Something a little more advanced

[adiorio110]

I have been tearing down and rebuilding Size 16 and 18 pocket watches and replacing broken parts with parts from donor watches and can rebuild with no problems. Now I will try my hand at doing some repairs like replacing roller jewels, balance wheels, rubbed jewels etc. In the meantime What would the next level tear down and rebuild I can play with, something a little more complicated.

 

Anthony   

[frenchie]

How about something with a date complication or an automatic bridge. Small steps, but useful.

Or if you want a bigger leap, chronographs.

[oldhippy]

After you have mastered what you intend to do with the P/W. You should try a Gents watch, not to complected, get used to  handling the small parts, take everything to bits and I mean everything. Next up one with calendar work, auto and ladies small movements then ladies calendar work, auto. If you were on  BHI course you wouldn't be working on chronographs until your final years, that would be after you master how to make and fit a balance staff. 

[noirrac1j]

I have been tearing down and rebuilding Size 16 and 18 pocket watches and replacing broken parts with parts from donor watches and can rebuild with no problems. Now I will try my hand at doing some repairs like replacing roller jewels, balance wheels, rubbed jewels etc. In the meantime What would the next level tear down and rebuild I can play with, something a little more complicated.
 
Anthony   

I would suggest a gents automatic with day and date. Anything by bulova (calibers 11xxx), omega1000 series, or a Seiko.

JC

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[Ishima]

Second what noirac says, seikos are particulerly good because i believe they're slightly on the watchmaker friendly side with the simple nature of their design and construction, and you can regularly find whole lots of scrap seiko movements for a few pounds on ebay. 

if you do feel a little daunted just learn how to dis and re assemble the automatic bridge, then just the calender work, sort of like dry runs,  then you can quickly work up to doing the whole watch in one go. 

Edited February 27, 2017 by Ishima

[digginstony]

Agree with everyone except working on chronograph. Leave well alone for time being. Seiko will be your best choice. Mark did video's in 4 parts not 3 ( 4th being an extra on conclusion) On the Seiko 7s26. They are excellent videos and watch these several times.
Once you've mastered the 7s26. Move on to different makes and you'll find the principles are the same.
Going to smaller movements such as ladies watches is really going to depend on how steady your hands are. It's all great fun so don't rush, plenty of time and lots of patience.

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[ricardopalamino]

I agree with all the above advice . Especially the consensus of holding off on the chronographs for a bit as there is a lot of tweaking involved .

I would suggest a working Seiko 6309 - 7290 diver . They are a nice watch you will enjoy owning , they have not too complicated auto wind and day / date features , and if needed , parts are readily available , and they don't have the plastic gears that some other Seiko Divers have ..

Best of all , you can get a working , or , non working model for a good price .

For instance.....

[adiorio110]

Thanks for all the replies guys... I agree chronographs might be a bit to ambitious at this point.  Seiko looks like the consensus, so Seiko it is. 

 

Anthony

[digginstony]

Thanks for all the replies guys... I agree chronographs might be a bit to ambitious at this point.  Seiko looks like the consensus, so Seiko it is. 
 
Anthony

If you're going further back than the 7s26 watch out for the calendar jumper spring. If you disturb the calender wheel, it will ping off into the universe
Also the day change has a little wire spring underneath the lever
This is what it looks like

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[adiorio110]

1 hour ago, digginstony said:

If you're going further back than the 7s26 watch out for the calendar jumper spring. If you disturb the calender wheel, it will ping off into the universe
Also the day change has a little wire spring underneath the lever
This is what it looks like

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Thanks for the heads up..

What do you mean "If you're going further back than the 7s26"?

I was looking at the 7s26 and the 6309 Seems most of the watches on eBay are from the Philippines. I am looking  locally USA. Better deals are offered on the 6309 are there any major differences?   

 

[digginstony]

The 7s26 was introduced in 1996 I believe. It's very similar to previous models but was a design to allow for mass production incorporating advanced machine shop methods. Also employing plastic wheels within its complication.
Pre runner was the 700 series. as shown. I'm not aware of any major difference.
I've no particular knowledge of the 600s but there will be guys on the forum that have.



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[digginstony]

Also as you may be aware if you've watched Marks videos on the 7s26. The 2nd reduction wheel is a left hand thread. If you tighten the screw and there's movement on the wheel. This will be due to wear and don't be tempted to tighten the screw a bit more. It's snaps very easily !
The 4rs have replaced this screw with a jewelled bridge

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[ricardopalamino]

Here is a link to the Seiko Divers Reference that explains the Seiko divers through the years . 

https://archives.makedostudio.com/seiko-divers/index.html

The 6309 is older then the 7002 and the 7S26 and there are also differences in the depth ratings of the different calibers . 

I have a few 6309's including the 7290 and the turtles which are the vintage 7040 , and 7049 . I also have 2 new       

Seiko Prosper 6309 Turtle re-issue divers .

In my opinion the vintage 6309's are just a better built , tested , workhorse caliber . You can still get many parts of the 6309 because Seiko also made sport and dress watches in this caliber .

  I think the gears are a little more heavy duty .  I had mentioned earlier that the 6309 didn't have plastic gears , but I just serviced one last night and was reminded that some of the date wheels were in fact , plastic  . Some of those parts were also made in metal so I changed out the plastic with metal gears I had in my stash .

I have bought many divers from a few reputable sellers in the Philippines and found that the quality of the work and the customer service from these particular sellers was outstanding . 

  I have also bought 6309 watches , not necessarily divers , from India just for the parts in these watches because the costs of the watches were inexpensive . I have also seen some not so good craftsmanship in these watches ,...but I just needed the parts .

As I stated earlier , these are my personal opinions .

 

 

 

 

[adiorio110]

On 2/27/2017 at 4:30 PM, Ishima said:

if you do feel a little daunted just learn how to dis and re assemble the automatic bridge, then just the calender work, sort of like dry runs,  then you can quickly work up to doing the whole watch in one go. 

Good advice, that is exactly how I approached my first pocket watch. Each step further built more confidence. Before I knew it I was tearing them down and re assembling them with no problem. That being said there is really nothing to Size 16 and 18 pocket watches as far as assembly goes. I am sure wrist watch movements with more complications are much more intense. 

Anthony

[adiorio110]

3 hours ago, ricardopalamino said:

Here is a link to the Seiko Divers Reference that explains the Seiko divers through the years . 

https://archives.makedostudio.com/seiko-divers/index.html

The 6309 is older then the 7002 and the 7S26 and there are also differences in the depth ratings of the different calibers . 

I have a few 6309's including the 7290 and the turtles which are the vintage 7040 , and 7049 . I also have 2 new       

Seiko Prosper 6309 Turtle re-issue divers .

In my opinion the vintage 6309's are just a better built , tested , workhorse caliber . You can still get many parts of the 6309 because Seiko also made sport and dress watches in this caliber .

  I think the gears are a little more heavy duty .  I had mentioned earlier that the 6309 didn't have plastic gears , but I just serviced one last night and was reminded that some of the date wheels were in fact , plastic  . Some of those parts were also made in metal so I changed out the plastic with metal gears I had in my stash .

I have bought many divers from a few reputable sellers in the Philippines and found that the quality of the work and the customer service from these particular sellers was outstanding . 

  I have also bought 6309 watches , not necessarily divers , from India just for the parts in these watches because the costs of the watches were inexpensive . I have also seen some not so good craftsmanship in these watches ,...but I just needed the parts .

As I stated earlier , these are my personal opinions .

I 

 

 

 

I wish I seen this post earlier I already purchased a New Seiko  SNK805 with a 7s26 only cost me 50 bucks delivered. I am sure I could have found a cheaper option but I wanted to buy locally, didn't have the patience to cross reference models with calibers or wait for a shipment from the Philippines were it seems all the reasonable priced 6309 and 7s26 Seiko divers I did find are located. Do you have any recommendations on which dealers I should use. Have you had any dealings with "restoredwatches" on eBay.

[ricardopalamino]

3 hours ago, adiorio110 said:

I wish I seen this post earlier I already purchased a New Seiko  SNK805 with a 7s26 only cost me 50 bucks delivered. I am sure I could have found a cheaper option but I wanted to buy locally, didn't have the patience to cross reference models with calibers or wait for a shipment from the Philippines were it seems all the reasonable priced 6309 and 7s26 Seiko divers I did find are located. Do you have any recommendations on which dealers I should use. Have you had any dealings with "restoredwatches" on eBay.

$50 sounds like a reasonable price for a new Seiko .

I probably have bought from restored watches in the past year , or at least was watching an item being sold by them . 

  While I don't want to make any recommendations on any sellers from the Philippines , or Singapore for that matter , I know in the past I bought a lot of Seiko Divers from JFM watches who also sold under other  separate names . I know CFN or something of that nature rings a bell as far as a seller name goes . I also bought Omegas , Rado , Titus , and other brands from them .  I had only 1 or maybe 2 watches that had a problem when I received them , and If I remember correctly the problem was probably caused by the handling in shipping . 

I remember one instance where a hand , index , or rotor screw fell off and the seller had no problem having me take it to a watchmaker of my choice  and offering to pay for any repairs .  I told him I could repair the problem , so he was good with that and gave me free shipping on the next couple of watches . 

Edited March 2, 2017 by ricardopalamino