The Breitling Watch Source Forums :: View topic - SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his magic

I m waiting news of this watch.
see on the bay:
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 461wt_1081

coxolfi wrote:

I m waiting news of this watch.
see on the bay:
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 461wt_1081

Nice Watch , I know there's a lot of interest in it

On the topic of all the nice pieces that none of us ever talk about :lol:

Great looking 2005 Dracha, can't wait to see it post Craig.

I posted about this before when I got the project
Now the project is in Craigs (more than) capable hands slowly progressing

This is how I got it

these are the parts I got from Lester

and this is Craig doing his magic

Craig had to use a lot of time and extra parts that were no longer with the movement , and sadly enough the post from the flag indicator is missing , so it wont fit the stem. Luckily enough I bought several other parts from Lester when I had the chance including flag indicators , So now I need to send Craig another one today so he can finish the movement , fit the dial etc

I'll posts more updates when I received them

Looks awesome Rene, congrats and great job Craig! Rene, can we have a wrist shot of this watch?

I thought I would post a few comments about this project. The Valjoux 7731 used in this watch was a modified Valjoux 7730 movement which originated as the Venus cal 188 movement (Valjoux bought out Venus and updated the 188). Now you would think that all of the parts from either the 188 (note that there are some 188 parts that will not work in the 7730 but these are obvious) and/or the 7730 would fit the 7731 no problem. But NO - THEY DO NOT. This is something that I run into all the time with older chronograph movements designed/built prior to around 1970. In fact, the machining accuracy of older Venus (cals 150, 152, 165, 175, 178) is right up there with something like a model T Ford! Swapped part frequently do not fit well - particularly the chrono bridge and pallet bridge. This is not true of older Valjoux movements like the cal. 23 and 72 and their variants. So what most likely happened was that Valjoux just used the Venus tooling to make the 7730 and 7731 movements until they came out with the 7733 which has no problems at all when it comes to swapping parts.
So my point is.... this made what should have been a fairly easy (or "fun" - noted in an earlier post) project not very easy at all and added hours to the project. That said, I was still glad to take on this project as it did turn out very nice in the end.

Author:	Dracha [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 8:26 am ]
Post subject:	SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his magic
I posted about this before when I got the project Now the project is in Craigs (more than) capable hands slowly progressing This is how I got it these are the parts I got from Lester and this is Craig doing his magic Craig had to use a lot of time and extra parts that were no longer with the movement , and sadly enough the post from the flag indicator is missing , so it wont fit the stem. Luckily enough I bought several other parts from Lester when I had the chance including flag indicators , So now I need to send Craig another one today so he can finish the movement , fit the dial etc I'll posts more updates when I received them

Author:	WatchFred [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:52 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Great project, Rene, and wonderful work as always, Craig ! Keep us posted about this one, am sure I will love the final result !

Author:	coxolfi [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:20 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
I m waiting news of this watch. see on the bay: http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 461wt_1081

Author:	Dracha [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:33 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
coxolfi wrote: I m waiting news of this watch. see on the bay: http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 461wt_1081 Nice Watch , I know there's a lot of interest in it

Author:	Roffensian [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:34 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Dracha wrote: coxolfi wrote: I m waiting news of this watch. see on the bay: http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 461wt_1081 Nice Watch , I know there's a lot of interest in it On the topic of all the nice pieces that none of us ever talk about Great looking 2005 Dracha, can't wait to see it post Craig.

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SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his magic https://www.breitlingsource.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=37161	Page 1 of 2

Author:	Dracha [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Roffensian wrote: On the topic of all the nice pieces that none of us ever talk about Great looking 2005 Dracha, can't wait to see it post Craig. Yes I used to have one not too long ago but it had to go to fund another purchase but I always regretted selling it as they're really great watches. So thats why I bought the project watch. It has a heavily modified V7731 movement , any other Mfg might have called it a 'manufacture' Also the size is stunning & massive , much larger than the Avi's and Navi's , It may even be as big as the later 7651 & 7652 but I will have to measure that to be sure But this one will definately be a keeper with the great looking dial, NOS hands and totally serviced by Craig

Author:	jlee5050 [ Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
That's part of why I love vintage... bringing a piece back to life... hope it works out well Dracha... I bet Craig is having some good fun with this one... I would if I was a watchmaker...

Author:	cruvon [ Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:37 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Dracha wrote: I posted about this before when I got the project Now the project is in Craigs (more than) capable hands slowly progressing This is how I got it these are the parts I got from Lester and this is Craig doing his magic Craig had to use a lot of time and extra parts that were no longer with the movement , and sadly enough the post from the flag indicator is missing , so it wont fit the stem. Luckily enough I bought several other parts from Lester when I had the chance including flag indicators , So now I need to send Craig another one today so he can finish the movement , fit the dial etc I'll posts more updates when I received them Looks awesome Rene, congrats and great job Craig! Rene, can we have a wrist shot of this watch?

Author:	Roffensian [ Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:00 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
cruvon wrote: Looks awesome Rene, congrats and great job Craig! Rene, can we have a wrist shot of this watch? Probably not while it's in the US in pieces and awaiting other parts

Author:	Dracha [ Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:13 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Here's how it arrived back home yesterday from Oregon and I wanted to share

Author:	WatchFred [ Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:31 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
great piece, Rene, congrats !

Author:	Roffensian [ Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:27 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Indeed, fantastic piece!

Author:	DHopper71 [ Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
Congrats, Rene. Very cool piece and another great job by Craig.

Author:	chronodeco [ Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
I thought I would post a few comments about this project. The Valjoux 7731 used in this watch was a modified Valjoux 7730 movement which originated as the Venus cal 188 movement (Valjoux bought out Venus and updated the 188). Now you would think that all of the parts from either the 188 (note that there are some 188 parts that will not work in the 7730 but these are obvious) and/or the 7730 would fit the 7731 no problem. But NO - THEY DO NOT. This is something that I run into all the time with older chronograph movements designed/built prior to around 1970. In fact, the machining accuracy of older Venus (cals 150, 152, 165, 175, 178) is right up there with something like a model T Ford! Swapped part frequently do not fit well - particularly the chrono bridge and pallet bridge. This is not true of older Valjoux movements like the cal. 23 and 72 and their variants. So what most likely happened was that Valjoux just used the Venus tooling to make the 7730 and 7731 movements until they came out with the 7733 which has no problems at all when it comes to swapping parts. So my point is.... this made what should have been a fairly easy (or "fun" - noted in an earlier post) project not very easy at all and added hours to the project. That said, I was still glad to take on this project as it did turn out very nice in the end.

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Author:	Roffensian [ Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:09 am ]
Post subject:	Re: SO ref 2005 rebuild , Craig from Chronodeco doing his ma
chronodeco wrote: I thought I would post a few comments about this project. The Valjoux 7731 used in this watch was a modified Valjoux 7730 movement which originated as the Venus cal 188 movement (Valjoux bought out Venus and updated the 188). Now you would think that all of the parts from either the 188 (note that there are some 188 parts that will not work in the 7730 but these are obvious) and/or the 7730 would fit the 7731 no problem. But NO - THEY DO NOT. This is something that I run into all the time with older chronograph movements designed/built prior to around 1970. In fact, the machining accuracy of older Venus (cals 150, 152, 165, 175, 178) is right up there with something like a model T Ford! Swapped part frequently do not fit well - particularly the chrono bridge and pallet bridge. This is not true of older Valjoux movements like the cal. 23 and 72 and their variants. So what most likely happened was that Valjoux just used the Venus tooling to make the 7730 and 7731 movements until they came out with the 7733 which has no problems at all when it comes to swapping parts. So my point is.... this made what should have been a fairly easy (or "fun" - noted in an earlier post) project not very easy at all and added hours to the project. That said, I was still glad to take on this project as it did turn out very nice in the end. It's great to get your perspective on these Craig, and surprising that the tolerances were so broad on machined pieces, especially given the need for accuracy that is inherent to watch movements.