1950s.

Disassembly

Remove any power from the mainspring.  Hold the crown between your thumb and index finger and let it slip while you move the click away from the ratchet wheel.

Remove the balance and the pallets. Now might be a good time to pre-clean the pallet stones and the pallets crown. You can do so with a sharpened peg wood.

Remove the hour wheel (you can actually lift it immediately after you removed the hands and dial) and the cannon pinion on the bottom plate of the movement. You can’t remove the center wheel with the cannon pinion in place.

The bearing jewel for the 3rd wheel was completely clogged with old lubrication and lots of it. Too many lubrication that has thickened over the years will cause friction and cause the amplitude to drop.

The mainspring will have lost some of the kinetic energy already because of age. Too many issues like this clogged bearing jewel will cause the kinetic energy to drop so low that it stops the watch.

Lift the wheel-train bridge and remove the escape wheel, 3rd wheel, and the sweep second wheel.

Remove the ratchet wheel and the crown wheel and lift the barrel bridge.

There was a lot of grease underneath the crown wheel and the ratchet wheel. Caked grease around and in the barrel arbor creates friction and causes the amplitude to drop.

Remove the center wheel cock, the center wheel, and the main barrel.

Turn the movement around and start with the bottom plate.

Remove the motion works and the keyless works. Disassemble the capstones to be able to clean them and this side of the bearing jewels.

Pre-clean all the caked grease and the bearing jewels with a peg wood. Then, clean all the parts in the watch cleaning machine.

Assembly

Start with the main barrel, the center wheel, and the center wheel cock.

Fit the escape wheel, 3rd wheel, and the sweep second wheel and replace the wheel-train bridge.

Fit the barrel bridge, crown wheel, and the ratchet wheel.

Turn the movement around and start with the motion works and the keyless works.

Flip the movement to the top plate and fit the pallets and the balance.

Fit the dial and the hands and re-case them. Regulate the rate as close to 0 as possible while staying on the + side.

What do you think of this Titus? Do you own a Titus as well? Let me know in the comments below.