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Sourcing replacement generic crystal gaskets for two 7s26 seikos.


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I've hit a bit of a dead end in searching here and asking elsewhere as nobody really seems to know this seemingly basic thing or wants to talk about it. 
First of all I'm assuming the harder plastic crystal gaskets for these things are these here https://www.esslinger.com/individual-hytrel-i-watch-gaskets-for-glass-crystals/ I see people say the stock ones are made of nylon but eveyrbody sells hytrile. I'm assuming hytrile is a standard replacement and "I" gaskets are the correct type? This is an image of the 3 gaskets i need to replace. Seiko gaskets appear to not rest on the gasket but instead the gasket surrounds the crystal so I don't think they're "L" gaskets which appear to be uncommon.

 225691253_crystalgasketscopy.thumb.jpg.c0729c51af5de3f98030d6727149b48d.jpg

The other issue that's confusing me is every supplier has standard sizes for crystal gaskets yet measuring the two from my seikos there's things that are a bit close but the measurements are not the same. For instance all these hytrile gaskets on esslinger have either a .4mm or .35mm thickness while the difference between the inner and outer dimensions on mine indicate i need one that is .25mm's thick and one that is .5 mm's thick? Also the heights of the gaskets and crystals do not match any that I can find with differences of anything from .1mm to .3mm's. Is this a game of "Close is good enough" or do measurements have to be exact? 

Watch material places appear to use standard sizes while seiko does not. Is it better to just replace the crystals with sapphire and try to find gaskets that match the new crystal? Both these crystals probably could use replacing.

Edited by Birbdad
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  • Birbdad changed the title to Sourcing replacement generic crystal gaskets for two 7s26 seikos.
1 hour ago, grsnovi said:

Birbdad, if you ask this vendor on eBay, perhaps you will get an answer? It appears that he sources genuine Seiko parts? If you don't want to ask, you could check the return policy and spend $13 to see if it's the correct one.

They're a great seller, i bought a movement from them recently. 
I guess part of this is due to the fact that I'll be working on older and older more obscure seikos that almost certainly don't have any OEM parts left so learning how to replace parts with generics is something i should probably learn. Also seiko gaskets are stupid expensive compared to generics.

I also realized that the watch parts/materials sourcing subthread exists and this should probably be in there if a mod wants to move this thread 🙃

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6 minutes ago, Birbdad said:

They're a great seller, i bought a movement from them recently. 
I guess part of this is due to the fact that I'll be working on older and older more obscure seikos that almost certainly don't have any OEM parts left so learning how to replace parts with generics is something i should probably learn. Also seiko gaskets are stupid expensive compared to generics.

I also realized that the watch parts/materials sourcing subthread exists and this should probably be in there if a mod wants to move this thread 🙃

Eyup Col. Hope you're doing ok matey, glad to see you are still around. Not something i can help with unfortunately, not my genre of watch repair ( yet ). But i do know that jdm and Gert are big fans of Seiko, maybe some help there when they have time.

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1 minute ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Eyup Col. Hope you're doing ok matey, glad to see you are still around. Not something i can help with unfortunately, not my genre of watch repair ( yet ). But i do know that jdm and Gert are big fans of Seiko, maybe some help there when they have time.

Yup still here. Quitting nicotine (day 25) has been absolute hell and destroyed my work requiring me to put in tons of overtime so watch stuff got put on the wayside for a bit but i spent saturday practicing with my oilers and taking apart my cases and measuring gaskets trying to figure out how to make sense of all that and seem to have it all figured out but this.

You fix up watches. Thought experiment: You got a watch you're fixing up, the crystal gasket is toast, you can't get an oem one, how do you  personally deal with that?

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1 minute ago, Birbdad said:

Yup still here. Quitting nicotine (day 25) has been absolute hell and destroyed my work requiring me to put in tons of overtime so watch stuff got put on the wayside for a bit but i spent saturday practicing with my oilers and taking apart my cases and measuring gaskets trying to figure out how to make sense of all that and seem to have it all figured out but this.

You fix up watches. Thought experiment: You got a watch you're fixing up, the crystal gasket is toast, you can't get an oem one, how do you  personally deal with that?

Haha, that's watch repair mate, if you cant make things work as they should then its about improvisation i guess. How do you deal with it ? you must be gagging for a ciggie, but hold out mate you've managed 25 days so well done and just stick with it. Financially you will be better off but more importantly your health mate. Keep going.

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It just seems like there's probably some way to improvise that i'm missing as these are really basic sacrificial parts that nobody seems to have any idea what to do about anywhere else. 

And it helped that i had quit smoking some time ago and switched to vaping which was the best thing i ever did and with vaping you can REAL gradually step down nicotine levels till you're at zero and it makes things a bit easier but it's still hell. And how i've been dealing with it is being an irritable disagreeable person between bouts of insane depression (I don't have depression, nic withdrawal causes depression like symptoms though.), and chewing lots of gum and drinking lots of diet sodas and just counting the days and assuming it will get easier soon. It has gotten easier but it's still pretty bad.

And yeah i'm really gonna try to stick with it. Tired of being a slave to this stuff...

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29 minutes ago, Birbdad said:

It just seems like there's probably some way to improvise that i'm missing as these are really basic sacrificial parts that nobody seems to have any idea what to do about anywhere else. 

And it helped that i had quit smoking some time ago and switched to vaping which was the best thing i ever did and with vaping you can REAL gradually step down nicotine levels till you're at zero and it makes things a bit easier but it's still hell. And how i've been dealing with it is being an irritable disagreeable person between bouts of insane depression (I don't have depression, nic withdrawal causes depression like symptoms though.), and chewing lots of gum and drinking lots of diet sodas and just counting the days and assuming it will get easier soon. It has gotten easier but it's still pretty bad.

And yeah i'm really gonna try to stick with it. Tired of being a slave to this stuff...

Good for you matey , I'm  proud of you Col x. I dont think i can help with the gaskets though, its just not something i encounter with vintage swiss watches. I have a good logical problem solving mind from my background in construction and civil engineering . Maybe if you can do a little sketch of the problem, is it about the size, shape and material ?

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16 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Good for you matey , I'm  proud of you Col x. I dont think i can help with the gaskets though, its just not something i encounter with vintage swiss watches. I have a good logical problem solving mind from my background in construction and civil engineering . Maybe if you can do a little sketch of the problem, is it about the size, shape and material ?

Well the problem is really just that I want to figure out how you utilize generic gaskets. 

Every material site appears to have roughly standard gasket and crystal sizes while the crystal/bezel gaskets that came on my seikos do not exactly match them. 

The problem is that i don't know what to do about this and i want to be sure that what i order is something i can use as i've already bought a few for other parts that don't work because gasket measurements and sourcing is weirdly complicated.

here's an example though. Here's the measurement them followed by a link to the closest standard size i can find.

Case Code 7s36-03h0
Outer dimension = 35.8mm
Inner Dimension = 35mm
Crystal thickness = 1.87mm
Crystal gasket height = 1.3mm
https://www.esslinger.com/watch-gaskets-plastic-hytrel-i-gaskets-for-2-0-mm-glass-crystal-refills/

The 35 gasket appears to be the closest match but the gasket is a good bit taller for the replacement than for the one I got and it's for a 2mm crystal which is a tad thicker than what it uses. The inner/outter dimensions appears to call for a gasket that is .5mm thick but nobody seems to make such a gasket, it's all .35 or .4 mm's.

Here's the other.
Watch 1. Case Code 7s26-02w0
Outer Dimension = 30.5mm
Inner Dimension = 30.mm
Crystal thickness = 1.1mm
Crystal gasket height = 1mm
https://www.esslinger.com/individual-hytrel-i-watch-gaskets-for-glass-crystals/ The 29.5 gasket seems to be the closest fit but it's not exact. Also the difference between the inner and outter dimensions indicate the gasket should only be .25mm's thick. 


Then there's the bezel gasket which seems to have a different look entirely from these and i'm not sure what the proper terminology for it would be. It's still plasticky like the crystal ones but it's thicker, maybe it's just not compressed?
It's measurements are:
Case code 7s36-03h0
Outer dimension = 37mm
Inner dimension = 36.2mm
Height = 1.1mm
.5mm thick.


I just want to know what do you do in this scenario? Do gaskets not have to be perfect and you just get the one that's close enough? Do they compress when you mash a crystal between em so there's wiggle room on the thickness? Do i need to just get rid of them and the crystals and buy new generic crystals and gaskets that i know will fit?

I just want to be sure what to do before i spend the money.

Edited by Birbdad
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6 minutes ago, Birbdad said:

Well the problem is really just that I want to figure out how you utilize generic gaskets. 

Every material site appears to have roughly standard gasket and crystal sizes while the crystal/bezel gaskets that came on my seikos do not exactly match them. 

The problem is that i don't know what to do about this and i want to be sure that what i order is something i can use as i've already bought a few for other parts that don't work because gasket measurements and sourcing is weirdly complicated.

here's an example though. Here's the measurement them followed by a link to the closest standard size i can find.

Case Code 7s36-03h0
Outer dimension = 35.8mm
Inner Dimension = 35mm
Crystal thickness = 1.87mm
Crystal gasket height = 1.3mm
https://www.esslinger.com/watch-gaskets-plastic-hytrel-i-gaskets-for-2-0-mm-glass-crystal-refills/

The 35 gasket appears to be the closest match but the gasket is a good bit taller for the replacement than for the one I got and it's for a 2mm crystal which is a tad thicker than what it uses. The inner/outter dimensions appears to call for a gasket that is .5mm thick but nobody seems to make such a gasket, it's all .35 or .4 mm's.

Here's the other.
Watch 1. Case Code 7s26-02w0
Outer Dimension = 30.5mm
Inner Dimension = 30.mm
Crystal thickness = 1.1mm
Crystal gasket height = 1mm
https://www.esslinger.com/individual-hytrel-i-watch-gaskets-for-glass-crystals/ The 29.5 gasket seems to be the closest fit but it's not exact. Also the difference between the inner and outter dimensions indicate the gasket should only be .25mm's thick. 


Then there's the bezel gasket which seems to have a different look entirely from these and i'm not sure what the proper terminology for it would be. It's still plasticky like the crystal ones but it's thicker, maybe it's just not compressed?
It's measurements are:
Case code 7s36-03h0
Outer dimension = 37mm
Inner dimension = 36.2mm
Height = 1.1mm
.5mm thick.


I just want to know what do you do in this scenario? Do gaskets not have to be perfect and you just get the one that's close enough? Do they compress when you mash a crystal between em so there's wiggle room on the thickness? Do i need to just get rid of them and the crystals and buy new generic crystals and gaskets that i know will fit?

I just want to be sure what to do before i spend the money.

It might be worth contacting https://vintagetimeaustralia.com/ as they stock specific seiko gaskets that they have manufactured for them

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11 minutes ago, tomh207 said:

It might be worth contacting https://vintagetimeaustralia.com/ as they stock specific seiko gaskets that they have manufactured for them

If there's absolutely no simple proper way to utilize generics then i will absolutely do that thanks!

Right now i just would like to learn how to utilize generics as i know i will need them in teh future and they also cost about 1/6th of an OEM one.

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Heh, welcome to the wonderful world of watchmaking my man. Most of the swiss watches do seem to use standard sized gaskets (busy with a Longines now and it's no issue finding the correct generic gasket on Cousins), but with Seiko things are a pain.

For the hard crystal gaskets, I do re-use them as many times you just don't have a choice. For caseback gaskets I make a point of keeping stock of assortments so close enough will do. Then you get this issue with the crown gaskets that also appears to be non standard for Seiko. It really is a pain. The VTA link above is one source of gaskets, so is SpeedTimerKollektion. But those are mostly limited to caseback and crown gaskets. They also have crystal gaskets for popular watches, but for obscure ones you're SOL - I did have luck getting crystal gaskets from our local Seiko importer though. So in your case, it may make sense to try and contact Seiko USA themselves?

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I found 2 possible part numbers on the Boley site 8662990 and 8662995 both for the 7s26-03h0 and Cousinsuk has them both in stock

https://boley.de/en/case-parts/seiko/37258.7s26-03h0?q=Seiko 7s26-03h0&p=0&s=10

https://boley.de/en/case-parts/seiko/8239.7s26-02w0?q=Seiko 7s26-02w0&p=0&s=10

 

hope these help in your search

 

Tom

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2 hours ago, gbyleveldt said:

Heh, welcome to the wonderful world of watchmaking my man. Most of the swiss watches do seem to use standard sized gaskets (busy with a Longines now and it's no issue finding the correct generic gasket on Cousins), but with Seiko things are a pain.

For the hard crystal gaskets, I do re-use them as many times you just don't have a choice. For caseback gaskets I make a point of keeping stock of assortments so close enough will do. Then you get this issue with the crown gaskets that also appears to be non standard for Seiko. It really is a pain. The VTA link above is one source of gaskets, so is SpeedTimerKollektion. But those are mostly limited to caseback and crown gaskets. They also have crystal gaskets for popular watches, but for obscure ones you're SOL - I did have luck getting crystal gaskets from our local Seiko importer though. So in your case, it may make sense to try and contact Seiko USA themselves?

Wow...ok not what i expected. most resources seem to say replace all the gaskets with every service so the water proofing isn't compromised. Also I have tried contacting seiko usa. They do not respond. My guess is they really want you to let them price gouge you on their services.

I seem to have found some gaskets for the case back and stem that are close enough I think on esslinger tho i'm a bit unsure.
How do you measure a stem gasket? Just use calipers while it's off? and mesure thickness/inner/outter dimensions? If its' that easy there are some that match on there and some that are maybe a fraction wider for the case back that i assume would work just as well as it's jut a flat gasket.

Either way, sounds like i gotta head back to cousins and put this whole project on hold another month while i wait for shipping.  Ugh...
 

2 hours ago, tomh207 said:

I found 2 possible part numbers on the Boley site 8662990 and 8662995 both for the 7s26-03h0 and Cousinsuk has them both in stock

https://boley.de/en/case-parts/seiko/37258.7s26-03h0?q=Seiko 7s26-03h0&p=0&s=10

https://boley.de/en/case-parts/seiko/8239.7s26-02w0?q=Seiko 7s26-02w0&p=0&s=10

 

hope these help in your search

 

Tom

so this is a bit confusing. There's multiple parts listed for the crystal gasket and i know some of them can't possibly be correct. How does one navigate this? It lists the same part for both case codes but one has a 5mm difference in the size of the crystal over the other.

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1 hour ago, Birbdad said:

Wow...ok not what i expected. most resources seem to say replace all the gaskets with every service so the water proofing isn't compromised. Also I have tried contacting seiko usa. They do not respond. My guess is they really want you to let them price gouge you on their services.

I seem to have found some gaskets for the case back and stem that are close enough I think on esslinger tho i'm a bit unsure.
How do you measure a stem gasket? Just use calipers while it's off? and mesure thickness/inner/outter dimensions? If its' that easy there are some that match on there and some that are maybe a fraction wider for the case back that i assume would work just as well as it's jut a flat gasket.

Either way, sounds like i gotta head back to cousins and put this whole project on hold another month while i wait for shipping.  Ugh...
 

so this is a bit confusing. There's multiple parts listed for the crystal gasket and i know some of them can't possibly be correct. How does one navigate this? It lists the same part for both case codes but one has a 5mm difference in the size of the crystal over the other.

I would pick the one closest to the size needed. I’m still pretty new too this as well so learning and working things out as I go.

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36 minutes ago, tomh207 said:

I would pick the one closest to the size needed. I’m still pretty new too this as well so learning and working things out as I go.

yeah they don't list a size, they don't even have a description most of the time. Just says "Seiko gasket list"

I was able to do some googling and find that one of them goes to a watch with a similar dimension case to this one, just different style so i'd wager it fits.
 

 

51 minutes ago, gbyleveldt said:

In most cases you wouldn't remove the crystal gasket, unless you replace the crystal.

Well iv'e decided to upgrade them to sapphire, luckily the diameters of both's crystals is a standard size so i guess i can just get the OEM gaskets and the new sapphire from cousins. THe sapphire will have a different height but it might actually be beneficial to one of the watches where the crystal popped out higher than the bezel and was really easy to chip by hitting it on things.

I damaged one fo the crystal gaskets taking it out (Because i thought you were supposed to replace all the gaskets every service.) but the other is fine even though i did remove it. I"ll order a replacement just in case.

it's so bizarre to me though how crystals come in increments of .5mms but none of the generic crystal gaskets come in divisible thicknesses. They're almost all .4mm thick.

Edited by Birbdad
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2 hours ago, Birbdad said:

yeah they don't list a size, they don't even have a description most of the time. Just says "Seiko gasket list"

I was able to do some googling and find that one of them goes to a watch with a similar dimension case to this one, just different style so i'd wager it fits.
 

 

Well iv'e decided to upgrade them to sapphire, luckily the diameters of both's crystals is a standard size so i guess i can just get the OEM gaskets and the new sapphire from cousins. THe sapphire will have a different height but it might actually be beneficial to one of the watches where the crystal popped out higher than the bezel and was really easy to chip by hitting it on things.

I damaged one fo the crystal gaskets taking it out (Because i thought you were supposed to replace all the gaskets every service.) but the other is fine even though i did remove it. I"ll order a replacement just in case.

it's so bizarre to me though how crystals come in increments of .5mms but none of the generic crystal gaskets come in divisible thicknesses. They're almost all .4mm thick.

If you search for the part numbers on cousinsuk all the dimensions are there. Watch parts are a pain that way often having to visit several sites to get more complete information 

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8 hours ago, Birbdad said:

Well the problem is really just that I want to figure out how you utilize generic gaskets. 

Every material site appears to have roughly standard gasket and crystal sizes while the crystal/bezel gaskets that came on my seikos do not exactly match them. 

The problem is that i don't know what to do about this and i want to be sure that what i order is something i can use as i've already bought a few for other parts that don't work because gasket measurements and sourcing is weirdly complicated.

here's an example though. Here's the measurement them followed by a link to the closest standard size i can find.

Case Code 7s36-03h0
Outer dimension = 35.8mm
Inner Dimension = 35mm
Crystal thickness = 1.87mm
Crystal gasket height = 1.3mm
https://www.esslinger.com/watch-gaskets-plastic-hytrel-i-gaskets-for-2-0-mm-glass-crystal-refills/

The 35 gasket appears to be the closest match but the gasket is a good bit taller for the replacement than for the one I got and it's for a 2mm crystal which is a tad thicker than what it uses. The inner/outter dimensions appears to call for a gasket that is .5mm thick but nobody seems to make such a gasket, it's all .35 or .4 mm's.

Here's the other.
Watch 1. Case Code 7s26-02w0
Outer Dimension = 30.5mm
Inner Dimension = 30.mm
Crystal thickness = 1.1mm
Crystal gasket height = 1mm
https://www.esslinger.com/individual-hytrel-i-watch-gaskets-for-glass-crystals/ The 29.5 gasket seems to be the closest fit but it's not exact. Also the difference between the inner and outter dimensions indicate the gasket should only be .25mm's thick. 


Then there's the bezel gasket which seems to have a different look entirely from these and i'm not sure what the proper terminology for it would be. It's still plasticky like the crystal ones but it's thicker, maybe it's just not compressed?
It's measurements are:
Case code 7s36-03h0
Outer dimension = 37mm
Inner dimension = 36.2mm
Height = 1.1mm
.5mm thick.


I just want to know what do you do in this scenario? Do gaskets not have to be perfect and you just get the one that's close enough? Do they compress when you mash a crystal between em so there's wiggle room on the thickness? Do i need to just get rid of them and the crystals and buy new generic crystals and gaskets that i know will fit?

I just want to be sure what to do before i spend the money.

Would the undersized diameters stretch a touch to fit with a little heat. You may also be able to reduce the height with a diy sanding jig

5 hours ago, Birbdad said:

Wow...ok not what i expected. most resources seem to say replace all the gaskets with every service so the water proofing isn't compromised. 

For a professional service that would be true and also the case would be pressure tested to make sure the gaskets were installed correctly and are working. It all depends what you are going to do with the watch Col. Barring screwbacks most swiss vintage watches have no waterproofing except a crystal to prevent the dial getting splashed in very light rain. Anything other than that they are compromised daily. I take mine off to wash my hands or the pots, pull my cuff over the face if its raining and wear a new untouched unserviced diver when i swim in the sea if i wanted to know the time that is. I dont scuba dive so i dont specifically need a diver apart from liking their aesthetics. 

7 hours ago, gbyleveldt said:

Heh, welcome to the wonderful world of watchmaking my man. Most of the swiss watches do seem to use standard sized gaskets (busy with a Longines now and it's no issue finding the correct generic gasket on Cousins), but with Seiko things are a pain.

For the hard crystal gaskets, I do re-use them as many times you just don't have a choice. For caseback gaskets I make a point of keeping stock of assortments so close enough will do. Then you get this issue with the crown gaskets that also appears to be non standard for Seiko. It really is a pain. The VTA link above is one source of gaskets, so is SpeedTimerKollektion. But those are mostly limited to caseback and crown gaskets. They also have crystal gaskets for popular watches, but for obscure ones you're SOL - I did have luck getting crystal gaskets from our local Seiko importer though. So in your case, it may make sense to try and contact Seiko USA themselves?

Awwww no Colin not the sad face please, it has fearful puppy eyes. Gert is just telling you as it is. Gert tell him !

3 hours ago, Birbdad said:

yeah they don't list a size, they don't even have a description most of the time. Just says "Seiko gasket list"

I was able to do some googling and find that one of them goes to a watch with a similar dimension case to this one, just different style so i'd wager it fits.
 

 

Well iv'e decided to upgrade them to sapphire, luckily the diameters of both's crystals is a standard size so i guess i can just get the OEM gaskets and the new sapphire from cousins. THe sapphire will have a different height but it might actually be beneficial to one of the watches where the crystal popped out higher than the bezel and was really easy to chip by hitting it on things.

I damaged one fo the crystal gaskets taking it out (Because i thought you were supposed to replace all the gaskets every service.) but the other is fine even though i did remove it. I"ll order a replacement just in case.

it's so bizarre to me though how crystals come in increments of .5mms but none of the generic crystal gaskets come in divisible thicknesses. They're almost all .4mm thick.

This is why i repair swiss. Things like crystals are much more generic. Occasionally parts can be difficult to source though, so swings and roundabouts.

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5 hours ago, tomh207 said:

If you search for the part numbers on cousinsuk all the dimensions are there. Watch parts are a pain that way often having to visit several sites to get more complete information 

image.thumb.png.6db9cca2232969cab616d9aed7ff5bdb.png
Maybe i'm missing something but i don't see dimensions anywhere for oem parts, just for generics.
Also note that like several of these that is the incorrect description. That is the crystal gasket, not the back gasket.

 

 

5 hours ago, DaveL said:

You might try OttoFrei you can call and talk to them

Is that how most people do business with them? I cannot make heads or tails of how to use their website haha. It's so dated.

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22 hours ago, Birbdad said:

image.thumb.png.6db9cca2232969cab616d9aed7ff5bdb.png
Maybe i'm missing something but i don't see dimensions anywhere for oem parts, just for generics.
Also note that like several of these that is the incorrect description. That is the crystal gasket, not the back gasket.

 

 

Is that how most people do business with them? I cannot make heads or tails of how to use their website haha. It's so dated.

Yes call them very friendly people

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I ended up just placing another order to cousins. They seem to be the only place at least with an easily searchable site that has such a huge selection of generic gaskets that i could actually find ones that were exact matches for everything i need and then i ended up going with oem crystal gaskets, took the opportunity to get the etachron twisting tool and some new sapphire glass for the two watches and a proper oil pot with individual lids to avoid dust contamination. 

While i'm a little annoyed this will delay everything for another month or so i should be good on tools and equipment now.

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Sorry I'm late to the party. I was able to order all of the specified gaskets (didn't mess with the stem gasket(s) though) for a 7S26 Seiko a while back. "Seiko modding" is a thing, so they're out there. I believe got a dial, crystal and gaskets from here when I put together my "shop watch"; a frankenstein watch made of various parts from a few Seikos I had lying around. Digging around though, I don't see them listed currently... Might be worth an email.

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    • Hello and welcome from Leeds, England. 
    • The fact that the seconds runner starts running smoothly when you engage the chrono seconds makes me think the clutch is out of adjustment. That's a guess because I can't seem to find out too much about the chronograph module Breitling used on this model. On other Navitimers they used the Valjoux 7750 which had the running seconds on the left where the hand was mounted on an extended pivot on the fourth wheel. It looks to me that whatever pinion is driving that wheel is skipping teeth. Given that Breitling (et al) is not forthcoming with manuals or parts, I would send it back and ask for expedited service. They should be sufficiently embarrassed to do that for you at least.
    • Looks like someone forced in a screw that was bigger than the hole.  You would probably need to drill it out with a tungsten carbide rod sharpened at the tip to look like a spade drill. I'll see if I can find a video on how to make one. Start with a 0.5mm rod, then work your way up in 0.1mm increments until the walls of the hole weaken the screw enough to break it up.  This is a very time consuming, slow process. You'll need to centre the hole properly and not deviate. WD40 helps. The other option is to abandon the hole and use a dial dot. As much as I hate dial dots, this might be the safest option for a beginner.  Ok, found it.  
    • For those who are, curious I broke out the macro lens and took a few shots.  I'm attaching four of them: Image 1 is from the watchmaker's side and generally shows the problem area. Image 2 is a detail view of the offending dial foot hole (called out with the green circle), the tip of the offending screw (orange arrow) and the blue line indicates the approximate position of what's left of the head of the screw (determined by using an oiler as a feeler gauge to transfer that measurement to the visible portion of the plate.) Image 3 is looking down the screw hole you can see the head of the broken screw at the bottom. Image 4 is the same, but with less contrast to give a better appreciation of the condition of that end of the screw. I can almost convince myself that I can see the remains of the screw slot in the head, but I have to use alot of imagination in that exercise. Heard and understood.  There does appear to be a steel locating pin that can be seen in the lower, right center of Image 1 (right "above" the oval shaped slot that is to the left of where the pinion/clutch parts of the keyless works nestle into the plate.)  As I don't see a way to remove that I'd have to keep it out of the solution and have even contemplated dropping a little paraffin on it to give it a "rain coat" of sorts.  As I missed that before I did the closeup photos, I feel that I'm going to be looking at this plate in much greater detail to see if there anything else I might have missed. The screw assortments seem like a good acquisition.  The eBay seller who has the donor movements I was looking at never replied so I may just take a chance and get one of those as well a screw assortment.  They do seem like they'd be handy.  I have to confess that the idea of fabricating the needed screws appears to some deep part of my soul, I also have to confess that I do not yet have either the equipment, or the skill to use it.  Perhaps one day, but that day has not arrived (and I have alot of pricey bits and bobs that I will likely need to get along the way.) I thought about this, but the dial foot screw doesn't seem to be wide enough to get the thing out if I could advance it into the hole.  I suppose that I could try and take it out in pieces (advance it as far as it will go, get in there with some sort of saw, take a piece off, walk it forward again, take another piece, etc) but that seems like alot of risk to the main plate. I need to examine the other screw to ensure it doesn't have a shoulder or something that would prevent me from doing something like that.  However, all that said, I've been unable to get the thing to move at all. In general, this whole piece feels like someone had it before me, did a bad job of working on it and ultimately just bunged it all back together in a haphazard way and passed it on to be someone else's problem.
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