Watch Movement Servicing and Restoration Process Overview

This page contains a walkthrough of my watch movement servicing and restoration process, which is composed of several distinct steps or phases:

These steps are detailed more extensively in the sections below. For my fellow watchmakers - particularly those just gettting started or new to the hobby - I have also included recommendations, tips and tricks (a.k.a. things I learned the hard way).

Uncasing

The first step in restoring any watch is removing the movement from the case. This is generally a simple procedure, but it differs based on the case design and can present some challenges at times. Broadly speaking, case designs can be broken down as follows:

Cases with removable backs (Screw or Snap)
- Movement removed from back, with various movement retention mechanisms, most commonly case rings or screw-down retention tabs. Stem removal required.
- Movement removed from front via removable bezel, often with case screws (accessed from the back side) as an additional retention mechamism. Stem removal required.
Cases with solid backs
- Clamshell cases with removable face or bezel that snaps onto the back (which retains the movement). Stem remains in place.
- Monoblock cases, either with a removable bezel or “through the crystal,” which requires crystal removal using a crystal lift tool. These have a split stem, which remains in place.

Watchmaker Tips

Stem Removal: When removing the stem, I have found that it is generally easier to re-insert if removed from the inner (winding) position rather than the outer (time setting) position, as it makes it a bit easier to locate & seat the stud on the setting lever when putting the stem back in. If the setting lever is held by a screw, loosen it gradually and pull gently on the stem until it comes out easily without engaging the time setting position.

“Faux” Case Designs: Some cases have decorative seams that make it look like they have a removable back or bezel when they, in fact, do not. Examine the case carefully before trying to pry things apart - otherwise you may just end up damaging it.

Case Opening Tools: A simple case knife and a rubber ball will get you far. Stubborn screw back cases may require a case opening tool, but definitely give the rubber ball a try first. Alternatively, even extremely stubborn screw back cases, or screw back cases with designs that won’t jive with your case opening tool, can often be opened by supergluing a spare ratchet socket onto the back. I know this sounds bad, but it’s easy to remove the glue afterwards by soaking in acetone. Finally, it’s a good idea to supplement your case knife with a more robust snap back & bezel removal tool.

Uncasing Chronographs: Depending on the design, you may find that getting a chronograph movement out of the case requires removal of the chronograph operating levers connected to the pushers in order to create enough slack to get the movement out without forcing things.

Clamshell Cases: Exercise caution when removing the movement from the back of a clamshell case. Some of these cases fit fairly tighly around the movement, and you may need to pry a bit on the underside of the dial, but be patient. In particular, some movements that are often found in clamshell case designs (e.g. Gruen Veri-Thin) locate the balance wheel very close to the edge of the movement, with minimal clearance from the edges of the case back, so you can potentially damage the balance or break a pivot if you apply too much force.

Split Stems: When removing a movement with a split stem, try rotating the stem. When it’s in the correct orientation the movement will typically simply drop out of the case.

Once the movement is out of the case, it’s time to move on to Dissasembly after a quick case inspection. I generally remove and measure the watch crystal at this point, so I can get a new crystal ordered if necessary. The case components are set aside in a project drawer so they don’t get misplaced.

Watchmaker Tips

Letting Down the Power: The power is let down by manually disengaging the click from the ratchet wheel while using the stem & crown or a screwdriver placed firmly in the ratchet wheel screw to gradually release the tension in the mainspring. Don’t forget this step, as a sudden release of power can lead to broken mainsprings as well as other damage to the movement. Many non-running vintage watches will come with the mainspring “wound tight” by someone who hoped that continuing to wind the watch would coax it into movement, so letting down the power gently is particulary important. While pretty much all watches provide access to the click in order to facilitate letting down the power, this access can be hidden or difficult to locate in movements where the click isn’t in an easily accessible or visible location. Look for a small tab or post sticking though a hole in the top, bottom, or sides of the movement. If you’re not sure you’ve found the right thing, try winding the watch a bit - if the tab/post in question are attached to the click you should see it moving.

Removing Movement Springs: Nothing is more frustrating than having small springs (or parts attached to them) go flying across the room, so use some care when removing springs - particularly the click spring, calendar springs and the keyless works yoke spring. I like to secure springs with a platic pointer and remove them using my beefy 00 tweezers in order to minimize the chance of an unscheduled launch. Some movements have springs that are attached to movement plates using a screw or which are seated firmly in a deep recess, and it’s a good idea to assess the risk versus reward when deciding whether to remove these. In some cases, where the cleaning benefit is minimal, it may make sense to leave them in place.

Screwdriver Technique: When removing screws it’s a good practice to give your screwdriver a light twist to make sure it is well-seated in the screw slot before gradually applying enough torque to actually turn the screw. This will help prevent chewed up (or worse - stripped) screw heads or scratches on movement plates caused by errant screwdrivers popping out of screw slots.

Removing Mainsprings: The mainspring barrel can typically be opened by placing it on a hard surface (e.g. a watchmaker’s anvil) with the barrel cap facing up and pressing down on the barrel teeth with your fingernails. This will put upward pressure on the arbor, which should pop the cap off. It’s a good idea to put some light pressure on the top of the cap with a finger when doing this to make sure things don’t go flying. Some caps have slots where you can insert a screwdriver to lever the cap off. Once the cap is off, remove the arbor (grasping it with some strong tweezers and twisting it counter to the spring wind direction while tilting it a bit to the side helps with this), then carefully wind out the mainspring starting in the center, placing your thumbs on top of the still-wound-in-part of the spring to control the process and make sure it comes out gradually. Be careful here - if you loose control of the spring it can suddenly burst out of the barrel, which tends to send the barrel and/or spring flying and which can damage or break the spring itself. Wearing some form of eye protection while doing this is strongly recommended.

Waiting for Parts: It can take a significant amout of time to receive replacement parts for movements that need them, particularly if the seller is international. I will usually hold off cleaning a movement while I am waiting for parts to arrive, both so that I don’t have clean parts sitting around in a parts tray and because the replacement part will often need cleaning anyway. If I know it’s going to be a while before I can get back to a disassembled movement, I will transfer the parts from the parts tray to more secure storage and set them aside. I have a number of inexpensive plastic bead containers that have six compartments with snap-lock lids for this purpose.

Part Availability Challenges: From time to time, I end up with a movement where I can’t find a suitable replacement part, or where the only part or parts movement I can find is simply too expensive to justify given the value of the piece I am working on. In this cases, I will generally complete cleaning and reassembly of the movement, minus the broken parts, and set it aside for use as a parts movement or for future restoration if the needed parts become available at reasonable cost. I have a dedicated set of drawers where I store and organize these incomplete movements.

Disassembly

With the movement removed from the case, the disassembly process can begin. The hands and dial are removed first and set aside in protective cases. The watch movement is then methodically stripped down into individual components. I generally like to follow a specific sequence when disassembling a movement as follows:

Loose parts on the dial side (e.g. dial washers and hour wheel) are removed. I also remove the canon pinion at this point.
If the watch is an automatic, the automatic rotor is removed first in order to simplify access to the underlying components
The balance is removed next and set aside to ensure it is not damaged during the subsequent parts of the process
If the watch has a calendar function, I remove the calendar components next and set aside the calendar ring in a separate storage container to make sure it isn’t damaged
If the watch is an automatic, the automatic winding works is removed. This typically (although not always) comes off as a single piece.
If the watch is a chronograph, the chronograph components are removed at this point
After ensuring that any residual power in the mainspring has been let down, the winding components (ratchet wheel, crown wheel, and click) are removed.
The train wheel bridge and train wheels are removed. Any screw-on cap jewels attached to the train wheel bridge are also removed at this point.
The barrel bridge and mainspring barrel are removed
If the watch has an alarm complication, alarm components and bridges are removed.
The pallet cock/bridge and pallet fork are removed
The winding works and keyless works are disassembled and removed
Any screw-on cap jewels on the dial side of the movement are removed. This includes the lower balance cap jewel on non-shock-protected movements.
The mainspring barrel is opened and the arbor and mainspring are removed.
For automatics, the automatic winding works, assuming it was removed as a single piece, is disassembled.
If the watch is not shock protected, the balance complete is removed from the cock and the upper cap jewel and regulator are removed in order to improve cleaning.
If the watch is shock protected, the balance is reinstalled on the main plate to protect it during cleaning

Replacing Parts

Throughout this process, parts are inspected and any broken or bady worn or corroded parts are noted. Some steel parts with minor corrosion can be cleaned up by soaking in a chelating agent (e.g Evapo-rust), but most of these parts will need to be replaced. I will work on finding and securing/ordering necessary parts at this point. Depending on the part needed and its availability this may mean ordering brand new parts, vintage-but unused “new old stock” parts, used parts in good condition, or entire parts movements. Here are some of the parts that I end up replacing most frequently:

Mainsprings: Vintage watches from the 1950s or earlier typically came with carbon steel mainsprings which were brittle, prone to breaking, or which tend to become tired and lose tension, particularly when left in a watch that has been wound tight for years or even decades on end. I will generally replace these with modern “white alloy” mainsprings, even if they are intact, since I expect my restored watches to be as functional and usable as possible. White alloy mainsprings from more modern watches can generally be cleaned and re-used, although some caution may be needed when the watch has been wound tight - especially in manual wind models - as this puts a lot of continuous tension on the tongue of the spring which hooks to the outer wall of the mainspring barrel.

Balance staffs and balances: Broken balance staffs are fairly common, and I will usually try to just purchase a staff in those cases rather than an entire balance-complete. Replacing a balance staff is a delicate operation but straighforward if you have a good staking set. Unfortunately, I also see quite a few movements where the balance hairspring is damaged (this is unfortunate because it doesn’t happen spontaneously and is usually the result of someone who was previously working on the watch mishandling the balance). Damaged hairsprings can sometimes be straightened, but if this doesn’t work securing a full replacement balance complete is usually necessary as it’s almost impossible to find replacement hairsprings withou the balance.

Setting lever springs: On some movements this can be pretty delicate and have a tendency to fatigue over time as the crown is moved in and out, eventually snapping off. This is pretty easy to diagnose without even opening the watch as the crown in movements with a broken setting lever spring will generally not stay in the setting position.

Movement wheels & pallet fork: Although much less common than broken balance staffs, I do occasionally run into wheels or pallet forks with broken pivots. Occasionally the “gear” part of wheels will separate from the staff (this happens most commonly to the 2nd or center wheel, which is subjected to the most torque).

Chronograph operating levers: In chronographs, the operating levers often have metal-on-metal wear surfaces at the ends. When sufficiently worn, these can prevent the chronograph functions from working properly. and since these are wear items there may be no choice other than securing a replacement part.

Watchmaker Tips

Keeping Parts Organized

When you take a watch apart you end up with a lot of small parts, so it is important to keep them well organized and secure. Like most watchmakers I use lidded parts trays for this. Standard watch parts trays have six compartments, and I try to organize things in a consistent way to make cleaning and reassembly a bit easier and to ensure I don’t mix up similar-looking parts (e.g. like screws). Here’s how I like to use the six compartments in a standard parts tray:

Escapement parts, including the balance, pallet fork, and related bridges, cocks, screws and jewels
Train of wheels, train bridge(s), and related screws, cap jewels & other related parts (e.g. tension springs or hacking levers)
Winding parts, including the crown and ratchet wheels, click, click spring, barrel bridge, mainspring barrel and arbor, and related screws
Keyless and motion works parts
First complication (if present) - typically automatic winding works parts, alarm parts, or chronograph parts (you almost never get more than one of these at a time in vintage movements).
Second complication (if present) - typically calendar parts

If a watch has more than two major complications, well, it’s time to get out a second parts tray…

Note that chronographs have a LOT of very similar looking but-not-necessarily-identical screws, so it’s generally a good idea to replace most chronograph screws in the movement plate after removing them to make sure they don’t get mixed up.

Cleaning

Once the watch movement has been disassembled into its component parts, the next stage is cleaning. Thorough andf effective cleaning of movement parts is probably the single most important step in bringing a vintage watch back to life. Vintage pieces have often been sitting for many years without regular servicing, causing the lubricants on the movement to dry up and become viscous or even solid, preventing the watch from running. In some cases dirt or other contaminants have also managed to work their way into the movement, and still others have been doused in oil at some point in a desparate attempt to coax them back to a running state. In any of these cases, thorough cleaning will go a long way toward restoring fulll functionality to the movement.

Cleaning is so important, in fact, that I have written a separate guide on the topic, which details the process that I use.

Reassembly

Now, with a collection of clean parts waiting, we get to what is perhaps the most satisfying part of the movement restoration process - putting it all back together. At this point, it’s a good idea to put on some finger cots to ensure you don’t get fingerprints on the nice, clean movement parts. As with disassembly, I tend to do things in a specific order which I’ll walk through below:

Replace the mainspring and arbor in the barrel, ensuring that barrel and the arbor contact points are lubricated as appropriate.
Lubricate and replace any cap jewels located on the dial side of the movement. These can either be lubricated before installation, or afterwards with an automatic oiler.
Reassemble the train of wheels and reinstall the train bridge(s). Any pivot points that can’t be accessed easily after assembly are lubricated at this point.
Reinstall the barrel bridge, making sure to lubricate and install the setting lever post first.
Install and lubricate the click and click spring
Lubricate the top pivot of the arbor and install the ratchet wheel
Install and lubricate the crown wheel
Flip the movement over and lubricate and install the keyless works and motion works components. The exact sequece here varies depending on the design (particularly whether the keyless works uses a sliding clutch or rocker arm design).
Flip the movement over again and install the pallet fork
Give the watch a partial wind and make sure the pallet fork demostrates a proper impulse - it should “flick” over from side to side with a gentle prod of the tweezers
Lubricate the pallet fork jewels.
For non-shock=protected balances, reassemble the balance cock, lubricate the top balance jewels, and reattach the balance to the cock if it was disassembled for cleaning.
Reinstall the balance on the movement. Hopefully the watch will start running at this point!
Perform final lubrication of the wheel train and balance jewels (see below). Let the watch run overnight and test to make sure it’s performing well before finishing up.
Reinstall applicable complications (e.g. calendar or chronograph parts)

Watchmaker Tips

Lubricating Mainspring Barrels: There seem to be many different theories regarding what and how much to lubricate here. It’s important to recognize that the interface between the arbor and the barrel caps is an active friction point for the movement, so friction here can affect overall amplitude. I generally will place a small drop of medium weight oil (Moebius 1300) on the raised interface around the arbor hole in the barrel and barrel cap, before inserting the arbor or installing the cap, respectively. I then follow this by adding a bit of addition oil to the arbor interfaces with the barrel from the outside after the barrel is closed. This ensures that all of the contact points between the arbor and barrel are lubricated. I also like to spread a single drop of 1300 along a radius line from the inside to outside of both the barrel bottom and cap. This provides a bit of lubrication where the edges of the mainspring meet the barrel bottom and cap surfaces, without being excessive or creating a mess inside the barrel. For automatics, I apply 5 small spots of braking grease around the inner barrel wall before inserting the spring. Finally, when I clean and re-use a mainspring I apply a very thin coat of MolyKote DX (using a piece of watchmakers tissue paper) to the spring before insertion. This is mainly to protect the surface of the steel spring rather than for lubrication.

Mainspring Winders: A set of mainspring winders certainly simplifies the process of reinserting mainsprings. However, they are not a panacea, and working with them has its own set of quirks. In particular, the tail of the mainspring typically needs to be coaxed into the slot in the winder with some assistance from a pair of tweezers. One way I’ve found to make this a little easier and and less stressful is to use a desk clamp to hold the winder body, which frees up one of your hands to fully focus on manipulating the winder handle. I have used a clamp with rubber jaws that was made to hold calipers for this purpose.

Hand Winding Mainsprings: Occasionally I will still find myself hand winding a mainspring, particularly in cases where there is a really odd relationship between the mainspring barrel diameter and the arbor diameter (which makes use of the properly sized winder impractical), or when reinserting springs that have a t-type end (which require the tail of the mainspring to be carefully aligned with a slot in the barrel - difficult to pull off when using a winder). I don’t advise wearing finger cots when hand winding a mainspring, as it’s way too easy to end up with bits of rubber or latex trapped between the coils. Instead, I wash and dry my hands thoroughly immediately before hand winding to minimize the transfer of contaminants to the spring surface.

Inserting New Mainsprings: Generally, pushing a new mainspring out of its washer and into the barrel is a simple process, but occasionally you will run into a stubborn one that doesn’t want to separate from the washer cleanly. This can happen with “new old stock” mainsprings that may have been sitting inside the washer for many decades. If you happen to have a 3D printer handy, as well as some patience, I have published a parametric OnShape 3D model for a simple tool that makes this insertion process foolproof. It’s probably overkill in many cases, but it can prevent possible frustration.

Installing the Train Bridge: This is one of the most challenging and potentially frustating parts of reassembling a watch movement for new watchmakers. Practice and experience really helps here: I had some monumental struggles when I was just getting started, but at this point it rarely takes me more than a minute or so to get a train bridge installed. Here’s my best advice to help with this process: After ensuring the train wheels are seated in the pivots of the main movement plate, place the train bridge gently on top. It helps to place it in the exact, correct position, but this hard to pull off so don’t obsess about it - just get it close then, slowly and gently, move it laterally until it lines up with the posts on the main plate. Now, apply gentle pressure with your off-hand using a plastic pointer or similar tool. The idea here is to apply just enough pressure to prevent wheel pivots that have aligned with their pivot holes from jumping back out, while still allowing you to move and align the remaining wheels. Generally, it’s easier to seat the wheels in order from the largest (2nd/center wheel) to the smallest (escape wheel). Alternate between rotating the wheels a bit and directly manipulating them by gently grasping them with a pair of tweezers and pushing or pulling. In a jeweled movement, if you have a microscope, it helps to zoom in and peer through the jewels - at first you might not be sure what you’re looking at but with a little experience it will become evident exacly how the wheel needs to be moved in order to align the pivot with the jewel hole. Above all, be patient, and make sure all of the wheels are spinning freely together before tightening the bridge screws.

Lubricating the Keyless Works: The keyless works has a number of metal-on-metal interfaces that are high friction and need to be greased. This can get messy, and while excess grease can usually be cleaned up with a bit of rodico, one way to avoid making a mess in the first place is to grease the working surfaces of relevant parts before they are installed. For example, I will usally add a bit of grease to the side of the clutch lever where it interfaces with the setting lever before placing it in the movement. I do the same with the clutch spring and setting lever spring interfaces.

Placing Movement Springs: Another common operation that can vex new watchmakers is replacing springs - particularly the relatively heavy clutch spring in the keyless works but also other springs like the click spring or calendar jumper springs. If you’re not careful it’s pretty easy to send a spring flying, and if so they can be very difficult to find. I learned to use a plastic pointer to hold the spring in position in its recess or post while applying tension to seat the business end with my tweezers. However, after some experimentation I’ve actually found its often significantly easier to reverse this: using tweezers to hold the spring in place while seating it by pushing with the tip of a plastic pointer. Often springs need to be tensioned and simultaneously pushed down into a recess in order to be seated. IMO, the rounded plastic tip of the pointer makes this easier than tweezers.

Reinstalling the Balance: The balance needs to be rotated during installation in order to ensure the impulse jewel interfaces correctly with the pallet fork. It helps to use tweezers to place the pallet fork on whichever side makes this easier (which depends on the movement design and whether the balance is left or right handed). It’s not strictly necessary to seat the lower balance pivot in the pivot hole before rotating it into place, but I find that this is often easier than trying to seat the lower pivot afterwards. Finally, bear in mind that, in some compact movements, the hairspring may actually need to sit underneath one of the train wheels. In these cases you may have to apply a bit of lateral pressure to pull the hairspring out of the way when seating the balance so it ends up underneath the wheel.

(Not) Forgetting Things: There are a number of points in the reassembly of a movement where it’s easy to forget a small step, which can result in having to back track and redo work. Here are a few reminders:

Remember to lubricate and install the setting lever screw before installing the barrel bridge (assuming it’s actually a scew, rather than the pusher type).
Remember to replace and lubricate any train wheel cap jewels on the dial side of the movement before installing the train wheels & train bridge.

Final Lubrication

Once the watch has been reassembled, final lubrication of the movement it the next step. Exposed train wheel pivots are lubricated first, with the exception pivots with dial-side cap jewels (where lubrication was applied before the train wheels were installed). Any upper train wheel cap jewels are then lubricated and reinstalled. Finally, it’s time to address the balance jewels.

Balance Lubrication

Properly cleaning and lubricating the balance pivot jewels is one of in not the most important step in getting a movement to run with good amplitude. I approach things a bit differently depending on whether or not the movement has a shock protected balance:

Shock Protected Balances:

The balance jewels (hole jewel and cap jewel) can generally both be removed with the balance in place and running by disengaging the shock spring. Because they went through watch cleaning with the balance in place, they will generally need some additional cleaning at this point, using a bench solvent coupled with manual cleaning if necessary. It’s particularly important for these jewels to be absolutely clean, so they are inspected carefully under the microscope.

Finally, a tiny drop of oil (Moebius 9010) is applied to the center of the cap jewel before it is joined to the hole jewel, where the two are held together by the surface tension of the oil. The pair of jewels are then replaced in the setting and the shock spring is re-engaged to hold everything together. This process has to be repeated for both upper and lower balance jewels.

Non-Shock Protected Balances:

Most non-shock-protected designs have upper and lower hole jewels that are fixed in the balance cock and main plate, respectively. The lower cap jewel is carried in a setting held in place by a screw or pair of screws, while the upper cap jewel is also held in place a pair of screws that screw in from the underside of the balance cock. In some older movements the hole and balance jewels are stacked together in settings that are both pushed in and out of a hole in the balance/cock/mainplate, and held in place from the top with a pair of small screws, but this style is rare in wristwatches and mostly found in old pocket watches.

Because the hole jewels are fixed, and also because the upped cap jewel cannot be removed without removing the balance wheel from the cock, I will generally disassemble these balances before cleaning as described above. Therefore, the jewels are ususally quite clean and don’t require additional cleaning with a bench solvent. They are inspected carefully to make sure, however, before being lubricated and reinstalled. Finally, the balance wheel is reinstalled to the cock, and then the complete balance assembly is replaced on the movement.

Watchmaker Tips

How Much Oil?: I belong to the school of thought that you should always apply the minimum amount of oil necessary to coat the surfaces requiring lubrication. Pivot jewels have a “cup” design that can retain a bit of extra oil, but use too much and you run the risk that the oil will be pulled out of the setting by gravity and/or capillary action. It’s paricularly important not to over-oil balance cap jewels for that reason – the drop of oil placed on the cap should be small enough to not approach the sides of the jewel.

Lubricating Cap Jewels in Non-Shock Protected Movements: The lower cap jewel can be lubricated before reinstallation. The upper cap jewel is more challenging - I find that it is extremely difficult to reinstall the upper cap jewel onto the balance cock without displacing any oil placed on the cap jewel beforehand. Therefore, I will usually reassemble the upper cap jewel “dry,” then lubricate it through the hole jewel with an automatic oiler, before reinstalling the balance wheel.

Balance Shock Springs: There is quite a variety of different shock spring designs out there, and it is a very good idea to make sure you understand how the shock spring setting works before you start taking things apart. Here are some of the most common:

Close-up of an Incabloc shock protection setting

Close-up of pivoting hinge shock protection setting

Close-up of a Diashock shock protection setting

Incabloc

Rotating Hinge

Diashock

Incabloc Style: The original, and, IMO, best design. These have two prongs that seat under a lip on one side, and a hinge on the other, allowing the shock spring to be pushed up and out of the way without actually removing it from the setting. Just be careful when rotating the spring - if you accidentally unseat the hinge side, it is quite tricky to get it back into place.

Rotating Hinge: These have a hinge that rotates in a slot. Opposite the hinge is a tab that fits underneath a lip in the setting. When rotated (using a pair of tweezers helps with this) to the correct position the tab is exposed, allowing the spring to be rotated upward somewhat like the Incabloc design. Again, be careful not to dislodge the hinge.

Diashock Style: Introduced by Seiko and common in Japanese and other Asian-made movements. These have a spring with 2-3 prongs which sit under a lip. The spring must be rotated (using a pair of curved-tip tweezers to do this helps) to expose and free the prongs in gap in the lip. Once two prongs have been freed, the spring can be moved out of the way. Unlike hinged designs, these springs have to be entirely removed from the setting, so take care not to lose it! to replace the spring it must be coaxed back into position. With one prong slipped under the lip, the spring can again be rotated until the other prongs can be pushed down into the gap and under the lip. This gets easier once you get the second prong seated.

Others: While designs similar to the above are most common, there are a number of unique and unusal shock spring settings out there. Again, the most important thing is to study unfamiliar settings carefully before trying to take them apart.

Lubricants: Different watchmakers have different approaches to lubrication and specific lubricants. While the movement manufacturers do, or did, publish lubrication guides, they tend to be very out of date for vintage watches. For what it’s worth, here’s a summary of how I use various lubricants on a typical movement:

Moebius 1300: A medium viscosity oil I generally use on on metal-to-metal contact points, including the barrel and winding components, unjeweled center wheels, clutch lever pivot, motion works wheels, canon pinion, and various metal-on-metal parts & pivots in automatic winding, calendar, chronograph, or other complications.
Moebius 9010: A low viscosity oil. Used on high velocity jeweled bearings, including the balance wheel jewels, bearings for the escape and 4th wheel, jeweled bearings in automatic winding mechanisms, and jeweled chronograph runner bearings.
Moebius 9020: Medium-low viscosity (closer to 9010 than 1300), but with better retention properties than 9010. I use this on low velocity jeweled bearings, including the center (if jeweled) and 3rd wheel bearings. I also use this on certain metal-on-metal bushing points in place of 1300 where low friction is critical, such as non-jeweled chronograph intermediate wheels or non-jeweled escape wheel pivots (e.g. on 7-jewel or pin-pallette movements).
Moebius 9504: A synthetic grease for heavy-duty metal-on-metal lubrication. I used this mostly on various parts of the keyless works, including the racheting interface between winding pinion and sliding clutch, the stem, the interface between the setting lever and clutch lever, and the setting lever spring where it engages with the setting lever. I also use this on certain chronograph parts ike crown wheels.
Moebius 9415: A special lightweight grease used to lubricate pallet fork jewels.
Moebius 8217: I use this as a braking grease around the perimeter of automatic mainspring barrels.
Moebius Lubeta: A special immersion lubricant for automatic reversing wheels. I also use this on several other types of complex parts that benefit from lubrication but which can’t be easily disassembled. Certain calendar operating wheels, for example.
DuPont MolyKote DX: A realitvely inexpensive grease. I often use a thin coat to lubricate and protect mainsprings that have been through the cleaning process.

Regulation and Adjustment

Getting a vintage movement running is one thing. Getting it running well can be something else entirely, and can lead down some pretty deep rabbit holes. That’s why I have published a separate Watch Movement Regulation Guide.

I will note here that I will not list a watch for sale unless it meets basic standards for performance that allow it to be used as a reliable timekeeping device:

Amplitude >= ~225 degrees at full wind.
Beat error <= 0.5ms for watches with adjustable stud carriers and <= ~2ms for watches with fixed stud carriers.
Timekeeping error <15s/day across 5 positions.

If I can’t get a movement to meet these criteria after a reasonable investment of time and effort, I will set it aside for future investigation. Fortunately that doesn’t happen very often.

Recasing and Testing

Once timekeeping performance and functionality have been confirmed, it’s time to recase the movement. I may have to set the movement aside for a bit while I restore the case, replace the crystal, or re-lume the hands, but eventually eveything is ready to go back together:

First, the hour wheel, dial washer and dial are reinstalled, and dial screws are tightened to hold it in place.
Next, the hands are aligned reinstalled, ensuring that the calendar (if present) clicks over as close to midnight as possible. Once the hands are in place the crown and stem are removed, if needed (depends on case design).
Finally, the movement is replaced in the case and any case screws are tightened. An air blower is used to help ensure that dust or other loose particles don’t end up trapped under the watch crystal.
The stem is reinserted if it was removed and other case components that help hold the movement, such as movement rings or snap bezels, are aligned and installed.
If the case has an open back so that the balance is accessible with the movement in-case, final tweaks to the regulation are performed before closing things up.

Finally, with everything back together and buttoned up, the watch goes through a test period where it is run for several days continuously before being re-checked on a timegrapher. This is to ensure that the hands don’t interfere with the dial, crystal, or each other, that the date (if present) clicks over properly, and that the timekeeping regulation is stable. Other features, such as date quick set or chronograph functions, are also tested.

Watchmaker Tips

Aligning Hands: Many watches have pretty tight vertical tolerances for the hands. After installing one of the hands, put it through a full rotation to make sure it doesn’t hit anything. It’s also a good idea to pick the movement up and examine it from the side to make sure the hands are sitting “flat” relative to the watch face - if, for example, you have a center second hand that’s tilted up, it might clear the dial and the other hands, but end up rubbing on the crystal when placed back in the case. You and adjust the “tilt” angle of the hands by pushing on the post end with a hand setting lever while tilting the lever slightly.

Chronograph Runner Hands: The central second recording hand, minute recording hand, and (if it’s a triple register) hour recording hand on a chronograph need to be aligned very carefully to ensure they point to zero when the chronograph is reset. This can be tricky, as the hands tend to want to rotate slightly when pushed down onto the post, and even small deviations are very visible. It sometimes helps to hold the tip of the hand with a pair of watch hand tweezers while pushing down with the hand setting lever, but in the end it may take pateience and several attempts to get it right. When installing the second recording hand, make sure to run the chronograph a bit and reset it before each attempt to ensure the runner is in the correct starting position. At some point I will provide a more detailed guide for chronograph movements and link it here.

Alarm Watches: Don’t forget to align the hour hand correctly with the alarm setting hand. After you install the alarm setting hand, wind up the alarm a bit and set it to 12:00. Next, advance the time until the alarm triggers. You can now set the hour hand at 12:00.

Stem Insertion: Be gentle when inserting the stem. You may need to rotate it a bit until the square drive on the stem aligns with the sliding clutch, but it shouldn’t take a lot of force to seat it. If you apply too much force you can end up knocking parts of the keyless works out of alignment, which can only be fixed by taking the watch apart again. You may need to loosen the setting lever screw a bit more for things to slide together easily. Also, in movements that are held by a movement ring, it can be tricky to insert the stem without the movement ring in place. I suggest partially inserting the stem (to make sure the movement is oriented correctly), installing the ring, then inserting the stem the rest of the way.

Missing Movement Rings: For some reason movement rings for vintage watches seem to dissappear with some regularity. This is one area where, if you have a 3D printer, it can come to the rescue. I have 3D printed movement ring replacements for several watches and they work great. If you try this, I suggest PETG or PETG-CF as a good material for replacement rings. You can find some models for printable movement rings online. These are typically parametric models, allowing you to tweak the size for a specific application. It’s not hard to design your own movement rings however with tools like AutoCAD or OnShape.