GPW Repair Project
Hello all,
Eight years ago as a freshman in college I purchased this beautiful quartz GMT watch from the company GPW. After owing it about a week I dropped it on the tile floor in my dorm room and the movement stopped. Since the warranty did not cover shock, I decided to open it up myself (using a screwdriver and mallet :E) and see if I could diagnose the problem, and after opening it I realized I couldn’t, so I put it in a ziplock bag with the case back off and movement ring removed and left it in a drawer in my desk for nearly a decade.
I discovered it on a recent trip home and decided I’d like to restore it since it’s a good looking piece, has great lume and wears light on the wrist, being titanium. However, I still don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve identified the movement as a Ronda 505D, and I suspect it needs to be wholly replaced, but I’m very apprehensive about taking the hands off because I don’t want to damage them. I also noticed a mark on the dial and I’m not sure if it’s from the original accident or me messing with it since. I’d like to restore it to a good condition but I’m not sure where to start. This would be my first project like this but I’ve been an avid scale modeler for a long time and I am confident in my fine motor skills but not my knowledge base. I therefore have some questions:
-Is it likely that I would be able to disassemble another 505D and replace most of the parts without taking the hands off the movement? As I said I think they’re likely irreplaceable (a visit to GPW’s website will indicate why) and I’d rather not mess with them if at all possible
-Does the mark above the seconds hand look like a scratch or could it be something else? I’m not really sure how it could’ve gotten scratched like that. Some dust I think has gotten in while I’ve been messing with it but the pattern doesn’t make sense.
-Where is a good place to start on tools for something like this? I see you can get repair kits that come with obvious things like case back openers, screwdrivers, magnifiers etc. but are these generally a good buy or should I get tools separately, and is there anything I would want that’s not usually included in these toolkits?
Edit 1: also what are safe ways to clean dust out of this without damaging the hands?
Thanks a ton for your help yall!