It’s been quite a while since I’ve restored a Bell-Matic, but this non-runner certainly looked like it had some potential…
(Click pictures to enlarge)
As you can see in the picture above, the crystal was in need of replacement, but when I removed the bezel it was obvious that someone had tried (and I mean REALLY tried!) to remove the bezel in the past…
… It was like that almost all the way around, what were they using, a hammer and chisel?
I’m guessing that when the bezel finally popped off and they realised that the crystal didn’t just lift out, the bezel was replaced, and into a drawer it went. The movement obviously hadn’t been running for a long time as the oils had all dried up, but when cleaned and re-oiled, it ran nicely.
Thankfully the damage to the case didn’t affect the seating of the crystal or the bezel, so after the movement was serviced it was just a matter of fitting a new crystal and doing some ‘damage limitation’ on the case. Here’s the watch all finished up…
On really close inspection the case still has a few battle scars, but with a dial and hands in such great condition, I can certainly live with that.
Rich.
Hello.
I just ran into well battered bell-matic and angelus datalarm circa 1965. At first I despised the poor old watches, but then I saw your beautiful work in your articles, I started to think going restoration. Advice here: besides watch maker knowledge, which tools do I need to pop up the cristal? Thank you and I looking forward to see more of your work