Dad's watch

[Graziano]

Hi guys and gals,In 1974 whilst visiting Italy my dad bought a new certina ds ph200 dive watch. Well he never had it serviced and wore it every day at home, work you name it he was wearing it for 46 years. I finally convinced him to let me have a look at his watch. It was gaining about a minute a day. So I placed it on the timing machine and nearly fell of the chair. There was a beat error of   . 1 and the amplitude was 215 degrees and gaining 153 seconds a day. But the screen had 2 close lines very straight and no snow to be seen indicating that it just needs a service. But when I opened the case back I was meet with the white chewing gum substance that looked like the original movement spacer which decayed over the years. I thought I would share this with you. Dad payed 24 dollars for it in 1974 brand new. Looks like I'll be working into the night. 

[watchweasol]

Hi   What a watch to produce those figures with all that gunge, looks like its had a varied life 46 years worth.  It will come up a treat  and ok for another 46 years.

[FLwatchguy73]

Very odd to have a plastic liquefy in that manner! Typically, plastic gets harder and brittle over time, especially when exposed to the oxygen in air. I have only ever seen plastic liquefy like that when exposed to certain solvents, even then, only certain types of plastic. I suppose it's possible someone used an adhesive of some sort to immobilize the movement in a half assed attempt to replace a lost or missing spacer prior to your fathers ownership.

Adjusted for inflation, your fathers watch cost him $131.43 in today's money. 

[Graziano]

1 hour ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Very odd to have a plastic liquefy in that manner! Typically, plastic gets harder and brittle over time, especially when exposed to the oxygen in air. I have only ever seen plastic liquefy like that when exposed to certain solvents, even then, only certain types of plastic. I suppose it's possible someone used an adhesive of some sort to immobilize the movement in a half assed attempt to replace a lost or missing spacer prior to your fathers ownership.

Adjusted for inflation, your fathers watch cost him $131.43 in today's money. 

My dad bought this watch brand new in 1974 . I have read somewhere some time ago and I have seen pictures of a whitish looking movement spacer made of some type of rubber . But my research has come up empty handed . You may well be correct it makes me angry some of the things people do to get a couple of bucks ,anyway it's a mess .The watch is running ok ,I will get to it soon and maybe post the final results when Im done . This watch is super rare as they where only made between 1969 and 1975 . collectors are paying around 2000 usd for one in alright condition .Check Out this link https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Certina-DS-2-PH200M-25-651-Vintage-Automatic-mit-originaler-Box-aus-den-70ern/264505058009?hash=item3d95bae2d9:g:sQYAAOSwkfRdrHg2 and thank you for your input FLwatchguy73,  looks like some one put crap dads watch

Edited February 26, 2020 by Graziano

[Graziano]

1 hour ago, watchweasol said:

Hi   What a watch to produce those figures with all that gunge, looks like its had a varied life 46 years worth.  It will come up a treat  and ok for another 46 years.

Howdy , Yes my da was a carpenter all his life that watch never left his wrist . I will post up when I clean it up and service it and thanks for your input watchweasol

[FLwatchguy73]

And yes, rubber is another animal entirely! Depending on how it's made it can break down from heat, time, chemicals, etc. So that theory is totally plausible!

[FLwatchguy73]

After some searching on google, I think I've solved the mystery of the goop! It looks as if Certina, specifically uses what looks to be a cord of presumably rubber or polyurethane. With both of those materials, if the binder breaks down, they can indeed liquefy. 

[Marc]

1 hour ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Very odd to have a plastic liquefy in that manner! Typically, plastic gets harder and brittle over time, especially when exposed to the oxygen in air. I have only ever seen plastic liquefy like that when exposed to certain solvents, even then, only certain types of plastic. I suppose it's possible someone used an adhesive of some sort to immobilize the movement in a half assed attempt to replace a lost or missing spacer prior to your fathers ownership.

Adjusted for inflation, your fathers watch cost him $131.43 in today's money. 

It's not plastic, and it's not a simple movement spacer in the conventional sense.

The "DS" in the model name stands for "Double Security" and is Certina's approach to equipping the watch with the highest level of shock protection. In the original concept this involved isolating the movement from the case using a thick soft rubber shock absorber (think in terms of a 4mm thick soft rubber "O" ring) where you would normally find a metal or hard plastic movement spacer.

I think the issue of liquefied rubber case back gaskets is well enough known, that the same thing should happen to a soft rubber shock absorber over 46 years is no real surprise. It has made an awful mess though.

[FLwatchguy73]

We did determined it was a rubber or polyurethane. That is the only material, I'm aware of that can break down in that manner. I get the concept of it, but clearly, variances in material quality was an issue.