# Montine Electronic



## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

I bought this watch on eBay last week. The seller said "Have not replaced battery, may work but selling as spares and repairs."



















I usually take these statements with a pinch of salt, but it looked quite clean even though the crystal was quite badly scratched and it appeared to have the original bracelet (since identified as a VERY expensive Swiss made NSA one  ) and with a £22 winning bid looked to be worth a go....

Well it arrived yesterday and from the build up of very old, and dried up, detritus all around the back to case join it was obvious that no one had removed the back for a while (at this point I just hadn't realised how long ago that 'while' was :scared: ) . So the seller wasn't telling 'porkies' he hadn't tried a new battery in it :thumbsup: . Not wishing to transfer all of the dirt into the watch on opening I cleaned the outside of the case with a drop of WD40 and an electric toothbrush. I opened the watch and was confronted with a very clean looking ESA 9157 movement, with a battery still in place. At this point I did notice that the designation on the battery, while being made by 'Renata', was one I was not at all familiar with....










On removal there was minimal signs of leakage so I cleaned up the movement contacts with some alcohol and a cotton bud and looked for a similar sized new battery amongst my 'stock' , which fortunately wasn't a problem. On putting the battery in, even prior to attempting to get the top clamp in place to my surprise and delight the balance started up and continued to oscillate :clap: .

At this point I clamped up the battery and replaced the back and transferred my attentions to getting the scratches out of the crystal and generally tidying up the case, something that turned out quite nice and all of the time the watch ticked away happily...










I was just about to set the time and date when I noticed that the battery that I had removed from the watch, and was still sitting under the bench light had some writing scratched on the -ve end......This is where the mind blowing bit comes in.....apparently the watch maker who had last changed the battery had carefully noted the date that the job was done on the battery itself.....










That's right, the 16th of April 1982! :scared: , that's 38 bloody years ago! :jawdrop1: (which explains the strange battery number that I didn't recognise).

How the battery hadn't destroyed the watch over the years is a miracle, I can't see any modern Silver Oxide battery being as kind.....

Anyway back to the one bit of bad news about the watch... I set the time with no problems, the watch hacked and the second hand started up immediately the crown was pushed back in, but on pulling the crown back out to the first position, despite every thing turning as expected the date refused to change, there wasn't even any drag to suggest that something was sticking  . Thinking that there was probably something amiss with the stem, stopping the quick date change from working, I thought that I would set the date the slow way by advancing the hands. Sadly this didn't work either, again no drag around 12 midnight to suggest something jammed or sticking.....

I am resigned now to stripping off the hands and dial to find the problem, but I'm wary about jumping in on an unfamiliar movement without first asserting what the mechanism is like before starting the strip down.

All attempts so far to get any detailed information on how the date change works on the ESA 9157 (or indeed the 9158 day/date version) have failed. The Ranfft picture of the keyless works side of the movement gives no clues as to what delights are lurking under the central cover plate....










Cousins have the 'Communication Technique' (in French) available for down load but while it shows the parts list it isn't obvious how the date change operates.










I have found the information that I'm looking for , for the' similar' ESA9154, but the date change components (by comparing the two parts lists) appear to be totally different.

Can anyone point me towards the info that I'm looking for. (or even a cheap, electrically defunct movement for spares...)

I like to know where I'm going before starting a 'journey' and I am loath to strip the watch down unprepared, with the possibility of finding something broken (perhaps a tooth missing from the date wheel or a broken tension spring), without having immediate access to the necessary replacement part/parts.....


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## Balaton1109 (Jul 5, 2015)

Hi there,

I don't have a 9157, but on my 9158 the quick date change is achieved by pulling the crown to the middle position and turning clockwise. The slow way works by pulling the crown to the final (time-setting) position and rotating the hand through 24 hours.

I'm sorry if this isn't exactly comforting news, but good luck with fixing yours.

Regards.


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

Balaton1109 said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I don't have a 9157, but on my 9158 the quick date change is achieved by pulling the crown to the middle position and turning clockwise. The slow way works by pulling the crown to the final (time-setting) position and rotating the hand through 24 hours.
> 
> ...


 Yes I have a 9158 as well and all works as it is supposed to, but unfortunately something is amiss with whatever controls the date advance on this watch.......

I have found one other picture, online, of the keyless works side of the ESA 9157 movement, with the date wheel removed










and while I can see the operating lever, directly opposite the stem, that engages with the teeth on the date wheel, again what actually makes that move is buried even deeper in the movement, which would suggest a total strip down of the other side of the movement is needed and I am loath to do that as the balance and electronic part of the watch is set up perfectly and all of that would have to come out......  The other possibility of course is that the lever is operation but there is a damaged tooth on the date wheel stopping it advancing. I will have to remove the hands and dial to determine that of course...


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

An update on this....I removed the movement from the case and stripped the hands and dial off, revealing the date ring in all of it's 'glory'. A quick inspection revealed the problem, 'pyorrhoea', one of the driving teeth on the ring was missing. (Adjacent to 11 on the dial).










I manually advanced it and the date change operated. Obviously when the gap reached a critical point in the rotation the advancing drive was lost!

Much to my surprise Cousins had the date ring for the ESA9157/8 in stock, even more surprising at less than a tenner!

New date ring obtained and fitted and now we have a perfect watch. :thumbsup:


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Great story, wonderful watch and well done for fixing it.


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

While i was working on the watch I noticed another small detail that I haven't yet remarked on...In my initial post I mentioned the date meticulously finely scratched on the battery at the last change in 1982 and the 'high quality' Swiss Stainless bracelet that the watch now supports... Well it would appear that the same meticulous watchmaker who did the last battery change also supplied and fitted the new bracelet..

Detail of the clasp....










And detail of the fine inscription inside it (it reads :-"27X NEW 3.5.81" )










When I said 'high quality' I didn't initially realise just how 'high'....

I found this advert on line, dated 2015, for the same bracelet...










And currently there is one for sale on eBay...... :jawdrop1: It makes my initial £22 initial purchase price for the watch an even better bargain than I had initially thought!!










And there is also a second hand one, with no end links currently for sale as well....


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

Some history of Novavit SA (NSA) HERE


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## streety (Jan 17, 2009)

Nice one John :thumbsup: . I do so like a happy ending. :teethsmile: .


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## Lou61 (Aug 9, 2015)

Great read John, I love stories like this. Fantastic watch too!


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## Jet Jetski (Feb 10, 2019)

John_D said:


> An update on this....I removed the movement from the case and stripped the hands and dial off, revealing the date ring in all of it's 'glory'. A quick inspection revealed the problem, 'pyorrhoea', one of the driving teeth on the ring was missing. (Adjacent to 11 on the dial).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Great news, I like a good rescue story!


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