[mitka80]

Hi everyone!

This is a great forum, which I enjoyed very much so far and I've found lots of useful tips and reviews here.
Thank you all very much for sharing your info.

I am new to this forum and my 1st language is not English so bear with me if I use weird vocabulary or grammar ;-)
I just got a Vostok in a ministry case, which you should be able to see as my profile pic.
I got it for several reasons: mainly for its affordable price and the movement's good reputation. The main reason why I got an affordable Russian watch though is that I wanted something that I could start learning to mod with and do some work on. So along with the watch I got some cheap chinese watch tools too and I ordered some new lume (everybody knows the Vostok lume isn't really taking its job too serious).

So while I had the case open and loosened a screw in order to take the stem out, I lost the screw. It fell on the floor and was never seen again :-(. I wasn't even sure if it was necessary to loosen the screw in order to take out the stem, but that's what I understood according to the excellent manual found here: https://www.watchuseek.com/f10/anatomy-vostok-68053.html Stupid, stupid, stupid me o| That's such an amateur's mistake. I undid the screw, forgot about it in the process and when I turned around the watchwork, it fell on the floor. Here's a picture of the screw that's missing:

View attachment 1002751

So here's my actual question:
Does anybody know if these screws are standard size screws? If so, what's their name / size? Or do they only get used in Vostok Movements? I hope I can get replacement for it from a watchmaker or, I dunno, maybe a hardware store or fine electronics supply here in town?
I guess I could try ordering them from Victor Goloubev for example but I would like to avoid shipping and all the hassle. (I am living in Toronto right now and OH MY GOD is customs ever slow here!!! Every time I've ordered sth from abroad it was held up there for 3-4 weeks!).

I am currently doing a relume of my dial and the hands and I am planning to share my experience with you later. I have seen tutorials of hands reluming and bordered lume hour marks (like e.g. on a Rolex oyster dial) but never one for those lume dots on Vostok dials. It's really difficult to get the dots even and not messy. The hands were relatively easy but the dial dots didn't turn out that well yet, so I'm gonna order one or several more dials next month.

I hope some of you know an answer to that. Thanks a lot for your help ;-)

 

[GlenRoiland]

Sorry to hear your misfortune! My understanding is there is a recessed pusher very near to that screw that liberates the crown, and that screw is a bridge screw. I think you need to simply depress the pusher to remove the crown/stem assembly. I could be wrong?

I'm certain other far more horologically savvy individuals will rapidly chime in. I think that screw you unfortunately lost to the great missing item abyss (if you should locate it --I'm still searching for sundry items I have lost over the years so please look for them too!) is a common bridge screw.

Best of luck to you. The good news is that is a mistake you probably won't make again (unless you are like me as I continue to make the same mistakes over and over....). I still never use the plastic bag technique.

 

[GlenRoiland]

As an aside, I don't see your profile pic?

 

[ltri]

You didn't read instructions carefully the, captions above the Picture says "One can now extract the stem+crown. Be carefull, this screw is not the stem-liberating one but just a bridge screw!"

and the picture below that one from the thread you used as the manual. There is a button that you have to push and remove the stem at the same time. I use a toothpick as the pushing tool.
"There a specific pusher near the click that more handy that a screw"

 

[mitka80]

Thank you all for your reply
I know that in order to get out the stem, you have to press down the pusher. For some reason I thought though the screw was mentioned because it was also blocking the stem. I read it several times. I just didn't get it right. It was a misunderstanding and on the picture below, to me it looked like the screw is removed. But now that I'm looking at it again, it could also still be in there. You can't really tell from the picture. If the screw hadn't been mentioned at all I wouldn't have touched it.
The funny thing here is that the author of the manual wanted to say: "Don't touch the screw" and I for some reason interpreted it as: "the screw alone won't unlock the stem. Also press down the pusher." Idiot that I am, haha :-d
Ah well, like "GlenRoiland" said, I won't make that mistake again (hopefully) and that's the reason I got the cheap Vostok: in order to learn, because mistakes here aren't as expensive.

 

[mp34me]

...my 1st language is not English so bear with me if I use weird vocabulary or grammar ;-)...

BTW - your grammer is better than most Americans!

 

[RobNJ]

Don't feel bad. I had parts flying in all directions the first watch I opened, and that screw is really deceptive.

I don't know about replacing the screw, but before you give up completely, have you tried sweeping the area of floor where you work with a magnet? Something long, like a magnet for suspending kitchen knives, might be ideal. You just might pick up the screw, even if you don't see it.