My previous post featured a “Limit Of Switzerland” watch, this one is a “Limit International”; same company but this is a later watch. “Limit” is a British company that started out in 1912 fitting Swiss movements into British cases, hence “Limit Of Switzerland”. The name change came about to reflect the change to sourcing their watches from a wider field, hence “Limit International”.
This one has had a hard life and it shows.
Inside is a very grubby FE 140-1 17 jewel manual winding movement. FE stands for “France Ebauches” which gives a clue as to its origins.
Out of the case and the dial, which has a very dark blue transparent lacquered finish, has certainly had a hard life.
And with the dial out of the way the dirt is everywhere.
Balance safely out of the way and the strip down is under way. Nothing particularly unusual; the crown wheel screw is an unidentified “closet lefty” but other than that a straight forward tear down.
One thing that did come to light though was this jewelled bearing… for the intermediate wheel in the motion works!!
This is a marketing ploy to raise the jewel count on the cheap, but has no beneficial effect on the time keeping of the watch, and has only dubious value in terms of reducing wear and tear.
Balance back on the main plate minus jewels ready for the cleaner.
All cleaned up and ready to go back together.
Starting as usual with the balance jewels and an inspection of the hair spring.
Balance back out and we have a bare main plate.
In go the train wheels.
And the train bridge.
Followed by the barrel and bridge.
Pallets and pallet cock.
And the balance wheel…. and away it goes.
Dial side and the keyless works are reinstalled.
Then the motion works.
Dial and hands. these have had a clean up but there’s little that can be done by way of any repair so they carry their scars.
And then back in its case.
With everything all cleaned up and re-lubricated the watch is running well and keeping very good time. With the case parts cleaned up and a new crystal installed it actually has a kind of rugged well used charm about it too.
This little chap should have a whole new lease of life ahead of it.
The Watch Mender 
Great result , those marks on the dial , are they cracks in the paint / lacquer ? from expansion/contraction in heat and cold ? The watch would look great with a navy strap .
LikeLike
The marks on the dial seem to be a combination of scratches from mis-handling, and scratches where the hands have been installed too close to the dial and have touched. It’s a shame really as it would have been a really nice dial if it were undamaged.
I agree about the strap though. A dark blue strap would set the dial off nicely.
LikeLike