Amateur Hour Watch Restoration

Preface

This restoration is actually a classic case of buying a donor movement -> restoring the donor movement instead. As such, I’ll be combining my notes for this post, so some of the ordering in the text may not make sense. This is Amateur Hour, after all!

Where they’re from

I obtained the first wristwatch from eBay for $30. I bought the second wristwatch on eBay for $15.

I bought the second watch as a donor movement for the first, but ended up liking it more than that movement, so I attempted to restore the second one instead.

It’s difficult to date the second watch, since there isn’t a lot of information around serial numbers for Slava watches from this period of time. My best estimate is that it was made sometime in the 70’s or maybe early 80’s. The 2414 movement was first launched in 1966 [ref]. According to this random Wix site (which appears to be a copy-paste of this dude’s personal blog site), Slava partnered with Italy to import Slava watches, which received a special “CCCP” stamp on the case back up until the 1980’s. And this Etsy listing with the same movement and a similar serial number on the case back claims to be from the 70’s-80’s.

What they looked like

How I restored it

Aug 6, 2025

After opening the watch, I saw a 2414 caliber marker underneath the balance, so I was slightly off on the caliber. Unfortunately, after trying to see if any of the stems I have fit, I accidentally bent the center-seconds pinion, noooooo. It looks like at least one of the stems kind of fits the movement, where it can at least rotate the sliding clutch. But, it looks like the keyless works is kinda messed up, the setting lever isn’t really engaging with the clutch at all.

Aug 7, 2025

I looked up if anyone had worked on one of these movements, and I found this post of someone who worked on a similar mechanism. From the pictures in there, it looks like the clutch is on the wrong side of one of the springs. Hopefully positioning it correctly will allow me to wind it, cross your fingers.

Well, it looks like the clutch lever just doesn’t fit correctly. It has what looks like a cutout for where the sliding clutch goes, but the cutout is so large that it just goes completely over the entire sliding clutch, instead of interfacing with the gap in the clutch. I think I might just try to find a donor movement, so I can compare parts. That would also let me replace the center seconds pinion, lol.

Aug 9, 2025

I gently bent the clutch lever so that it would better engage with the clutch, and I was able to wind it. Hooray! I took a reading, and it’s actually running pretty decently!

The stem I used to wind it definitely won’t work , since the gap for the setting lever isn’t in the correct location. I contemplated somehow modifying the stem to fit correctly, but that would be a whole thing that would probably end up not working very well. For the time being, I can at least work on the movement though, and keep my eyes peeled for a donor movement and/or a winding stem.

Maybe I spoke too soon though, because shortly after taking that reading, the movement stopped. Giving the balance a kick doesn’t seem to start it either. But then again, after removing the motion works, it kicked back up again. I noticed some debris/dirt on the escape wheel, so it probably just really needs to be cleaned.

I discovered something unfortunate though: the wheel that’s attached to the cannon pinion (part 242 in the manual) has some teeth missing. There’s definitely nothing I can do about that, so I’ll definitely need to find parts or a donor movement. I also just realized that without a reliable winding stem, it’s really difficult to let out the power safely. So, I will just let it run as long as it can, and hope it drains the power on its own. The spec says a 47 hour power reserve, so it might be awhile, ha.

Aug 23, 2025

After opening the case (interestingly held in with a ring), I can see that while the movement overall looks in OK shape, the cap jewel on the balance is missing, and floating around in the movement. The setting for it seems scratched and/or damaged, so I’m betting that the cap jewel won’t even stay in place.

The crystal was definitely glued in place, and unfortunately it looks like the dial got a bunch of glue on it. This also means that the dial is glued into the case, which means actually getting the movement out is going to be difficult. The dial is basically covered in glue, which is a real shame, because it looks like it’s original.

Aug 24, 2025

I’ve decided that I like the history of this movement more than the Eldorado, so I’ll be attempting to restore this movement instead. 

I fully disassembled the Eldorado, and I’ve noticed some small differences in the manufacturing:

1. The serial number “461217” is stamped on the main plate, instead of the case back. “SU” is stamped on this one in the same location.
2. “TWENTY ONE (21) JEWELS” is stamped on one of the bridges (this movement does not have that stamp anywhere).
3. The 2nd Moscow Watch Factory logo is stamped on the center bridge, instead of on the main plate underneath the balance wheel.
4. The shims for the balance bridge are a slightly different shape.
5. The barrels are brass, instead of the grey metal that this one has.

After fully disassembling this movement, here are the things that I have noticed that are less than ideal:

1. The case is pretty worn on the edges, with the brass showing through a lot.
2. The plastic retaining ring is cracked next to where the stem goes, and extremely dirty.
3. The rubber gasket still seems relatively flexible, but probably would be better to replace.
4. The crystal is basically unsalvageable, since the edge is completely covered in glue; I doubt it would fit anyways, since I’m guessing that’s why the glue was there in the first place.
5. The dial is completely cooked; it’s covered in glue all around the edge, and wherever the glue came up, it took the paint with it.
6. The brass washer is cooked.
7. There are some scratches on the date wheel.
8. The minute hand had some glue on the end of it.
9. The lume on both the hour and minute hand are just hanging on for dear life.
10. The second hand is missing.
11. The movement-side cap jewel and shock setting is missing from the balance.
12. One of the pallet fork jewels was loose.
13. The center seconds pin is slightly bent.
14. One of the mainsprings is broken.

Given all these issues, here’s my game plan for each item:

1. The case
   1. I’m not prepared to try and re-plate it, so I’ll just leave it be
2. The plastic retaining ring
   1. Clean + maybe a tiny dab of CA glue; the glue might not be necessary though.
3. The rubber gasket
   1. Find a replacement
4. The crystal
   1. Find a replacement
5. The dial
   1. I am going to try and see if I can restore the dial by just printing off a water slide decal. I don’t think I’ll be able to get it printed by anyone else, since I’ll need to print a trademarked logo. Most places I’ve found that print custom decals won’t print trademarks. So to restore the dial, I am going to:
      1. Completely sand off the plate
      2. Prime in white
      3. Print the dial with the numerals and logo in clear, and the “background” with the correct color. (My printer can’t print white, so any white color must come from the background).
6. The brass washer
   1. Find a replacement
7. The date wheel
   1. I’m torn on this one; it’s still perfectly legible, but I may replace it with the date ring from the donor movement
8. The minute hand
   1. Do my best to clean it, wish me luck
9. the lume on both the hour and minute hand
   1. Replace the lume
10. The second hand
    1. Use the second hand from the donor movement. Also apply lume to the tip, since other movements I’ve seen have that.
11. The movement-side cap jewel and shock setting
    1. Use the donor movement
12. the pallet fork
    1. Replace from the donor movement
13. The center seconds pin
    1. Unfortunately the donor movement has the same problem, so I will try and gently bend it back
14. Broken mainspring
    1. The mainsprings from the donor movement appear OK, but they are not the same type (they don’t make the S-shape). I’m going to use the donor mainsprings, but if I don’t like the amplitude after reassembly, I may try to source replacements. The best match I could find was from the UK though [ref], and shipping is $40…

Aug 25, 2025

I carefully segregated all the non-screw pieces into the mesh baskets, and ran it all through the ultrasonic. I used some wire to make a little stand for the main plate, along with a bit of wire to hang the other plates plus the case. Unfortunately, I forgot that this wire is not stainless, and tends to create oxidation. I feel kinda dumb, because this definitely happened with one of the Timex movements from before. No more using that wire!!!

Also, I somehow forgot how long I really needed to keep it in there. I think the default on my machine is 25 minutes, but it should really only be 3-5 minutes! Dummy!!! Hopefully I haven’t completely wrecked this movement. The parts still seemed to at least be intact. I’ll try assembly next time.

Aug 27, 2025

I took a look at all the parts yesterday, and I think most of them are OK, but I decided to use the escape wheel from the donor movement. When I cleaned the escape wheel on this movement, my stupid mistake of keeping it in waaaaay too long caused all the plating to come off of the wheel. So, donor movement it is.

I managed to oil the cap jewels somewhat successfully. It is super finicky business, as it seems that sometimes the jewels get a small static charge that causes them to stick to the tweezers. After about 5 tries though, I managed to do it. And, I just put the capped jewel on the balance bridge, with the shock setting. The shock springs are circular discs of brass, with three tiny little tabs coming off them. To install them, you gotta slide the tabs in one at a time, and then rotate the spring until they are all under the lip around the capped jewel. I am quite proud that I was able to do it:

Aug 29, 2025

I put the capped jewel on the other side for the balance, on the main plate.

Aug 30, 2025

I did it! It’s running!!!

(When I look at a high-speed video of the balance, it looks more like 200 degrees to my eyes). It came back together really really well. I only made a few mistakes during reassembly: I initially put the intermediate wheel between the two ratchet wheels upside down, which caused the ratchets to bind, and I forgot to grease the pallet stones before installing the balance wheel. Other than that, I feel like I did a really good job!

I’m actually thinking that the low amplitude is due to the really old mainsprings. I think I’m going to spring (ha) for new ones, but I’m not sure how shipping + tariffs are going to work.

Sep 3, 2025

Progress has been made.

I completely sanded off the dial, polished it, gave it a white base coat, and applied a water-slide decal of my own making.

I took the liberty of adding a slight red gradient at the center of the dial, along with adding a “Сделано в СССР” (“Made in USSR”) at the bottom. The colors bled a little bit, and I didn’t get it absolutely perfectly centered, but I am quite happy with how it turned out anyways.

The replacement mainsprings also came in the mail today! The parts: $9.80. The shipping: $53.71. The tariffs + “brokerage fee”: $22.64. The results: priceless.

Honestly not sure if it was worth the expense (was twice as expensive as both movements put together, basically), but I am still quite happy with the result.

Sep 5, 2025

Yesterday, I fixed up the hands by polishing and re-luming them. Today, I did the final assembly, and here’s where we landed:

I bought a simple black canvas strap to go with it. Honestly I am beyond happy with how it came out, I think it looks awesome!

Sep 18, 2025

Welp, I spoke too soon. I think I might not have put enough sealer on the decal, because the red started bleeding into the white. I also discovered that condensation was collecting on the inside, and after thinking about how I had replaced the case back gasket, I realized that I had put the complete wrong size in there, such that the gasket I had put in there wasn’t actually doing anything. And then I also noticed that the date indicator wasn’t completely turning over.

So, I ordered a properly sized gasket, took out the dial and took off the old decal, and replaced the dial spring with the one from the Eldorado. That spring seems to work much better. I think I’m going to try and put the decal on top of the polished metal, and see how that looks. I did a first pass at polishing, but now that I’m looking at it I can still see a bunch of small scratches, so I’ll probably do another pass again before applying the decal.

Sep 22, 2025

I finished up the dial, and I gotta say, I think it looks fantastic:

I also installed the new gasket. It still seemed too small, so I ended up needing to stretch it out a bit to make it fit. However, I think this still wasn’t enough, since when I went on my run this morning, it started fogging up again. When I opened the case back, I could clearly see moisture on the gasket, so I think that’s definitely where the moisture is coming in.

So, I ordered more gaskets in larger sizes, and I also ordered a new crown, just in case that was the culprit. I had thought that the broken spacer was fine as-is, but now I’m thinking I might want to model and 3D print a new one.

I also noticed that the movement stops when I put it dial-side down. It looks like when it’s in that position, the second hand interferes with the minute hand. I had a lot of trouble putting the hands on, so I also ordered some basic hand setting tools. This watch is turning out to be a lot of trouble! I felt really good about the movement, but the casing seems to also be a big challenge! Lesson learned.

Sep 23, 2025

What. A. Disaster.

I started taking the dial off, so I could make a 3D model of the movement spacer. Then, I noticed it wasn’t running anymore! I saw that the balance was still oscillating freely, but the pallet wasn’t moving. What! So I took the balance out, and lo and behold, the impulse jewel was nowhere to be found.

What!

So, I got the spare balance complete from the donor movement, installed it, and it kicked back up, but then when I took a reading, I got this garbage:

What! So now, I’m going to take the movement apart (again), and hope that the root cause is the impulse jewel floating around in there… I have no idea what else it could be. Really really depressing turn of events. Starting to feel the sunk-cost fallacy here. I’m too bummed to work on the movement right now, so I’ll just work on 3D modeling the spacer + a tool to properly remove the case back.

Sep 26, 2025

Started reassembly, cleaning as I go, just by wiping off the oil with Rodico, and swishing in alcohol. I almost had a heart attack when I pinged the pallet fork off somewhere in the room; spent about 15 minutes on my hands and knees looking for it, eventually found it underneath one of the piano bench legs, phew.

Sep 27, 2025

Reassembled the watch, took a reading. Still wavy. BUT! I took a closer look at the balance + hairspring, and I could see the hairspring periodically interacting with the center wheel, oops. Not sure what I can do there, but I’m gonna try to adjust the seating of the hairspring in the adjustment lever to see if that fixes it. Cross your fingers!

Sep 28, 2025

OK, I futzed with the hairspring (yikes!!!) for a bit, and I think I managed to position it so it’s no longer interfering with the center wheel! Managed to get it adjusted to about where it was before:

This is before oil, too. Yay!

Aaaaand I broke it. Screwed the ratchet screw in too tight, and ended up shearing the screw. No big deal though, I was able to grab one from the Eldorado movement.

Sep 29, 2025

Finally got it all ready for casing, got to use my new hand-setting tools. They worked out great! I had to try a couple of times, but I definitely felt better about setting the hands, doing it with the tweezers is definitely sketch. So I get it all cased up, and go to put in one of the new gaskets, and lo and behold, I didn’t realize that the gasket measurements on Esslinger are the inner diameter, and not the outer diameter, oops. Even so, it still looked way too big, even for the reported outer diameter. So instead of trying to guess what actual size gasket to get, I ended up getting the 180 pack of a variety of gaskets. Hopefully it should get here by the end of the week. I put in one of the mis-sized flat gaskets in the meantime.

Oct 3, 2025

Gaskets came in, and a 29/30mm one ended up fitting nicely. I also got some silicone grease, so I’m hoping this will finally finally be done. I have at least kept it wound the last couple of days, and have been happy to see that it’s keeping excellent time.

Oct 28, 2025

Just a final note here: I’ve been wearing this every day since the last entry, and it’s been working excellently! I even brought it with me to Germany, where I showed it to a slightly confused flea market vendor who happened to be selling a couple of other Slava movements.