# Poljot 3133 chronograph



## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

I finally took the plunge, buying what looked like a nice example (listed as needing a service due to the hands stopping)





however, on stripping it down



I find that I need a few parts





and a missing minute recording jumper (finger spring).

If anyone has a either just these parts, or a donor movement that they'd like to let go, please PM me.

I'd love to get this fully working.


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

Christ, I Wouldnt know where to start, all the bits would like to see it when done up keep posting updates and good luck with any parts you find.


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

It might be your lucky day. I'm away working away right now but will be home later in the week. I've almost definitely got all the bits you need.

Should be something in my 3133 junk collection:


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## Garry (Feb 25, 2003)

The good old 3133. One of the most understated / underrated movements ever?

I love them.


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## ziggy1024 (Dec 18, 2017)

Great stuff. Make sure you update us on your progress!


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## wrenny1969 (Jun 24, 2008)

Fascinating job, and great to see people helping each other out :thumbsup: :yes:


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

Christmas arrived early today, thanks to the generosity of *Lampoc*. Updates to this thread to follow ........


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Glad you received it ok. I look forward to seeing the finished item!


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

So, today I received a donor movement which gave me these three needed parts



so, knowing that I would be able to complete the movement rebuild I set about cleaning every part of the movement.

I do this by hand, one part at a time. Including each screw!!

The part gets immersed in essence of renata - this dissolve any oil, grease etc. but is non corrosive. While in the renata I use sharpened cocktail sticks and special cotton buds to dislodge any debris that won't fall off.

Once all the parts are done, I think clean each part under the microscope on rodico. The rodico picks of any debris still left. At this point I also inspect the part for damage or wear.

The gear train parts then get another bath in clean renata prior to assembly.







this is what came off from the initial bath (oil,grease and metal filings)



the mainplate, bridges and other larger parts (including the balance assembly) also get cleaned





here's everything after the first pass







all looking very good and no further problems found.


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

With part 1 of the clean done I set about the final clean before assembly.

I start with the mainplate, making sure that every jewel is spotless, and has been cleaned with a sliver of cocktail stick (ensuring that the fibres that break off are removed)

This has a removable shock setting for the balance wheel (similar to the Diashock assembly found in SEIKO watches)



I carefully unhinged the two sides of the clip (not having done one of these before I wasn't sure quite how it worked)

This allowed me to remove the clip, the cap jewel and the frame



I then cleaned the frame and cap jewel



before oiling the cap jewel



and putting it back on the frame



then I very carefully re-fitted it







so now I have the mainplate clean and ready to go



usually at this point I will service the mainspring / barrel. However, not have done one of these before I decided to just clean it externally. I might re-visit this in the future.


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

As I assemble the movement, each part gets a second clean before fitting.

Being very unfamiliar with this movement (and rather nervous) I referred to the pictures I'd taken at each stage of the stripdown to guide me.

I very carefully oiled the inner jewel on this assembly.





before fitting it



In the above picture I've also fitted the train wheel bridge that holds the jewel that third wheel fits in





then I oil the bush in the mainplate that will take the mainspring arbor. I also oil the centre wheel jewel



then I clean and fit the centre wheel





then the barrel bridge goes on



and I check that the train gear runs freely.

Then I fit the click spring for the ratchet wheel (being very mindful it doesn't ping off)



then I quickly fit the ratchet wheel (holding that spring safe)



phew!!


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

Next I decide to fit the keyless works so I can get some power to the mainspring. Time for one of the new parts (the winding pinion) to be fitted





then I oil the hole that the setting lever fits into



and fitted











then another pesky (but well behaved) spring



and after fitting the setting lever spring



the keyless works are complete. And we're getting there.


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

The movement gets flipped back over



to fit the crown wheel assembley







then I fit the escape wheel - to do this I had to undo the screw that was holding the train wheel bridge and very carefully locate the escape wheel pinions.



in hindsight this should have been fitted first!!

Next I clean and oil the pallet forks





and fit them



now onto the last assembly needed to get this movement running - the balance







perfect.


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

The balance cock had two shims under it



I started off by placing these before placing the balance cock



but soon realised it was too fiddly, so first placed the balance cock, then slid the shims in place





Then gave the mainspring a full wind (which takes quite a lot of turns of the crown), popped it on the timegrapher





OK, that's a very healthy amplitude. After regulating it I got to this





woo hoo.

I thought this movement looked good.

Updates to follow when I complete the dial side and chrono re-build.


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## ziggy1024 (Dec 18, 2017)

Love this! One day...


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## Littlelegs (Dec 4, 2011)

Wow :notworthy: . Wish I had the skills and patience. Can't wait to see the finished watch.


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## wrenny1969 (Jun 24, 2008)

Gladiator, I salute you :thumbs_up:


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## Ullevi (Feb 7, 2017)

Amazing !

Many thanks for such a great write up :notworthy:

Looking forward to the next chapter :thumbsup:


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

It's been a great journey so far how do you have the patients :thumbs_up:


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## davidcxn (Nov 4, 2010)

Fascinating write up, great pictures and a lot of skill. Well done. :thumbsup:


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## mrzee (Jun 22, 2012)

All I can say is Wowzers!!! Cannot wait to see the finished article. Hats off to you sir!


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

I made more progress today - Christmas Eve is made for watch tinkering.

I normally complete the dial side last, but on this movement I figured I'd get the easy part out of the way.

First part to be fitted was the cannon pinion



I really like this movement - I feel like I'm assembling a tank.



I should really have fitted the cannon pinion before the minute wheel as there is a high risk of damage if the cannon pinion is pushed down out of alignment with the teeth of the minute wheel. I was very careful.

Then it was the date jumper, first fitting the two brass washers





and then the date jumper spring, the hour wheel (with all of its teeth!!) and the date indicator driving wheels (one small, one big)



then the date wheel



and then the date indicator guard (made of 1/4" steel plate)





and finally the dial rest plate



and that completed the dial side. Now onto the chrono complication ........


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

I must admit that I was quite nervous about the chrono complication on this movement. There are a lot of parts and quite a few springs.

I started with the first spring



which puts tension on the coupling clutch





which got a final clean and oil before fitting



next I cleaned and fitted the minute recording wheel



then the tiny brass friction spring for the chronograph runner (yep, that just runs off the tongue)



and the seconds recording wheel and minute recording jumper



and then the chronograph bridge



at this point I was feeling rather proud of myself. But you know what they say ........


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Thank you, this has been hugely interesting. :yes:


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

From this point things got a 'little' more complicated.

First to get fitted was the plate for the chronograph complication (very aptly named)



Then I cleaned and oiled the sliding gear





this is held in place by a left handed screw, and placed under tension by another sping



The next part, the hammer cam jumper went on easily



Next part fitted was the fly back lever



I was starting to think that maybe I'd worried unnecessarily .....

But getting the operating lever spring in place was when things took a turn for the not so positive.


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

It took me a while to figure that I needed to slacken the screws holding the plate for the chronograph complication to tease the spring in place.



but things got very frustrating when I tried to fit the operating lever. This is a three part affair, two parts hinged together with a spring mounted on top of the first.

I could not figure out how to mount these in a way that allowed them to actually work (all would be tinkerers know that its always possible to fit a part, but fitting the part in the correct place, with the correct orientation and where necessary ensuring that the part engages correctly with other parts can be rather 'challenging').

It took me a 'while' to figure out how to do it correctly. Now I know I'm sure that future rebuild of this movement will be easy.

I'm pleased to say that the numerous remove/refit iterations didn't inflict any damage to the parts or the rest of the movement (always a real risk).

I didn't take any pictures during this phase, I was too busy struggling.

But, after a couple of breaks (mince pies, not broken parts!!) I got to this point





a fully operational movement

That still runs nicely





(I've adjusted the lift angle on the timegrapher to the correct 51 degrees)


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

Time to start the rebuild

dial screws



and dial in place (cleaned up, but not re-lumed yet. I need to figure out how to get a green lume to match the hands)



as I don't have a movement holder, I decided to re-case the movement before fitting the hands





I had previously cleaned the case and re-lumed the triangle on the dial ring

then I cleaned and re-fitted the hour & minute hands





And that's where I got to before a rather splendid family Christmas Eve meal and fun.


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## BobJ (Jul 2, 2017)

What a cracking thread!

This is one of the things I was hoping to see when I joined the forum.

Many thanks @Sir Alan for taking the time to post. :thumbsup:


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## Faze (Mar 1, 2013)

Amazing, loved it and barely a hiccup. Thanks for taking the time to record the process for us. :thumbsup: 
Would love to see a final photo of the tools used including optical headgear if any.


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

As I was stripping the watch down, I had another grrr moment when the chronograph hands and the sweep seconds hand all detached from their tubes - leaving the tubes sitting on the shafts and me thinking life just got a bit more complicated even before starting on the movement itself.





Reading up on the various servicing threads I saw that this is quite a common issue. It was still a pain though!!

Luckily the parts from *Lampoc* came with the sub-dial hands (sweep second and chrono minute) but not the chrono seconds hand.

A new one is available, but I decided to try and fix the original one first.

First clean off the old paint and oxidisation





that's better



Out with my staking set (the only tool in this situation). The idea being to press the hand back onto the tube









that's a good start, but there is still a gap between the tube and the hand (on the underside) meaning the hand hasn't pushed all the way onto the tube



so next I use a stake with a hole in the middle



then finally the thinnest flat stake



that's better





next job is to paint it





after Christmas lunch ......


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

Gory red sounds horrifying, great read this is better than whats on the telly. :thumbs_up:


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

Gory red was like blood - very red when wet, but when dry a rather boring red / brown.



so, I stripped this off and went with this instead



I've recently re-fitted the sub-dial hands



and then the re-painted chrono seconds hand







I've not pressed the (polished) crystal home, I'll only do this when I've re-lumed the dial batons.


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## Garry (Feb 25, 2003)

Excellent thread. Very interesting and nice work.


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## ziggy1024 (Dec 18, 2017)

This really is inspirational - bit scary, mind! How many hours do you think you've spent on it?


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## Pete wilding (Jul 13, 2017)

Not found this thread until today,wow inspirational


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

ziggy1024 said:


> This really is inspirational - bit scary, mind! How many hours do you think you've spent on it?


 As this is the first 3133 movement I've worked on, it took me a bit longer.

*30 mins - initial case stripdown and clean*

*30 mins - crystal polish (wet&dry then polywatch)*

*15 mins - inner dial ring re-lume*

*60 mins - movement stripdown*

*90 mins - movement clean (part 1)*

*300 mins - movement re-build (including clean part 2)*

*60 mins - hand re-stake and paint*

*30 mins - dial baton re-lume*

 so all told about *10 hours*. I take numerous photographs during the whole process. I also don't rush - I like doing the best job I'm capable of. On the stripdown stage this is essential on a movement I'm not familiar with. I refer to the pictures during the re-build phase.


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## ziggy1024 (Dec 18, 2017)

Would be at least three times as long for me, but not bad if you've got the skills... Is it a keeper?


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

I did the dial baton lume yesterday using Bergeon green lume. The old lume just slid off



so no dust or bits to get in the movement.

It turned out OK, but it didn't really match the hands (though it did glow nicely in the dark).



So today I popped into town to visit the Games Workshop.

The best match seemed to be this:



I've just cleaned the lume off the batons (easy as it hadn't dried hard yet) and then mixed some white lume with the green paint



and applied it. I think this is going to look much better.



I also re-did the triangle on the inner dial ring.


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

looking even better I like lume :thumbsup:


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## Sir Alan (Sep 10, 2010)

Looking much better now.


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

That looks really good now been a good watch thread.


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## borobiffa (Mar 9, 2013)

Wow, just seen this. Amazing job.


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## GaryH (Nov 8, 2006)

Just now seen this thread. Fantastic. Amazing skills and knowledge. Really interesting. Well done on a great job.

Cheers

Gary


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## it'salivejim (Jan 19, 2013)

Superb :notworthy:


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Sir Alan said:


> Looking much better now.


 It looks fantastic. :thumbsup:


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Great job! and if you cost your time in, not bad at all -- you'd be hard put to get a resto to that level from many watchmakers at anything less than three figures plus!

This is the beauty of being a twiddler - - you can take your time and get it right without the pressure of commercial requirements. I salute you! :drinks:


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## Steve D UK (Sep 28, 2016)

That is an absolutely fantastic job. I'd have given up when everything was in pieces. :thumbs_up:


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## Jaqs00 (Mar 13, 2017)

Absolutely amazing work!!! Thanks a lot for share it.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

A great photo essay and a job well done


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## ETCHY (Aug 3, 2004)

Great photo's & I take my hat off to your skill - very well done :thumbsup:

I have the exact same model of Poljot & you've tempted me to dig it out & wear it. I bought it new in 1996 from a place called Clockwork & Steam that used to sell Russian stuff back in the day. It cost me £130.00 (I think). It's one of the few watches I've owned that long !


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## Biker (Mar 9, 2013)

Just been back through this again.... Epic thread


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## tixntox (Jul 17, 2009)

Biker said:


> Just been back through this again.... Epic thread


 Me too! I've been busy with lots of stuff other than watches for ages so have only occasionally popped in. Threads like this are what keeps your interest going. My old hands and eyes are getting beyond tinkering now but it's great to see others still at it! Thank you for the thread. Mike


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