crystal manuals

[m_a_watson]

After a lot of searching (to no avail) to find replacement crystals for an 835/74 and a 703/153, I did manage to find the GS and bb crystal catalogs online. I am still trying to locate the right crystals, I am pretty sure they have to be in those catalogs somewhere, but you can print them off and I think the images are actual size. In any case I am including the links below in case anyone can use the information.


http://www.pageturnpro.com/Esslinger%20 ... ex.html#/6

http://www.pageturnpro.com/Esslingerand ... ex.html#/2

[mikethewatchguy]

It's very very interesting that you posted info about crystal manuals

I'm about to put up for sale (I normally don't promote my stuff here) a searchable PDF of the GS crystal manual. I have scanned it in very HIGH resolution so that you can really zoom in on a page. You know how hard it is to read these things. My optical character recognition software did a fantastic job on this manual. It's easy to search on "Gruen" or "415/863".

You beat me to the punch on posting info on the book. I was going to tell everyone how helpful they may be in figuring out the model name of your watch

Sounds like I need to get on the ball and get it listed. I have scanned completely the #60 version and am including the index from #65. I just picked up a couple more and have several in the mail coming to me.

I have always had a difficult time reading the physical manual so I was looking forward to the scanned version. Check out these pictures so you can see how nice it is to be able to actually see the print

Here's your typical looking page

Page 29.jpg

And this is the level of detail I was able to get with a high quality scan (not the highest setting, but at some point it gets useless to go bigger).

Warning, this closeup is 2.8 MB. This is what my OCR engine was given to work with

Page 29 crop.jpg

About the 835/74 problem. What I noticed in these particular versions is that for some models, you MUST have the model name of the watch. There isn't a nice key that I've found yet sadly that tells you the model name AND the size numbers. I'm attempting to help with that and other crystal size questions by making a searchable PDF. Do you happen to know the model names of the watches you are searching for?

A quick note about selling these and other reference materials... it actually takes me a long time to put something like this together. I'm not making a mint by any means and am essentially looking for SOME level of compensation for my time

[mikethewatchguy]

You know, m_a, I didn't actually post anything that helped address your problem very well. I'll see if I can work on a version of the catalog that prints well. Can you measure your current crystals or measure what should be there? I think those measurements would be of most use at this point. I can search the PDFs to see if there's a match or a list of matches if only 1 dimension is provided.

[m_a_watson]

Mike,
A searchable PDF would be outstanding, it would make the whole process so much easier. The manuals I found, being limited to online only, makes finding anything very difficult and comparing to pages almost impossible.

[mikethewatchguy]

I should be posting this under vendors, but if you're willing to simply send your case off and have someone put a NICE glass crystal in it for cheap, then I can't say enough about the folks over at Murphy's Crystals. They have yet to let me down on finding the right crystal at the right price. You can also specify plastic if that's the way you want to go. With enough begging, perhaps you can get their secret from them on how they managed to find your crystal (my guess is that they measure it and also have a HUGE supply, plus they can always shave down an existing one easily too).

[mikethewatchguy]

OK, breaking rule of posting MY for-sale items, but since there is a specific need and I was already working on the listing, I'll go ahead and promote the GS Crystal Catalog PDF for sale. Item number is 370310428953 . Sounds like a car salesman, but all current members get 10% off. I really hope it's of real value.

[m_a_watson]

Just got my copy....Thanks Mike!

[m_a_watson]

Mike,
Does Murphy's crystals have a web address?

[mikethewatchguy]

No website Mark. I'm afraid they're one of the pick-the-phone-up-and-call style of businesses. They have an easy to use envelope where you check off the options (class, plastic, ...) and then send off your case in a tin. It comes back to you with a nice shiney new crystal. And they include a stack of envelopes in every watch that comes back. Wouldn't ever want the customer to run out of those!

I have a big stack of their envelopes. I'll drop one in the mail to you. In a little bit I'll scan one so we all can see what's specified in an order.

They're contact info is in the first post I made over in the "Vendors" forum.

The only thing I've had trouble with is glue that isn't quite cured. They let the UV glue cure for quite a long time... really long... but sometimes it's just not quite enough. You can easily wipe it off with a little alcohol or cure it even more under a lamp if you have one. They're glued in very well regardless.

[m_a_watson]

Thanks Mike,
They will be getting some business as soon as I get off the rig.