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Most watches we receive need, first and foremost, a good cleaning. In this case, we opened up a fine classic watch to discover that, as well as requiring cleaning, it required a new ‘balance staff’. All watches require a balance staff; this is a shaft onto which the balance is riveted. The balance oscillates, whilst each staff has fine pivots on each end, which are housed in lubricated, jewelled bearings. These are very delicate, especially the earlier forms that don’t incorporate any shock-proof mechanism. With these early forms of balance staff, any drop or knock can break the pivots – and in this case the pivot was only half its true length.
This example is a particularly difficult case, because it belongs inside a dense, high-quality watch where tolerance is kept to a minimum. It is simply right or wrong, because the balance oscillates above the pallet cock and below the centre wheel - and an increase or decrease of as little as 0.05 + would either stop the watch or cause drag, thus preventing timekeeping. A balance staff is turned from ‘blue pivot steel. This is steel that is hardened and tempered, so that it will keep its shape and allow for a polished finish on completion.
