Two Current Projects - Each Now Waiting On A Single Part

[thor447]

I have my first full service project, a 1974 Seiko with a purple/blue dial now only waiting for a replacement bezel. For what it's worth, in every picture I took of this watch it appears deep purple.  When looking at it in person, there's much more blue in the dial.  Regardless of what I did I could not get a picture to show it how it truly looks in person.  It's repair was lengthy, and quite a challenge for being my first top to bottom watch repair (as previously documented on this website).  The bezel is shipping from Denmark to central USA.  It was shipped on August 17th, and the last bit of tracking info I received was the that it was in foreign international dispatch on August 18th.  It's been 2 weeks, so hopefully it will be arriving sometime soon.

While waiting for that bezel to arrive, I decided to start on my 2nd full service project.  I found an interesting green dial Seiko Lord Matic from 1972 on eBay and picked it up for a pretty good price ($38 before shipping).  It was listed as a non-runner.  It had a bent tooth on the barrel and a broken tooth on the 3rd wheel.  A donor 5606A movement provided me with the needed parts, and after a full service I 'lightly' polished out some of the minor scratches in the case.  I did not want to get out the sanding sticks and really start to move/remove to much metal in an effort to remove some of the deeper scratches.  The case still shows some honest wear, but it looks much better in my opinion.  I also taped off the flats on the top and sides of the case and ran it over some 3M Scotch Brite pads.  I found a great looking pattern by using the 'Very Fine' for a few passes, and finishing with the 'Ultra Fine' pads.  This one is ready now as well, minus 1 part.  The faceted crystal in this Seiko Lord Matic was beyond saving.  I had a difficult time trying to find a NOS replacement, and I believe I've identified a potential replacement via an old Seiko part number, but could never find an available picture anywhere.  Cousins showed to have one in stock at a very good price so I decided to gamble on it and placed the order.  The crystal should be arriving next week, so we'll see what it looks like when it gets here.  Hopefully it will work, because the one NOS faceted crystal I did finally locate is quite expensive, so I'm pinning my hopes on the Cousins part doing the job so I don't have to order the other one!

 

 

With the 1974 Seiko (on the right), I probably have a few dollars more into the repair of the watch than it is worth, but I don't see that as an issue personally.  It was my first watch and turned out to be a very educational experience, well worth the cost of repairs.  The green 1972 Lord Matic I believe is worth more now than what I have invested in it.  These watches seem to command a little bit of a premium over the regular Seiko's of that time (at least the working ones on eBay do).  I really like the look of this watch, and while both are a bit small for me in my opinion, having a 20.5cm wrist, I'm going to order some straps and wear them proudly.  

Once these are finished, next up on the list is a Jerome Piquot watch I picked up on eBay for $19.  I know nothing about the watch, other than it was very inexpensive and I thought the dial had character.  It has an AS 1686 movement inside, and from first glance (without disassembly) one of the case screws has a broken head and it is missing the seconds hand.  It is so filthy inside the amplitude is basically non-existent.  All of that aside, I think the dial is really unique.  At first I thought the indices aside from 12, 3, 6 and 9 were all missing, but in fact they are cut into the dial.  Close inspection shows that the dial is polished in those hour marker recesses.  I think that is a pretty unique way to showing the hour markers.  The movement looks simple enough to disassemble and parts seems to be somewhat available on eBay so I think I'm going to give this old $20 Swiss watch some attention in the coming weeks.

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, thor447 said:

I have my first full service project, a 1974 Seiko with a purple/blue dial now only waiting for a replacement bezel. For what it's worth, in every picture I took of this watch it appears deep purple.  When looking at it in person, there's much more blue in the dial.  Regardless of what I did I could not get a picture to show it how it truly looks in person.  It's repair was lengthy, and quite a challenge for being my first top to bottom watch repair (as previously documented on this website).  The bezel is shipping from Denmark to central USA.  It was shipped on August 17th, and the last bit of tracking info I received was the that it was in foreign international dispatch on August 18th.  It's been 2 weeks, so hopefully it will be arriving sometime soon.

While waiting for that bezel to arrive, I decided to start on my 2nd full service project.  I found an interesting green dial Seiko Lord Matic from 1972 on eBay and picked it up for a pretty good price ($38 before shipping).  It was listed as a non-runner.  It had a bent tooth on the barrel and a broken tooth on the 3rd wheel.  A donor 5606A movement provided me with the needed parts, and after a full service I 'lightly' polished out some of the minor scratches in the case.  I did not want to get out the sanding sticks and really start to move/remove to much metal in an effort to remove some of the deeper scratches.  The case still shows some honest wear, but it looks much better in my opinion.  I also taped off the flats on the top and sides of the case and ran it over some 3M Scotch Brite pads.  I found a great looking pattern by using the 'Very Fine' for a few passes, and finishing with the 'Ultra Fine' pads.  This one is ready now as well, minus 1 part.  The faceted crystal in this Seiko Lord Matic was beyond saving.  I had a difficult time trying to find a NOS replacement, and I believe I've identified a potential replacement via an old Seiko part number, but could never find an available picture anywhere.  Cousins showed to have one in stock at a very good price so I decided to gamble on it and placed the order.  The crystal should be arriving next week, so we'll see what it looks like when it gets here.  Hopefully it will work, because the one NOS faceted crystal I did finally locate is quite expensive, so I'm pinning my hopes on the Cousins part doing the job so I don't have to order the other one!

 

 

With the 1974 Seiko (on the right), I probably have a few dollars more into the repair of the watch than it is worth, but I don't see that as an issue personally.  It was my first watch and turned out to be a very educational experience, well worth the cost of repairs.  The green 1972 Lord Matic I believe is worth more now than what I have invested in it.  These watches seem to command a little bit of a premium over the regular Seiko's of that time (at least the working ones on eBay do).  I really like the look of this watch, and while both are a bit small for me in my opinion, having a 20.5cm wrist, I'm going to order some straps and wear them proudly.  

Once these are finished, next up on the list is a Jerome Piquot watch I picked up on eBay for $19.  I know nothing about the watch, other than it was very inexpensive and I thought the dial had character.  It has an AS 1686 movement inside, and from first glance (without disassembly) one of the case screws has a broken head and it is missing the seconds hand.  It is so filthy inside the amplitude is basically non-existent.  All of that aside, I think the dial is really unique.  At first I thought the indices aside from 12, 3, 6 and 9 were all missing, but in fact they are cut into the dial.  Close inspection shows that the dial is polished in those hour marker recesses.  I think that is a pretty unique way to showing the hour markers.  The movement looks simple enough to disassemble and parts seems to be somewhat available on eBay so I think I'm going to give this old $20 Swiss watch some attention in the coming weeks.

Well done with the seikos thor, you'll be itching to get them finished and on your wrist matey. Are you going for a steel  bracelet ? Personally i like to see Seikos on something different like a good quality leather strap.

[thor447]

11 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Well done with the seikos thor, you'll be itching to get them finished and on your wrist matey. Are you going for a steel  bracelet ? Personally i like to see Seikos on something different like a good quality leather strap.

Yes, I will be putting both of these on leather straps.  I recently found VGreen straps (https://vgreenco.com/).  They are a company out of Canada that builds custom straps to order.  I have wrists on the larger side and when looking for an XL strap for another watch I found their website.  I had them make me a leather strap for that watch and it turned out beautifully.  Their prices were very reasonable for the product they provide.  A bonus is that they send you a YouTube link to a short video showing you your completed strap before it ships out.  If you look at their YouTube channel you'll see several 20-30 second video clips of straps they made for their customers.  I found it very useful to compare those videos against the photos on their website to make sure I was ordering the strap I wanted.  They usually have it built and shipped within 3-4 days.

Edited September 3, 2022 by thor447

[Neverenoughwatches]

26 minutes ago, thor447 said:

Yes, I will be putting both of these on leather straps.  I recently found VGreen straps (https://vgreenco.com/).  They are a company out of Canada that builds custom straps to order.  I have wrists on the larger side and when looking for an XL strap for another watch I found their website.  I had them make me a leather strap for that watch and it turned out beautifully.  Their prices were very reasonable for the product they provide.  A bonus is that they send you a YouTube link to a short video showing you your completed strap before it ships out.  If you look at their YouTube channel you'll see several 20-30 second video clips of straps they made for their customers.  I found it very useful to compare those videos against the photos on their website to make sure I was ordering the strap I wanted.  They usually have it built and shipped within 3-4 days.

Fantastic Thor. I appreciate the link That has inspired me to have a go at making a strap one day. I used to work with a guy that started out his working life in a tannery. He learnt to make some really cool stuff. 

[dadistic]

Just be forewarned, if you decide to get into leather work, it will be just like watch repair. You will find yourself buying tools.

Lots and lots of really cool tools

Cheers!

[Neverenoughwatches]

41 minutes ago, dadistic said:

Just be forewarned, if you decide to get into leather work, it will be just like watch repair. You will find yourself buying tools.

Lots and lots of really cool tools

Cheers!

Haha. Thats fine. I've been in construction for nearly 40 years. I have lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and so on and so and so on of tools. I think you get the picture, its fine.

[thor447]

2 hours ago, dadistic said:

Just be forewarned, if you decide to get into leather work, it will be just like watch repair. You will find yourself buying tools.

Lots and lots of really cool tools

Cheers!

I've already got that covered.  I did leather work for years make gun holsters and sheathes.  I've got too many leather tools already!  My day job and the leather hobby began to be in conflict (time wise), and I made a much better living doing my regular work than I could doing leather work, so I kind of fell out of it.  I have tools for days, but not much in the way of materials any longer.  My space is limited so my workbench is divided between my watchmaking tools and another hobby I've been quite involved in for years.  The leatherworking supplies are all stored away.  It's just easier for me personally to buy them at this point.

 

Edit:  After reading your message again I see that you were addressing @Neverenoughwatches.  My apologies.

Edited September 3, 2022 by thor447

[dadistic]

None necessary, my replies are to the thread, not any particular person, really.

I understand having to choose where to spend the limited number of hours in a day

Even more or less retired, I can't get to everything that I want to do. 

I understand limited space, too. We're in a townhouse apartment, not even close to the space we used to have, we've been doing "stuff triage" in an attempt to make enough room in the garage for the autos so they can be inside when the snow flies. 

Everything must go! I have a lot of vintage photo gear, some I've had since I was a kid, but it's time to say goodbye to it. A lot of Ebay and some donations. Oh well.

Onwards!

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 hours ago, dadistic said:

None necessary, my replies are to the thread, not any particular person, really.

I understand having to choose where to spend the limited number of hours in a day

Even more or less retired, I can't get to everything that I want to do. 

I understand limited space, too. We're in a townhouse apartment, not even close to the space we used to have, we've been doing "stuff triage" in an attempt to make enough room in the garage for the autos so they can be inside when the snow flies. 

Everything must go! I have a lot of vintage photo gear, some I've had since I was a kid, but it's time to say goodbye to it. A lot of Ebay and some donations. Oh well.

Onwards!

Theres nothing wrong with scaling down. I'm semi retired and its time to prioritise the things i want to do. I lost a family member last weekend, the poor old guy's last years were pretty shite. We nèed to get the very best of whatever time we have left in this world. My philosophy is be happy in yourself and make efforts to make the people around you smile and laugh that simple act alone will make you smile and laugh as well. X

[thor447]

2 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Theres nothing wrong with scaling down. I'm semi retired and its time to prioritise the things i want to do. I lost a family member last weekend, the poor old guy's last years were pretty shite. We nèed to get the very best of whatever time we have left in this world. My philosophy is be happy in yourself and make efforts to make the people around you smile and laugh that simple act alone will make you smile and laugh as well. X

My condolences.  Good philosophy to have though.

[dadistic]

The end of life can be tough. It's a bit of a crapshoot, and I'm sorry your relative had such a hard time. Sometimes you can do well, my in-laws are independant and still enjoying their lives, and they are 89 and 90! They are both very generous people, and I think that has a lot do do with their success in dealing with old age.

Cheers!

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, dadistic said:

The end of life can be tough. It's a bit of a crapshoot, and I'm sorry your relative had such a hard time. Sometimes you can do well, my in-laws are independant and still enjoying their lives, and they are 89 and 90! They are both very generous people, and I think that has a lot do do with their success in dealing with old age.

Cheers!

Thank you dadistic and for the kind words that others have said. Thats a very good age to reach and I'm positive that you are right.  I do believe the universe gives to us as it receives. Thank you matey

[thor447]

The final parts for these watches arrived on Thursday and today.  I documented the adventure I had with the Lord Matic crystal yesterday in another thread.  After 4 weeks of shipping time, the bezel for the 1974 Seiko arrived today.  I so happy to see these running.  I'll order some straps for these this weekend, and by the time I return from my work trip next week, hopefully they'll have arrived.

The 1972 Seiko Lord Matic:

 

The 1974 Seiko 7006-8190R

There was some surface spots on the bezel, which I was able to remove by using some glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth.  It took quite a bit of scrubbing, but I was able to clean it up pretty well without damaging any of the plating.  There is only a hint of a spot visible around the 10 o'clock position on the bezel.  Aside from the few marks on the dial that I could not remove with Rodico, this thing is in great shape now.  Now that I'm looking at the photo I realized that I never pushed the crown back in after setting the time when I took the photo.  It's bugging me now, but I don't want to go and take another picture!

Edited September 10, 2022 by thor447