I haven't worn my Panerai in quite a while... Yeah, as you know, I replaced the movement with a Seagull based on the Unitas 6497-2... It wasn't really
that necessary, but the replica was not keeping great time, and I thought it would be cool to get into the hobby of watchmaking
When I did it, I posted here that I had to deal with the seconds pinion, and just filed it off. Bad idea. I think the motion of filing it must have caused some damage, because the watch would stop at random times, even outside the movement with no hands. If it was a real ETA I would be pretty annoyed and would probably have to take it to a watchmaker to figure out, but it was a $30 Seagull, so I just bought another one. And some quality clippers to cut the seconds pinion off, instead of filing it.
Installing the new one, the setting lever of the keyless works kept falling off. I was pretty pissed, because I had gotten the watch like 90% reassembled, and couldn't get the stem to go in. I had to take it apart all over again, and figure it out. Comparing it to the first Seagull, I noticed the setting lever was just gone. So it must have fallen out and it's sitting on my floor somewhere I can't find.
So I took the setting lever out of the busted Seagull, and installed it into the new one. At this point I was quite proud! And happy I didn't have to disassemble the keyless works entirely.
Problem is, when I went to install the stem again, it fell off again. Upon further inspection, the screw that holds the setting lever in place was broken off. Below is a picture of the broken screw, beside a normal screw:
So I submitted for a refund.
If I feel like taking watchmaking even further, I could take it apart more to move that screw over to the new movement. But man this is tough! I bought the visor that was recommended here, but now I need a proper desk - my computer desk is too low, or my seat is too high, so working on this stuff is not comfortable. We'll see I guess.
The other option is to take the barrel spring and move it to the first replica movement, since I think that's what's causing it to lose accuracy as it winds down. It's perfect at full wind, but gets more and more inaccurate as the spring unwinds. We'll see I guess.
Kind of annoyed, because I really like this watch, and it's been sitting in my drawer in pieces for weeks now
