The Joy of Building a Watch

[joelcarvajal]

This project started more than a year ago when a friend gave me his gold-plated 6309-7040 case. Just the case, the crown and the bezel.

 

Now, I really don't fancy gold watches but the thought of pulling this off to something that I will actually wear excited me.

 

So I attended to this project whenever I had the time.

 

Started off by buying all the parts that I needed including the crystal, the crystal ring holder, gaskets and the two-part stem. These are all after-markets and are readily available here in the Philippines.

 

But the movement ring and spring as well as the case back, I have to acquire from ebay.

 

The real challenge however is deciding on the look. Gold hands and gold-black bezel inserts are available. But I don't think it will look good to use the available dial and chapter ring.

 

So I had a local watchmaker custom made the dial and chapter ring with my desired color scheme.

 

(To be continued)

 

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[joelcarvajal]

My wife thinks the case is too loud, especially with its cushion case. So I thought of using a brown leather strap to temper it's look.

I use a 2mm brown leather and brown stitching for the strap. I wanted to give it a rough look so I just burnished the edges a little

(To be continued)

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[joelcarvajal]

I bought a used 6309 movement and gave it a bath.

The assembly of the movement was straightforward. But I stopped short of installing the automatic winding works to proceed with the rest of the watch

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[joelcarvajal]

The hands were installed, after which, I placed the movement into the case.

With the partially assembled movement inside the watch case, I then installed the automatic winder works.

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[PJA]

keep up the good work.

[joelcarvajal]

And so after more than a year later, I am finally done with this project.

And this is the finished project.

Honestly, I still don't like how it looks overall. But I'll be wearing this one proudly for sure.

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[RyMoeller]

Wow, thanks for sharing. 

It's a beautiful restoration/modification of a classic.  Gold cushion cases aren't really in vogue but your work has made that piece look irresistible.  Nice job!

[Ishima]

Really nice work. If i were just to nitpick a little though, theoretically you're not meant to set hands in the movement holder, doubt its a problem for a sturdy movement like this though. 

I'd love to try making my own straps. 

[jdm]

28 minutes ago, Ishima said:

Really nice work. If i were just to nitpick a little though, theoretically you're not meant to set hands in the movement holder, doubt its a problem for a sturdy movement like this though. 

That's perfectly fine with Seiko. There is no way to "support the jewel" as you often read, whatever that means. . 

[Ishima]

1 hour ago, jdm said:

That's perfectly fine with Seiko. 

Yeah, i really don't see a problem with this particular movement. 
 

1 hour ago, jdm said:

There is no way to "support the jewel" as you often read, whatever that means. . 

The idea is that you rest the watch on the bench when pressing hands which prevents gear train bridges, that might be flimsy enough (so mostly quartz i suppose -- I was first trained on quartz so this was an early lesson for me) from flexing as you press on the seconds hand, which it can do if suspended above a surface and can't do if rested or 'supported' against a surface (e.g your bench) 

[dadistic]

I like it.

A lot.

[RyMoeller]

21 hours ago, Ishima said:

Yeah, i really don't see a problem with this particular movement.

The idea is that you rest the watch on the bench when pressing hands which prevents gear train bridges, that might be flimsy enough (so mostly quartz i suppose -- I was first trained on quartz so this was an early lesson for me) from flexing as you press on the seconds hand, which it can do if suspended above a surface and can't do if rested or 'supported' against a surface (e.g your bench) 

That's interesting- I never would have guess that.  My preference is to put the hands on with the movement already in the case although that's not always possible.  I've not knocked out a jewel yet or bent any wheels or plates though.

[rsoonerdad53]

Nice!!! I would have worn every day>> great job.

[Gary]

Fantastic job! Looks great and I love the strap! I want to try to make a strap myself! Awesome!



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[Mattaphysics]

That is very nice, I myself also am not a fan of gold; well I don't mind white gold. But that is a nice piece.