This watch was found buried and neglected in a pile of old costume jewelry. When checking to see if it ran, I checked the crown to see if it moved. The watch appears fully wound but wasn't running. I rotated the crown just enough to take pressure off the click and the watch began to run. I released the crown and the watch stopped again. When I opened the case, you can see in the pictures what I found. Here's the dilemma. It needs, at the very least, a cleaning and service. I'm not qualified (yet) to perform the service but sending it out doesn't make sense, given the value of the watch. What to do...
I can't be the first to have this issue. What have others done? Did you sell the watch to someone qualified to bring it back? Did you learn to service your own watches? Did you pay to have it done even though the watch's value may not warrant it?
Working 5AD movemets can be purchased online for not a great deal of money.
If you don't want to pay to have it serviced you can always give it a go yourself and start the learning process many of us have taken. It's a hell or a jounrney, but can be very frustrating and rewarding at the same time.
Working on an ID now.
Closest I can find is this (also available with white dial). But the movement is all wrong.
Self-winding ladies, that's ipressive for the size!
Unknown for now.
In reply to The bezel is just patterned by Wynot
That's some serious rust. It will have damaged the pivots and arbors, also pinions and who knows what else. Restoring this would be pointless, it would be far better to get a replacement 5AD. There are countless thousands of these floating around Flea markets inside other ladies Bulova watches. Many of them are perfectly viable watches, it's just that they are out of style. I pick them up for less than $10.
If you plan to attempt to service a watch, don't start with a tiny ladies watch. In watchmaking school we started with the ETA 6497, a pocket watch movement. It's very straight forward and easy to service. I should mention that many American pocket watches are NOT as easy to service. It depends on what it is and when it was made, but my point is, it doesn't get much more straight forward than the 6497. We were taught the full CTR, and how to adjust the jewels in the train, the hairspring and the balance.
I encourage anyone who is interested in Horology to take some classes, in North America you could go to the NAWCC classes or the AWCI. You can take the courses one at a time, and not be tied up for years like you would at a WOSTEP watchmkaking school. (I can recommend Lititz, in PA for this)
It is important to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it, a full treatment of the underlying physics can be found in 'The Theory of Horology', the WOSTEP textbook.
In reply to That's some serious rust. It by Reverend Rob