As part of my first watchmaking class from Northwest School of Horology, one of the first exercises was the disassembly and re-assembly of a pocket watch that was of the type 'bomb timer'. I am going to attempt to create a media-rich narrative that I hope is helpful for others as well.

Disassembly Process

Top-down view of the movement with bridges labeled

Top-down view of the movement with bridges labeled

Visual Conditional Assessment

Assess the balance motion

Vibrational testing

Balance pivot is whole because the balance wheel moves when the movement is shaken.

When in 90 degrees, it stops abruptly though.

<aside> 💡 Always leave the pivot up when hairspring is moved out of the watch

</aside>

Train assessment

Nudge the second (center) wheel to see how much it moves and whether it moves freely.

Screw that holds the escapement bridge

Screw that holds the escapement bridge

Hairspring removed after the screw was removed

Hairspring removed after the screw was removed

Once removed, hairspring should be stroed with the pivot pointing up and not on the surface

Once removed, hairspring should be stroed with the pivot pointing up and not on the surface

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Screws removed from the pallet bridge.

Screws removed from the pallet bridge.

Screws that hold the bridge

Screws that hold the bridge

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Exposed wheel mechanism

Exposed wheel mechanism