This is a rare Kobold USS Pittsburgh (submarine) chronograph that I recently serviced for a ClockSavant customer. It is a limited edition watch and a collaboration between Kobold and Chronoswiss, a company famous for premium mechanical chronographs. This particular watch had been to many watchmakers before I received it. I was told that even Sherpas in the Himilaya’s serviced this particular watch at some point. You read that right. Kobold trained Sherpas to be watchmakers when he became obsessed with the life of Sherpa’s and Mount Everest. While there’s no dispute that Sherpas were trained and worked on servicing watches including this one, there is some controversy relating to Kobold that I will defer you to google for. Regardless, at the end of the day, this is a very nice watch that needed some serious TLC. After many disappointments, the owner was convinced the only way to a good running watch was to swap the movement out. This is something I don’t like doing for many reasons— from collectability, to maintaining history of the watch, and then to the reality that the replacement movement itself must be serviced and identical down to movement customization such as pivot height for hands— there are strong reasons why swapping a movement is the absolute last choice. While the movement had lived a difficult life, it was definitely a candidate to be brought-back to full performance and maybe better than new. However, not a single shortcut will get you there— a full and complete disassembly, close inspection, new parts, adjustment, and correct cleaning and lubrication. This watch is based on a Valjoux 7750 and I’ll let you in on a secret. It doesn’t matter how many 7750’s you see or can buy or how many watchmakers will raise their hand and service it for you on the cheap. Once it comes time to service it, they are a good deal fo work to do correctly. Of course it can be done quickly and cheaply with some shortcuts and dirty tricks, but doing it right is not a commodity task. This is especially the case when the watch has damage and wear. At the end of the day, the result is worth it and this watch is ready to sail the seas again.
