LeCoultre Alarm Clock Won’t Wind

Is there any trick I can try without opening it?

 

Is it wound tight or just keeps winding? If it just keeps winding the mainspring is broken.

 

Nonstop winding without any appreciable tightening or ever ending means the mainspring is snapped, or has otherwise separated company from the mainspring barrel. You'll need to take it to a clockmaker to get a new spring.

If it just won't wind at all, it's probably because someone else wound it up tight and jammed the mechanism (or rather, the mechanism jammed itself, due to lack of oil). If wiggling and jiggling doesn't get the balance ticking, then back to the clockmaker. An exploding mainspring is NOT fun (I had the alarm spring on my alarm-clock once do that, it was NOT pleasant and quite painful...)

 

When I was a kid and my cheapo kid wristwatch would stop working, I give it a sharp rap. Occasionally I was rewarded by seeing it run through 6 days in 30 seconds, so probably not a good idea.

It probably won't be as difficult removing that cover as you imagine. Looks like everything will unscrew. Just make a note of what goes where and have a container handy to hold the fasteners.

Once you can see the movement, look for a bit that resembles this:


Give it a gentle flick. If it doesn't turn one way, try the other. If the clock is over-wound and jammed, and you persist in doing that, eventually, it will start turning on its own, and the more you do it, the longer it will spin until eventually it will continue on its own until the spring winds down.

 

In 2010, I posted a question regarding an antique watch on one of the eBay boards.
I mentioned that I believed the watch had been over-wound.
A user who went by the name "vintagehorologist" took me to task for using that term. I saved his reply, and here it is:

"Overwound" is a word used and perpetuated by those who don't have an understanding of how a watch works. Abolish the word from your watch vocabulary. It is impossible to overwind a watch. Watches simply become broken/dirty/gummed-up over time without servicing. Eventually, they refuse to run and they are obviously fully wound at this time, so people mistakenly say they are "overwound".

 

Do not start taking it to pieces. That way madness lies.
The usual cause of simply not running in something that may have been unused for decades is gummed up oil on the mainspring. Sometimes a little pressure on the winder while giving it a twist in the vertical plane will get it ticking for as long as you maintain pressure on the winder.
Somewhat similar to flicking the balance, as described above but without any drastic disassembly. Keep it up for half an hour and the spring may relax enough to start delivering some power.
Alternatively, sell it as is, any buyer is likely to have either the skill to fix it or a cheaper contact for professional serviceing

You can check if the alarm works by simply moving on the hands till the alarm is triggered.I notice that the clock has bi-directional winding, one way winds the alarm, the other way, the movement.

The origin of the 'overwound' myth lies in the days of the fusee and chain, if the winding stop failed it was possible to break the fusee chain, and the watch was indeed 'overwound' and in need of major repair. It is odd the way this once viable diagnosis has survived the existence of the condition it describes by well over 100 years. It's a bit like your doctor diagnosing your ailment as 'griping in the guts'.

 

Whoever that guy is, he's absolutely correct. It's not possible (or at least VERY hard) to overwind a watch. Or clock. What really happens is that they're wound up tight, and then there's so little oil (or so much dust and gummed up oil) that the friction is such that it overpowers the watch/clock's ability to start running.

If you wind up your watch or clock and it doesn't tick right away, and you gotta tap it or flick it to get it going, that means it needs a visit to the watchmaker.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I’ll give a try without opening first.
I have a question about the LeCoultre brand. I’ve seen clocks with this logo described as being from the 50-60’s. Any idea if the company still used that name after the merge with Jaeger in 1937?
The stand is marked LeCoultre Co but not Jaeger-LeCoultre.

 

It looks like a '50s to '70s style of clock

I think it is more common to see the singular name than the conjoined name on pieces, even up to now.