A Tough Nut To Crack....

[ricardopalamino]

I picked up this vintage 39 jewel Seiko Self Dater automatic at the swap meet today . The seller knows I'm a watch collector so when he saw me he called me over and pulled it out of a bag he had under the table . I am not familiar with this model , but what I do know is:

It's waterproof and has an old seiko model # J13060 , which would date it at least to the late 60's . It has a Seikosha 39 Jewel movement , and the numbers 302389 stamped on the winding mechanism and 395 on the balance cock.

  The winding mechanism is the widely used by Seiko "Magic Fingers" , or something like that mechanism . 

  The case back cover has the vintage Dolphin on it , but has a Crown over the Dolphin and the number 39 under the crown . 

The inside of the case back has the Seiko Stork in a square emblem that may tell where it was manufactured , ...I'm not sure of that ,  It also has the number 341 stamped , which may be the serial number . I will have to get more info on some of these facts .

 

 

  It also has a Swiss-like 10 sided case back that was really tight and I couldn't budge with a rubber ball case opener .  Here's where it gets good ........

 

I crazy glued a SS nut from a plumbing fixture and let the glue set up .....

 

 

I kept a steady pressure on the nut with a crescent wrench , and finally the case back started to break loose from the case exposing a clean gold colored movement .

 

 

I removed the crazy glue and the nut with acetone,..slowly and patiently so as not to damage the case back . Thus exposing the info on the case back....

 

 

 

As I said , I'll have to get more info on this model and see what I have .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JimInOz]

Now we wait for the teardown and service.

 

Don't lose anything, I suspect it would be hard to replace.

[oldhippy]

I take it Jim you didn't have the right case opener. :D

[Blacklab]

More info here: http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=Seiko_6200 Got yourself a real gem there.

[anilv]

This is one of the better quality Seiko movements back in the day. Great score!

[ricardopalamino]

Thanks for the comments and Thank You Blacklab for the link on the 6200 caliber . It seems my watch movement is a 395 referenced in the 6200 caliber family as a 6216A , and similar to the 39 Jewel Grand Seiko 6246A .

 

Seiko 395.pdf

 

 

The following quote is from a fellow SCWF member who is my go-to person in All Things Seiko :

 

"I would've guessed the 341 is the movement number, not serial number, because they used 3-digit movement numbers until the mid-60's.  But now I see 395 on the movement and now I expect that's the movement number, so I don't know.  Model number is J13060... that's how they named them then (instead of XXXX-XXXX).  Also the six-digit on the movement is (I think) a serial number specific to the movement.  Seiko did that only on the highest-end models."

[Blacklab]

I would also suspect that the six digit on the movement is indeed the serial number and if the standard numbering system was in place then it should make it October 1963.

 

Further reading regarding the teardown of similar: https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/category/seiko/6218/ and also where all those jewels go: https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/category/seiko/395/

[ricardopalamino]

I would also suspect that the six digit on the movement is indeed the serial number and if the standard numbering system was in place then it should make it October 1963.

 

Further reading regarding the teardown of similar: https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/category/seiko/6218/ and also where all those jewels go: https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/category/seiko/395/

 

Mahalos Blacklab....I couldn't find a tech manual on the 6200's. This will work , but if you or anyone else has tech sheets on this caliber I would appreciate a download .

Edited January 31, 2016 by ricardopalamino

[ro63rto]

That watchwiki link seems to suggest that your movement (395) is between 17-24 jewels yet your rotor and dial says 39. Has it had a replacement movement but kept the rotor?

Or is it late and way past my bedtime [emoji5]

[Blacklab]

Try these:

6206A 26j Seikomatic Weekdater.pdf

6216A 39j Seikomatic Weekdater.pdf

 

[ricardopalamino]

That watchwiki link seems to suggest that your movement (395) is between 17-24 jewels yet your rotor and dial says 39. Has it had a replacement movement but kept the rotor?

Or is it late and way past my bedtime [emoji5]

 

Mine is the 6216A , 39 jewels , same as the Grand Seiko 6246A , 39 jewels...

I DO know about the way past my bedtime stuff . I have to get up at 4AM , but sometimes when I'm into one of my watches I may start at 8:30 , but the next time I notice what time it is , it may be 11PM....Yikes !!

[ricardopalamino]

Try these:

6206A 26j Seikomatic Weekdater.pdf

6216A 39j Seikomatic Weekdater.pdf

 Thank You , I posted the parts list for my 395 movement in one of the above posts . The parts list refers you to the 6205B 17 Jewel . So I have a parts list , but not a tech manual to show a tear down , BUT after looking at the Adventures in Amateur Watch Fettling page you sent me , I see that is a basic Seiko service  . The watch doesn't have the more sophisticated mechanisms of the 5106 for instance . 

[ramrod]

wow! louis! what a great find! i'm fairly familiar with seikos, but i've never heard of this movement - or that jewel count -  i figured we topped out at 33 with the Pressmatics. nor have i ever seen a caseback like that one. that movement i beautiful.

it's a good thing that the vendor is familiar with you - he is obviously a great source for excellent watches. i think this find is awesome. you gotta keep going to that well.

[ricardopalamino]

Thanks Timothy ,    About 3 weeks ago this same swap meet vender pulled a baggie out of a bag he had and showed me 3 watches and 1 pocket-watch he had . He quoted $120 for all four . The pocket-watch was beat-up and I don't collect them any way , one watch looked OK , but it was a quartz and I wasn't interested . I asked how much for the other 2 . One was an accutron 218 not running and one was a Vintage Seiko Sportsman .  Running , but dirty , the case and crystal were scratched , the stem and crown came out and the crown was so worn you couldn't use it to wind the watch anyway .  I picked up the 2 watches for $40 .   The accutron will need some work so I put it away for later . 

  I took the Seiko apart and cleaned and serviced it .  The yoke had come off of the clutch so you couldn't get the stem in properly . I polished the crystal and lightly polished the case and case back  . I have an assortment of vintage crowns so I got one that fit the stem and had to file down a tube on the case and a bit of the bottom of the crown to make it fit and work . I installed a nice NOS Lizard Leather watchband I got a few weeks ago .  

  I went back to the swap meet a week later and showed the vender the watch . He couldn't believe it was the same watch . especially the new crown . He said he was glad that someone could bring it back to life again and make it look good .

 

 

 

[ramrod]

you did all right for yourself, louis. i wish we could get a decent flea market around here. raleigh has one every weekend, but i've never seen anything that i want to take home as far as watches are concerned.

the sportsman is nice - just a date and nothing else. it makes for a classic dial. that case is in good shape. usually the RGP has a bunch of corrosion on them.

[ricardopalamino]

It was a busy weekend , but I managed to give the Seikomatic a Spa treatment . I also installed a watch-strap I had that was too tight so I put a spring-loaded extension link on it . When I took off the case back it had 3 service markings in the inside that were ink stamps . I tried to preserve them but the acetone got to them , probably from my fingers , and they washed off...[darn ]. In  saying that I am saying that I haven't done my own service yet , but the movement is running great and keeping good time .

  I serviced and cleaned another Seiko 5 Sportmatic with a crosshair black dial  and got my first non-running Accutron running by taking out the teeney tiny bent index and pawl fingers , straightening them out [similar to a hairspring , only smaller ] , reinstalling and aligning the fingers , putting a new battery in  and pushing in the crown to cancel the hack  , and did a couple of back-flips when the thing started running .  Oh what a feeling .....oh yeah , I also put a new movement in my Seiko Flightmaster chronograph.

 

 But back to the 39 jewel Sportsmatic ,...I took a few pics to share .

 

 

 

 

 

[jnash]

stunning resto, well done.. i have one of these somewhere... loving the large jewel count!

[Blacklab]

You may have seen it but Martin has just published this: https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/diashock39jewels-a-seikomatic-395-self-dater-from-1963/

[ricardopalamino]

You may have seen it but Martin has just published this: https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/diashock39jewels-a-seikomatic-395-self-dater-from-1963/

 

Not yet Blacklab , I just got up , [[ Hawaiian time }, but I did see it listed in my email.  Thanks for the heads up . I'm looking forward to reading what I am sure is another of Martin's great articles . I still have to do a service .

 

Mahalo , Louis