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Thank you all!!! I am finding out that Seiko has discontinued making a lot of these mainsprings for 7S, 4R, 6R. I guess they just want you to buy a new movement. So a generic spring will most likely have to be sourced. They don't even sell the barrel complete anymore. (or I just haven't found a viable source yet) I have gotten a little frustrated lately, as I started purchasing spring winders from ebay. The first turned out to be a pocket watch spring winder that is too deep and the spring winds up in a ball. The second set I bought was an adjustable K&D 123, A & B, that fits the barrel but the right winding knob has the nib that grabs the spring hole worn off, so it won't wind. I am still very new to this. This is the first spring I am trying to wind up and it has been a source of stress so far. The spring has gotten kinked several times so I just decided to keep practicing on it till the tail broke off last night. I will say I almost had it once, but when trying to get the spring to let go of the knob, as I removed the winder knob the spring popped out. I suppose I could just keep trying to find a newer knob for the 123A, but I am gravitating towards spending more for the Bergeon and be done with it. My thinking is I could always add new drums one at a time as needed over time (as I don't have $1K+ to drop on a whole set). Well again Thank You all for your help. I will keep trying.

I had to service my Seiko, same callibre, worked the mainspring by hand. If you haven't seen this, keep in mind the barrel lid comes off a little differently to normal barrels, as shown.

Back to your original question I don't really see you can do anything about it anyway if Cousins are insisting it is silicone. Interesting point you raise though about KT-22. Bergeon don't say their version is silicone, I have some from an American company that doesn't mention silicone and it certainly doesn't look like silicone. Yet both Cousins and Walshs call it silicone (well, Walshs call it silicon for some reason). Makes me wonder if the word is being used incorrectly to mean gasket grease or something like that? Stephen

As I mentioned Bergeon don't say KT-22 is silicone. I don't know who makes theirs, but the American made KT-22 I have has an msds sheet that specifies it is made from mineral oil, so I think that is pretty clear.

Thanks for serving - UNDER WATER ! I was just a "dry dock nuckel buster". your gona like it here. vin

I haven't measured one but it seems widely reported that the ID of the 7S26 barrel is either 10mm or 10.5mm. If you check Cousins web site it lists the bergeon winders by size. https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/watch-bergeon-winders-by-size No.6 has a diameter of 9.8mm so woud be the right size.

Hi everyone, I’m glad to have found this forum through the youtube channel, it seems like a very active and friendly community. I’ve always been fascinated by early technology, automatons, watches and antiques in general. My previous hobby (short lived but intense) was collecting/restoring trunks which wasn’t exactly practical living in a small apartment! I stumbled on my great grandfather’s pocket watch last month in parents basement while helping them clean things up and it has revived my passion for these. I was able (to my surprise) to find all about it within a couple of minutes thanks to google and pocketwatchdatabase and from there on well.. I’ve spent way too many hours reading, watching videos and now, bidding on auctions and checking the classifieds J At the moment my collection is limited to 3 watches but I intended to add to it and Iearn as I go. Above and beyond the collecting aspect, I want to understand and, if possible, maintain/fix them..down the road. I ordered a few books already, horribly cheap Chinese tool (knowing it is not a great idea but at 20$ it shall satisfy my curiosity for now) and if all goes well, I should inherit a few damaged movements that need to be looked into. Verge Fusées caught my attention (of course.. expensive stuff) and I’m hoping to find some experts on here from whom I could learn. If by coincidence there are some members willing to share their knowledge in the Quebec (Montreal) area, give me a shout! Looking forward to interesting discussions,

Thanks for the warm welcome! Just to be clear, I certainly don't expect to own (much less take apart !) a Verge Fusee anytime soon hehe. I'm actually on the hunt for lots of broken movements to play with. The watch I posted isn't the one I found from my great grandfather but my actual first purchase off the classifieds. T

There is no barrel supplied by Bergeon that fits the Seiko 7s26. If I remember correctly with the Bergeon set they are either too small or to large. I used a K&D winder that I usually use for the larger pocket watch barrels. Oldhippy is correct Seiko recommend a new barrel & mainspring. I have noticed Cousins have the mainspring as obsolete. However I have done a little research & the consensus is the mainspring size required is: 0.95 x 0.12 x 400 x 10.5. Which is ref: GR2378X Cousins have this in stock.

I'm Tim from Saint Paul, Minnesota in the USA. I'm a systems support engineer for Windows and Unix applications. I'm a tinkerer and shade-tree mechanic for hobbies. I was bitten by the watch bug two plus years ago when I was awarded a modest watch at work. Just like with motorcycles and firearms, the more I researched my watch and other watch things, the deeper I got in. I changed all the batteries in my quartz watches for a start. Then I started buying interesting junk off of eBay. Now I'm up to a motley collection of 10 or so watches that I wear fairly regularly. I'm looking forward to getting further into the hobby and frequenting this site. Tim

I know Seiko parts are not so easy to buy these days. Seiko back in the 70’s and 80’s advised, you should replace the barrel complete after (I think 5 or 7 years) you’re not supposed to take them apart. Its possible you will not find a winder that will fit.

I’ve found that for some Seiko mainspring it’s best to use a combination of one handle and another drum. The appropriate size drum has too wide of a post. Anyway, my 2 cents. May just have to do it by hand... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is Bergeon KT22 definitely silicone? I've seen it advertised as silicone, but their website does not mention the word "silicone", whereas their other gasket grease does mention that it is silicone.

progress report...... You know what the difference is between a watchmaker who knows what he's doing and me? sore knees searching the tiled floor for parts. An that's with a bench with glass sides back and top and the pull out catch tray. Good news is I'm getting lots of practice and manual dexterity is improving. I usually find the part, but this time I managed to lose the rotor when it flew off . Being magnetic exacerbates the challenge, it could have stuck to so many things. This movement is out of production. I suppose these electronic watches are sort of a disposable consumer thing given the electronics will eventually fail, and with all the plastic they're not exactly inspiring....but hey, that one lonely jewel needed to be serviced and I'm a dog with a bone. As it turns out the yoke is just about rusted through. While Seiko forsakes you on the movement, the good news is both parts are still used in other watches (yoke and lost rotor) so they're available and on order. Hopefully I can make it work. The symptom of the watch was a jumpy second hand and not really keeping time. Turns out there were bits of metal stuck to the rotor, no doubt the missing chunks of the yoke. Interesting how the metal corroded in just that one spot which is an obvious stress riser. Stress does increase corrosion in steel so it seems a bit of a design flaw....the thin spring arm could have been wider through this section. Other than some crud from the battery, there was no other corrosion in the watch

welcome Erik. ever worked on the "Hawkbill". cheers. vin