Zodiac Talk => General Zodiac Discussion => Topic started by: Mark on January 07, 2011, 11:50:05 AM

Title: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: Mark on January 07, 2011, 11:50:05 AM
Hi Guys,

Im new to the forum but have spoken to Butch a couple times before via email  :)

I have just bought an Astrographic watch off of ebay but theres a problem with it....

I fear it may have suffered some internal "damage" in transit.

Basically whats happening is that the little secondhand red dot is working fine but the hour and minute hand arent working and also appear to be loose as when i shake the watch or even just put it down on its side the hands then move kind of freely!!!

Does anyone have any advice as to what might have happened to it or how i could fix it?

Cheers,

Mark
Title: Re: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: Mark on January 07, 2011, 12:25:23 PM
Oh and another quick question....

The watch has an automatic 21 jewel adjusted movement with quickset date...

Should i be able to manually wind this watch aswell or is it just automatic and needs a "shake" to start????
Title: Re: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: jon p on January 07, 2011, 02:35:49 PM
MARK--welcome to the best watch forum!!  one of my watches did the same thing, second hand worked but not the hour/minute hands. i sent it to our watchmaker and it was the canon pinion--the device that drives the hands. i would guess your watch needs a complete cleaning and repair. this is a common defect in all watches 30-40+ years old. your watch will manual wind plus automatic. hope this helps. contact butch under the forum heading watch repairs. the guy we use in CA. is the expert on zodiacs, and all other watches. he has restored many for me and other members.
Title: Re: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: Mark on January 07, 2011, 02:37:56 PM
Hi Jon, Thanks for the reply mate.

This one doesnt seem to manually wind either :-(

looks like im in for an expensive repair.
Title: Re: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: jon p on January 08, 2011, 10:20:40 AM
mark, send it to BWG--he will do a free estimate real fast--you may be surprised at the cost and if you dont fix it he will return it. i am surprised it wont auto wind, again sometimes not a big problem. may have a bad mainspring. if your watch is in great cosmetic shape it would be worth the investment to get it running good. you will have to decide, it IS a piece of zodiac history and worth preserving in my opinion.   JON P
Title: Re: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: Butch on January 08, 2011, 10:27:11 AM
They are a bear to manually wind. You need to grab the crown with your fingernails and wind it. Wind it about 20 times and then wear it for the day and the auto should keep it wound. And if you do not know the service history, get it serviced by someone.
Title: Re: Zodiac Astrographic help.......
Post by: Mark on January 11, 2011, 06:54:05 AM
Cheers Guys :-)