This Bulova Aerojet 11AFACD is an interesting piece that caught my eye. It’s gold plating and crystal are in good condition and it came with the original box and paperwork.
This caseback was real difficult to remove. The gasket seems to have become very hard and was probably acting like a glue. I tried to remove the gasket but it was stuck in so hard that it needed dug out in chunks. My first attempt lifted a very small flake of gold plating off and I decided this is a perfect example of “better not keep messing with it” and “leave well enough alone!”
The initial results on the timegrapher look promising.
Next I removed the automatic winding mechanism and balance for safety before I mess with things too much. Although I try very hard to avoid it, sometimes things go wrong like a screwdriver slips and its better safe than sorry. Now it is ready to remove the hands and dial and take a closer look.
There is a fiber inside wrapped around the escape wheel. I am surprised this didn’t stop the watch but certainly was not good for it. This is a good example of why you should not open a watch around textiles and dust; even things you may not even see could cause problems.
The barrel says not to open it. Surely enough time has passed to be considered past its lifetime.
Well, I opened it anyway and here is everything disassembled.
I cleaned it up and put it back together. That old gasket stuck in there really bothers me but I keep reminding myself not to pick at it unless I want to learn how to gold plate… something I’m not currently prepared for. However, I am happy with how things turned out.
Thanks for watching!
-Watch Dog
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