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I managed to come up with my own solution and I saved the bracelet and spring bars which are in good shape. I decided to try and run some dental floss through the spring bar shoulder and case and it worked a bit. I was then able to barely insert the tool and pry it off. It took a few tries but it eventually worked on both sides. When I ran the dental floss through the spring bar and case I also tried making a knot but it didn't get all the way in, still it worked.

Those springbars a no good so go on a break them and replace them with some new fresh ones.

Judging by the amount of DNA there, it's probably glued itself in place. + 1 on breaking the springbar. Or you could try suspending the watch upright over an ultrasonic to try and dislodge said DNA?

Sometimes you just have to break the spring bar & replace.

Slip a piece of paper or business card stock between the body and bracelet/strap then place a decent size screwdriver in the same gap, close to one end and apply pressure to break the end off of the spring bar. The card stock is there to prevent marking up the body. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

the band is the problem there. I try to bend or brake these pins, not always easy. vin

Most of the work I do is on these old pocket watches, and I can say that getting a clean reading on a time machine IS possible, there are just a lot of things to look for. Rubbing of the hairspring is one, but the alignment of the spring within the regulator pins is a big one. The pins should not pinch the spring, it should sit between them with the tiniest of space on either side, throughout the movement of the regulator. Make sure the pins are perpendicular to the bridge, not angled in or out. Moving the regulator to its extremes should not significantly disturb the shape of the hairspring. It takes very small adjustments to get it all right, but I've done it, andI'm no where near a pro. Mark has a good video on adjusting hairsprings, I'd have a look. Also getting the dial up/down positions aligned timing wise is the first step, and most of that is done with making sure the end shake is proper, and there are no parts binding in one position or the other. Sometimes with too much end shake the pallet fork will contact the roller table and cause crazy noise and erratic beat readings on the timer. It just takes time and patience but it can be tracked down. Here's a great website that covers the subject very well and thoroughly. adjustingvintagewatches.com

Complete newbe in watch repair and watch collecting. Concentrating on Seiko watches because of the bang for Your buck. Acquired a SARB017 and will look at one of there iconic divers in the near future. Started buying the basic watch tools for battery changes etc. and looked at watch repair video's on YouTube. Find everything rather interesting and through Marks' video's ended up here.

Good idea! Usually the spring bars aren’t any good and there’s no harm in breaking them. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Measure battery compartment dia. and height, then find on table attached. 1_Battery Cross Reference Guide.pdf

Hi Matt, Welcome to this friendly and informative forum. I have used de Carles book for many years after some training from a Geneva trained watchmaker many years ago. I consider it the Bible for mechanical watches. Best regards, Mike.

Yes I've moved on because in this day and age there's always another place to go. And you've managed to reply about 47 hours and 50 minutes faster so the improvement is quite wonderful.

Hi, I’ve recently gone through a similar era Waltham 16s. I would look for hairspring rubbing either the bridge or the wheel. There may be a stray hair somewhere as well. I’m sure you’re aware of all of these possibilities but it dormant hurt to recheck under higher magnification. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nothing more to add, except this link for a copy of the apparently original instructions.

I know but these looked like the original ones for the watch and I like to preserve as much as possible about a time piece.