# 3133 Repairs



## ProperTidy (Mar 10, 2014)

Bought a sturmanskie off the bay a while back but the date stuck between days when I received it.

This is the watch:










Took it to my usual watch maker who said it should be easy enough to fix and estimated Â£20 or thereabouts, but that it would take him a while to get around to it. So I mailed the seller and got Â£20 refund off him to cover costs.

Watchmaker finally called a week or so ago and said he couldn't fix it - reckoned somebody had been 'at it' before and had made it worse. Couldn't get any further detail out if him, although hopefully I will when I get around to collecting it.

Watch maker is a decent bloke and has always done a good job but he is very suspicious of, and at times downright insulting to, watches that aren't tissot, seiko, Rolex etc. From conversations I've had with him, he doesn't know much about watches outside of the usual high st stuff (fair enough, I know sweet fa about fixing the bloody things!) so whilst he's probably right his lack of knowledge combined with his contempt for Russian watches means I am not entirely convinced by his assessment, but anyway...

Obviously too late for me to return watch and would like to get it fixed.

Heard good things about the watch maker in Porthmadog when it comes to Russians - does anybody know if he's my best bet for a repair? Or any other suggestions?

I do have another one of the same (different dial) and a few other 3133's so worst case scenario I can keep it for spares but cost me a ton so I'd like it working properly tbh


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## jnash (Dec 6, 2010)

The 3133's almost identical to valjoux 7733 movements, which should be familiar to your watchmaker. ive worked on a few and there nothing special compared to its swiss partners so anyone should be able to work on them.

Good luck in your quest, let us know how you get on .


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## PC-Magician (Apr 29, 2013)

If a Watchmaker can't work on a Russain Watch then I don't think I would trust him on anything else.


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

If I remember rightly, the date changing problem on 3133s (and also the 7734 it's based on) is normally due to a bent metal spring that moves the date wheel. If you're confident enough you can check by removing the dial and hands. If not, I'd recommend "fromukraine" on ebay. I've sent a few 3133s to him and he's done a decent job at a very good price.

Send him a message: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Repair-Service-Soviet-Russian-Watch-VOSTOK-POLJOT-SLAVA-LUCH-CHAIKA-ZIM-POBEDA-/111337121420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ec35a68c


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## ProperTidy (Mar 10, 2014)

jnash said:


> The 3133's almost identical to valjoux 7733 movements, which should be familiar to your watchmaker. ive worked on a few and there nothing special compared to its swiss partners so anyone should be able to work on them.
> 
> Good luck in your quest, let us know how you get on .





PC-Magician said:


> If a Watchmaker can't work on a Russain Watch then I don't think I would trust him on anything else.


Hmm yeah am starting to suspect I may need to find a new watchmaker. Shame, he's only down the road!


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## ProperTidy (Mar 10, 2014)

Lampoc said:


> If I remember rightly, the date changing problem on 3133s (and also the 7734 it's based on) is normally due to a bent metal spring that moves the date wheel. If you're confident enough you can check by removing the dial and hands. If not, I'd recommend "fromukraine" on ebay. I've sent a few 3133s to him and he's done a decent job at a very good price.
> 
> Send him a message: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Repair-Service-Soviet-Russian-Watch-VOSTOK-POLJOT-SLAVA-LUCH-CHAIKA-ZIM-POBEDA-/111337121420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ec35a68c


Cheers mate, wouldn't be confident myself, may well try 'fromukraine', just a bit wary of posting overseas (god knows why, that's where I got it from!)


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Greg at Woodland Technical might be worth a try - a Google on Woodland Technical will find a contact for him.He's one of a few happy to work on anything fom TIMEX upwards, and a lot of guys on the Ticak Forum use him.

2c worth!

:weed:


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## ProperTidy (Mar 10, 2014)

mel said:


> Greg at Woodland Technical might be worth a try - a Google on Woodland Technical will find a contact for him.He's one of a few happy to work on anything fom TIMEX upwards, and a lot of guys on the Ticak Forum use him.
> 
> 2c worth!


Cheers Mel, will have a good scoot round now I've got a starting point and see who I get a good feeling for, ta!


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## chris.ph (Dec 29, 2011)

i would go with lampocs suggestion, from ukraine is very well thought of on wus and i havent heard anything bad about him, plus if he cant fix it nobody can :thumbup:


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

chris.ph said:


> i would go with lampocs suggestion, from ukraine is very well thought of on wus and i havent heard anything bad about him, plus if he cant fix it nobody can :thumbup:


I don't know of him, but he ought to have access to parts.









Later,

William


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## chris.ph (Dec 29, 2011)

:lol: :lol:

ive had several straps off him and he is v good value on a bund :thumbup:


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## luckywatch (Feb 2, 2013)

Lampoc has provided a good link there. I have had a watch off him and a strap or two and have been well pleased with the service. I would email him first as WUS said there problems getting any response from him.

That country has got problems at the moment so take that into consideration. 3133 is a standard, been around for years movement, so should be an easy job.


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

That date changing pin is an *******... it's easy to fix though, it just needs a replacing part and a bit of luck fitting it correctly. The only problem is that dial and hands need to be removed. After that, it's the top plate that has to come out and that's it.


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## ProperTidy (Mar 10, 2014)

Excellent stuff, think I will go for the Ukrainian chap then, cheers fellas!


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

ProperTidy said:


> Excellent stuff, think I will go for the Ukrainian chap then, cheers fellas!


Let me just give you my opinion.... forget the date and wear it like it is, don't spend the money. It's possible that it will go kaput again soon after (it's a very common problem with the 3133) and the date is PITA to set anyway.

Plus, although it is easy to fix, it's not great going about opening watches, removing dials and hands and all that. Another commoun problem with the 3133 is it having problems resetting the main second hand and that's because the snap back is so brutal that the hand starts to get loose and slipping. Removing it from the pinion and resetting it speeds this possible problem (again, easy to fix - the hand will need some new bushing).


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Kutusov said:


> Let me just give you my opinion.... forget the date and wear it like it is, don't spend the money.


 I would go with this too to be honest. I rarely bother setting the dates on any of my Russian watches unless it's only a day or two out.


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## ProperTidy (Mar 10, 2014)

Mmmm... Suspect it may bother me, I'm quite anal about having the date set! Might wear it a bit and see how I get along


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

ProperTidy said:


> Mmmm... Suspect it may bother me, I'm quite anal about having the date set! Might wear it a bit and see how I get along


It bothered me too, so I sent mine to Steve Burrage at Ryte Time. He sorted it no problem abs it's been fine ever since.


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

lewjamben said:


> It bothered me too, so I sent mine to Steve Burrage at Ryte Time. He sorted it no problem abs it's been fine ever since.


Don't cheer too soon... it's a very fragile complication that can go wrong without much effort. Serious PITA to fix also as you don't see what exactly might be wrong, sometimes is just a millimetric deviation from the disk that has the date changing pin (or adjacent wheels... or top plate... or supernatural causes).


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

Kutusov said:


> lewjamben said:
> 
> 
> > It bothered me too, so I sent mine to Steve Burrage at Ryte Time. He sorted it no problem abs it's been fine ever since.
> ...


That means nothing to me :lol: :lol:

It's been 6 months so far...


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

Just so you know how it looks like:






The guy goes much further than the date, taking the keyless works apart, etc. The date part itself is pretty much until the 50 second mark. And that cannon pinion is really hard to pull out!


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