Tissot Seastar - Refresh and service

[anilv]

Hi guys,

Started to work on the Tissot Seastar I posted below..

 

I received this watch at my weekend home and didn't have any tools handy so I started on cleaning up the case. (I borrowed the use of a case-back opener from a local store).

 

Here's how it looks in the beginning, You can see that the chapter ring is separate and has come adrift.

Beginning sanding with some fine sand-paper.. I started with some used 1000 grit..

And progressed onto finer grade.

Getting better.. autosol is my preferred polish..they key is to keep using fresh polish paste and move to a fresh area on your cloth. Otherwise you'll be polishing plastic with plastic.

The bezel cleaned up but theres a lot of scratches...way better than before though.

You can see some scratches but with the naked eye its not too bad. That'll do for now.

One of the lugs had seen some damage.

A little light tapping had it looking better, here the springbars and case have been cleaned and the bracelet installed. I may get around to polishing the rear, more to get the scratches off but I may remove the engraving. I'm in Malaysia and Hebrew words won't help if I decide to sell it.

Hands and dial are pretty clean. Looks like the case kept all the dirt on the outside, kudos to Tissot.

A light coat of dust.

At first glance the movement is nice and clean, it tries to tick .. hopefully a clean and service will see it right. I'm a bit cautious with these Tissot movements as I have had a few problems with these movements (2571). For one thing the centre wheel pinion where the seconds hand goes is quite fragile. I have broken a few.. probably because the hand-puller was not absolutely at right angles... but I dont have this problems with other watches!. Also the I have broken the Inca spring on a few Tissots but never on any other brand of watch. (KIF are another story!). Perhaps its just co-incidence but as a result I remove hands and balance jewels with extra care!

 

coming up.. servicing the movement.

Anilv

 

[anilv]

ll I took a few pictures during the strip and rebuild..

First the automatic weight comes off..

Then the automatic module.. simple enough. Note below that tone of the screws holding down the autowinding mechanism also holds the winding wheel in place.

With the automatic weight off the watch tries to run..

 

Now I flip it over to work on the dial side..

Everything comes apart well. The set lever bridges is intact. The quickset lever is also present, this can go missing as its not immediately recognizable in the parts tray!

Back to the other side to get the train and barrel off..

A naked mainplate

I didn't get a picture of the wheels.. sorry.

Here's a picture of the movement re-assembled. In this case theres not much difference before and after as the case did a good job keeping crud out!.

And here's a video.. happily ticking away!

Anilv

 

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by anilv

[tmag101]

My Tissot 'Seastar Pr 516 GL looks like this one.  Mine seems to run when worn but. the time is tough to set and date does not set..  Am I into a large repair?  Or is it as easy as a winding stem?

[jdm]

3 hours ago, tmag101 said:

My Tissot 'Seastar Pr 516 GL looks like this one.  Mine seems to run when worn but. the time is tough to set and date does not set..  Am I into a large repair?  Or is it as easy as a winding stem?

A regular service should do. BTW, we have a section were it's considere polite to introduce oneself, and please don't unnecessarily hook into existing project topics just because you have a same  watch.

Edited November 1, 2019 by jdm

[anilv]

The setting works could be gummed up, also the date quickset is a 'push crown in' type. If you dont know when its been serviced then it would be a good idea to get it done.

Anilv

[Paumanok]

What a surprise seeing this model and face on here right as I'm getting back into this after a break. I've got the same model and I've always had a hard time finding ones exactly like it with the same color combination. I haven't done a full service of it yet but I have replaced a loose cannon pinion. The push-in date set complication has given me the most trouble of any watch to date, which is probably why I haven't taken it fully down for a service. It took me 4 or 5 tries until I got it together without something slipping out stopping the date advance from working.

 

Great work!

[Razz]

On 11/15/2018 at 2:56 AM, anilv said:

ll I took a few pictures during the strip and rebuild..

First the automatic weight comes off..

Then the automatic module.. simple enough. Note below that tone of the screws holding down the autowinding mechanism also holds the winding wheel in place.

With the automatic weight off the watch tries to run..

 

Now I flip it over to work on the dial side..

Everything comes apart well. The set lever bridges is intact. The quickset lever is also present, this can go missing as its not immediately recognizable in the parts tray!

Back to the other side to get the train and barrel off..

A naked mainplate

I didn't get a picture of the wheels.. sorry.

Here's a picture of the movement re-assembled. In this case theres not much difference before and after as the case did a good job keeping crud out!.

And here's a video.. happily ticking away!

Anilv

 

 

Anilv, sorry to resurrect this post but I just acquired a Tissot Seastar with the same movement (actually the 2591 US equivalent). But it came in pieces as the seller appears to have taken apart the dial side to clean and messed up by removing 95% of the calendar day and date wheels printing and seemed to give up. I think all the parts are present and currently looking at the parts list to cross check. But can't find a service manual that shows an exploded view with oiling scheme that would help in my assembly

 Normally I have the luxury of taking pictures of the disassembly but as I said that it came in pieces. I think your pictures will provide me with enough to assemble the dial side again. Anyone know of an oiling chart or service manual (not the parts list) that could assist?

Thanks in advance, Razz.

Original dial, case and back, bracelet, hands and signed crown all seem in decent shape and the goings side looks to be intact and free but not running.

I can already spot that the seller has the wheel with the 3 lined screw upside down!

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Razz

[anilv]

Hi Razz,

Sorry for the late response... don't frequent the forum as much as I used to.

Hope the rebuild went well!

Anilv

[Razz]

On 9/5/2023 at 3:53 AM, anilv said:

Hi Razz,

Sorry for the late response... don't frequent the forum as much as I used to.

Hope the rebuild went well!

Anilv

No worries Anilv! Thanks again for posting your pictures as it was enough to get me in the right direction. The rebuild went well and I am so happy with the result. I will eventually post the rebuild either here or in a new thread and post the link here so others can find both. I really learned a lot about this family of calibers and picked up another 2591 and had a 781 to use as a donor for some parts until NOS came in. Particularly the pallet and its Bridge. Also had the source a minute wheel (broken teeth) and the day and date rings. Have a new mainspring but you can see rhat the center coil is much too large for the arbor. I was able to service the old one so did not need one to get it running but got one anyway because the amplitude is low. Also needed a minute train bridge screw. I still need to put the finishing touches and asjustments but this one really wears nice on the wrist and runs well!