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Ricky Lee

Now, see, this is key info! And it went 'Zoom!', right over me head on the first readin'.

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Dave Murphy
ISA and Ronda have movements that share dial feet and date window locations with the ETA 28xx. The "dial rest to stem center' distance of the ISA is a better match for the thinner ETA like the 2801 and 2824.

I see why you call it nuts. Replacing a defunct 28xx mechanical with a quartz has got to be a fairly common procedure. So why doesn't ETA/ESA make an exact match? Why cede the market to ISA and Ronda?

Hey.. I wasn't gonna spill the beans.. but I'm working on a 50's Swiss conversion, a Clinton, of all things (I need a Nixon to match! ) that I think is gonna be me best yet. Here's the only 'before' pic..



..Clinton was a 100% Swiss company, as far as I can tell, and even made some in-house movements.

I've got a brand-new crystal, case has been cleaned, but no movement other than the PC21.. which was the original plan.. But, now, after handling the parts, it seems a sacrilege to swap in a Japanese module , so I plan to order an ESA 802.004, a 6 3/4 x 8 ligne, 2.95mm high base module which is, at $5.95, the closest Swiss competition to the PC21 (at $4.95).

We'll see.. OBTW, this was another watch I sent for an estimate. The verdict on this one, like the Pencron, was sad.. $75 for the COA, plus an estimated $20 to $50 in parts. So.. it is.

-Ricky
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Now, long story short, I just couldn't wait for the next Uncle Otto order, and so I decided that if installing a Japanese module in this vintage Swiss was a sin, at least it was not a mortal one..

Dave voiced some concerns to me over this one via PM and, let me assure you, Dave, I hear ye!

..I bent the crown into a square shape whilst removing it from the old stem!

But, hey, as this tightens up the crown gasket, it's bound to enhance the WR, so we call it a feature, not a bug.

Best part about Dave's PM is that he indicated..

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Dave Murphy
If you do the swap, do it so it's reversible. I may be good enough in a half a year that I could tackle that.

Don't worry, Dave! The mod is completely reversible and, as you can see, I've Carefully Bagged & Tagged the OEM movement. In fact..

..I think I'll go ahead and send you the rascal so you can start tinkering with it.

Other Caveman Touches..

..I had to shorten the seconds hand by 2mm, and my edge is a bit ragged. To compensate, the red tip was Caveman Painted by Yours Truly.

And, yeah, I know the hour and minutes hands ain't synched perfect, Murphy. I cased it up that way despite knowing , because it was sooooo tricky getting the hands to stop fouling (took like six trys to achieve Vertical Alignment!) that I wasn't willing to tackle synching them again, lest I mess the clearance back up.

And it wears just fine, thanks!

y'all!

-Ricky