Stone watch dials

Hello Orchid folks,

Does anybody out there have any experience making stone watch dials?
I’d be grateful for any advice/suggestions on how thin they should
be, standard sizes, etc. And where to find decent watch works?

Whew, TGIF eh!? Wishing all a relaxing looong weekend and Thank you
in advance for your help, Carol

I have been repairing watches for about 20 years, and can give you
some help on the stone dials for watches. The majority of watch
movements(works) do not have a tall enough cannon pinion( the posts
that the hands attach to) to extend thru a stone dial, so it is
important that you know what movement you are going to use before you
start making dials. It is neccesary that the canon pinnion extend
thru the dial far enough so that when the hands are attached, they
will clear the surface of the dial, and any markers or logos that you
may have attached. Also, since the thickness of the dial will cause
the movement to set deeper into the watch case, the stem still needs
to line up with the opening in the side of the case. If you need , I
can furnish you with good quality,inexpensive on thru higher end
watch movements that are good for this type of situation, but need to
know some measurements and so forth before suggesting any particular
models to use… As far as diameter of dials , that will be dictated
by the size of opening in the case of the watch that its intended for
use. I have done hundreds of conversions over the years, where I take
an old mechanical-handwind watch, that the movement is worn out, and
convert it to a modern quartz, battery powered movemnt. This type of
job is loaded with many of the same details to work out as you will
encounter producing stone dials. Ed

Hi Carol,

    Does anybody out there have any experience making stone watch
dials? I'd be grateful for any advice/suggestions on how thin they
should be, standard sizes, etc. And where to find decent watch
works? 

If memory serves me correctly, Tissot used to market a “Rock Watch”
back in the late 80’s. the whole case of the watch was stone. As for
making dials most watch dials are 0.25mm thick but you could make
them slightly thicker, it would all depend on the lenght of the
cannon pinion/hour wheel/ctr seconds wheel.

Decent watch movements? depends on your definition of decent. Most
common would be , for just time, FE5120, Ronda 751 or Miyota 5y20 or
if you want a date Miyota 6L12, 2115 or ETA955-114.

Usually when you buy a watch movt. it will only come with a full
length stem. you will also have to sort hands, crown, glass, case,
strap and battery. You might be better off buying in a line of
inexpensive watches and then just swop your dials over.

Hope this helps,
Neil KilBane,
Longford,
Ireland