Watch Repairs

I’ve recently updated and repaired some watches. Here are the before and afters. Above is my Art Deco-era Cyma. It’s a little worn but works like a champ. The problem is that in the eight years that I’ve owned it, I’ve never found a strap that suited it. On Sunday I popped into a dusty old convenience store and spotted this NOS bracelet. It fits and even though it’s not from the same time frame I feel like it works.

Below is a photo of the same Cyma on a ribbon strap.

Next up is my mom’s Swatch. The buckle and keeper fell off and my mom lost them. Fortunately I have a stash of spare Swatch parts.

I had to reglue the end of the band and moisturize the leather (the old bond had dried up). The crystal was a little scuffed so I gave it a polish with PolyWatch.

And I didn’t have a buckle or keeper in the same colour, but it’s wearable and that’s what’s important. I mailed it to my mother. She got it yesterday.

Lastly, I found a mechanical Saga watch at the Salvation Army. It was only a couple of bucks, so I took a chance because I liked its eliptical shape. Got it home and couldn’t get it to tick. While researching the Saga brand I discovered that it was a label used by Timex in France. I opened up the case back and lo and behold it had the same movement as a watch in project box that worked but had an irreparable case.

I decided to swap the movements but first I had to trim the dial on the Timex to fit the case of the Saga. This was my most ambitious Watch restoration project ever!

Here’s the finished project. I also replaced the strap with one I bought when the Shinola store at Queen and Ossington went out of business.