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Sicura D500 Jump Hour

rustycolt

By rustycolt
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rustycolt Watch Enthusiast

rustycolt

Posted
Posted

I have been looking for one of these for quite a while, and finally found the right one. Bought from the bay as a project, it was a bit hard done by when I received it, but that it what I was after. Right off the bat, it needed a new balance staff and full service. I ordered a complete balance, as the existing hairspring was not inspiring confidence, and I have yet to develop any hairspring repair skills. Turns out that the BFG866 movement has two different hairspring configurations, which in turn use two different regulator/stud mount posts. They physically work together when they are wrong, but the hairspring becomes distorted due to incorrect y-axis positioning. I have located the parts to correct this, it shall be done. In addition, I have found that the power reserve is a meagre 11 hours or so, as such, I've placed an order for a new mainspring. Today is the second day that I have worn it, and I can see that I will need to go back in and tighten up the canon pinion a little also. So still a couple more tasks on the worksheet for this watch, and I wouldn't normally wear a work in progress, but now that the replacement glass is installed, I couldn't resist putting it on this morning. 

 

Many thanks to fellow WRT member noirrac1j who has been a tremendous resource throughout this project, and who was the key to sourcing a replacement crystal - that was a huge deal, my gratitude to him for the help, and to Mark for creating this community for us to find each other in!

 

Here is the poor thing before - I was able to polish out about 95% of the scratches and pits from the crystal, but that only revealed that there were two significant cracks, and a crater at 8:00. 

post-456-0-60340900-1420727206_thumb.jpe

 

I was able to do some light polishing on the case, but the plating is pretty thin, and I'd rather live with a few honest scratches than brass edges, so for now, this will suffice. There is a decent chance that the bracelet is original, but I do not know for certain. The clasp has been repaired at some point, and it was done well. I think the cost of that repair would have exceeded a replacement bracelet. It is not signed, but for my purposes, I'm willing to accept it as an original part (for the time being, at least)

 

post-456-0-04636700-1420727906_thumb.jpg

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post-456-0-01321600-1420728177_thumb.jpg

 

All in all, it's good fun, and that is exactly what I bought it for. It's roughly the same vintage as I, and while that was not an era known for its timeless style and beauty, it is satisfying to embrace that bit of nostalgia and individuality. 

-J

 

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noirrac1j Distinguished Member

noirrac1j

Posted
Posted

Good job and fantastic photos Jeremy! Maybe a shot of the movement when you work on the cannon pinion or change out the balance? By the way, I actually have an original signed sicura bracelet for this watch. The bracelet I have is good quality, flexible, etc. and has also been repaired at one of the links. I don't have it on my watch because I happen to like leather straps. I have both original and refinished examples of the watchcase, and I prefer the "sunburst" brush finish which is difficult to reproduce because it is radial--at least that is what they told me.  I love the uniqueness of the Sicura's and it always gets noticed when I wear it.

 

JC

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  • 4 years later...
ac30kev New Member

ac30kev

Posted
Posted

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I had to say what a wonderful job you made of this. If you are still around (4 years is a long time, ha ha) do you have details of where the crystal came from as I have just bought one of these myself and joined the forum because of this thread.

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