Watchlords

Day 1 - Teardown
new crystal coming Monday. Needs some TLC.
Crystal bezel is cracked, not bad so going to try a repair.
Bezel insert is worn, but I like the look so I have some GS hypo cement coming to glue her back in.
Case needs some work so I will try and work some magic. The full case is polished finish and I believe the upper should have a brushed finish with the lower polished.
Bi-directional bezel is definitely not smooth. The ball bearing is still in the detent however so I'll see what I can do there.
Chapter Ring is worn bad, some markers almost missing
Movement may need a look, not sure if date is turning over correctly, need to investigate further.

Case


Crystal Bezel


Chapter Ring


Bezel Insert

Cool, looking forward to see the progression.

So I just put the crown back in the movement to check the day/date turnover accuracy. Way the fuck off, like 3 hours slow for the date and 7 hours for the day.
I solicited some local business repair shops through Yelp via questionnaire requesting a quote to see what they'll charge me to fid this.
Any ideas if any of you have had this type of work done?

Looking for Chapter Ring sources, I run across this site on a search. Price looks great, then you read the fine print (highlighted). WTF? Who doesn't own a caliper today that does any type of measuring?

This is a thread!

Looking forward to more. Great stuff.

Cool project, wish I had the hands.

It's amazing how many people think these chapter rings are gold bullion. I read an idea on one forum that instead of gambling on size for the cheap or paying $40 for a piece of plastic ring....

Watch Noob wrote: ↑

January 8th 2021, 2:29pm

So I just put the crown back in the movement to check the day/date turnover accuracy. Way the fuck off, like 3 hours slow for the date and 7 hours for the day.
I solicited some local business repair shops through Yelp via questionnaire requesting a quote to see what they'll charge me to fid this.
Any ideas if any of you have had this type of work done?

Pull the hands with a hand-puller (relatively cheap), with the hands off advance the movement until the date just clicks over and re-install the hour hand only.

Advance the movement again to verify the hour hand aligning with 12 AM and the date just clicking over, if it's good re-install the minute hand and then the second hand. If it is not good remove the hour and and re-install and test again.

There is nothing you can do about the day, on the majority of the Seiko movements that day will take 2 to 3 hours to turn over.

Just my 2 cents.

Here's a pretty good video tutorial

Is Flitz the greatest shit ever invented on God's green earth? Hand rubbed, decided not to touch the spot that was pointed out earlier with 1500 grit or else I'd have to blend a flat surface on the other side to match.

Now the decision to brush the upper portion of the case? I know I WILL NOT use scotch brite. Too inconsistent. I'm thinking of some Fiberglass pens that I have in my cart. I also have some other material pens in my cart. I need a practice surface to trial on, that I will need to find.

labman wrote: ↑

January 8th 2021, 4:17pm

Watch Noob wrote: ↑

January 8th 2021, 2:29pm

So I just put the crown back in the movement to check the day/date turnover accuracy. Way the fuck off, like 3 hours slow for the date and 7 hours for the day.
I solicited some local business repair shops through Yelp via questionnaire requesting a quote to see what they'll charge me to fid this.
Any ideas if any of you have had this type of work done?

Pull the hands with a hand-puller (relatively cheap), with the hands off advance the movement until the date just clicks over and re-install the hour hand only.

Advance the movement again to verify the hour hand aligning with 12 AM and the date just clicking over, if it's good re-install the minute hand and then the second hand. If it is not good remove the hour and and re-install and test again.

There is nothing you can do about the day, on the majority of the Seiko movements that day will take 2 to 3 hours to turn over.

Just my 2 cents.

Here's a pretty good video tutorial

Thanks Bro. Yes, I've watched countless video's on this and just may go ahead and give it a shot. If that doesn't work then I take it in

If you can do what you are currently doing, you can re-install the hands.

This thread is full of win.

I have not the balls for such an undertaking.

Color me impressed!

Just measured the Chapter ring with my calipers:





compare to these dudes who want to sell Chapter Rings but don't own a pair of calipers

According to their specs:



ID = almost dead nuts / OD = off by 0.2mm too large

I'd say that is an exact fit - looking at the O.D. measurement it looks like some very light pressure on the chapter ring, and given the tolerance of the calipers and sensitivity of the calipers - the chapter ring your looking is it.

If it's not right I'll but it from you

Racer-x has done hands before. He’s pretty good with with this stuff.

So the hand remover and placer tools came in today and I just finished. What a pain in the ass, I don't have the steady hands for this work. I got them back on correct as the movement is running, but when I advanced the hands, the day/date is starting to turn over at midnight now but then it gets stuck and I can hear a clicking noise like something may be stuck in the date wheel or misaligned.

I don't like placing the hands because there's no audible click or feel that they are in the correct position. It's all a freakin guessing game. The seconds hand is a major pain in the ass and took the longest because you need to get the pin in the pinon or whatever it's called exactly and it's so freakin tiny. I didn't need my loops believe it or not, but I could have used a 5th of Jack to steady my hands.

Nevertheless this movement needs to be tended to by someone who knows wtf they are doing. Anyone on the board do movement work?

btw, Rodico is a godsend for placing hands

I use something like this to help me see. I have one of the old ones made of metal, it’s great for lighting and magnifying.
https://www.dickblick.com/products/stud ... z8EALw_wcB

svaglic wrote: ↑

January 12th 2021, 11:37am

I use something like this to help me see. I have one of the old ones made of metal, it’s great for lighting and magnifying.
https://www.dickblick.com/products/stud ... z8EALw_wcB

Seeing is not the issue, it's the steady hands. I use these for detailed work, love them and they even have small led lights on them.

Watch Noob wrote: ↑

January 12th 2021, 11:46am

Seeing is not the issue, it's the steady hands.

Try some marijuana............

it helps my hands but sometimes makes me lose focus what I was doing to begin with.

codguy wrote: ↑

January 12th 2021, 11:52am

Watch Noob wrote: ↑

January 12th 2021, 11:46am

Seeing is not the issue, it's the steady hands.

Try some marijuana............

it helps my hands but sometimes makes me lose focus what I was doing to begin with.

Good idea, then I probably wouldn't care to do the work to begin with

Well the new crystals arrived. Nothing special, just plain jane mineral from Esslinger for $2.95. No scratches, no haze. Put it back together. I send out some feelers to a few folks to see if they can take a look at the movement and give me an estimate. After looking at the movement under the loop it definitely needs a cleaning as well.
So that's it for now until I figure out next steps with the movement.

Well done, man... that’s a great project!

Yeah, I find with such small parts I often have to slow my breathing or even hold my breath to curb undesirable hand movement.

Same with the damn tweezers. I have launched screws in to space by squeezing tweezers just a bit too tightly. I assume they went into space - I never saw them again, so that’s the only reasonable explanation.

Nuvolari wrote: ↑

January 12th 2021, 4:44pm

Well done, man... that’s a great project!

Yeah, I find with such small parts I often have to slow my breathing or even hold my breath to curb undesirable hand movement.

Same with the damn tweezers. I have launched screws in to space by squeezing tweezers just a bit too tightly. I assume they went into space - I never saw them again, so that’s the only reasonable explanation.

Thanks. I did the screw thing you did today as well with the screw on the rotor plate. It went flying also. Watch is still running so I guess I didn't do too bad. I decided to leave the chapter ring alone and move the missing lines to the 6 o'clock position so they aren't as noticeable. I was going to spray it flat black, but on this watch the chapter ring with the lines seem like a must to me.
For another laugh, I got the watch all back together and noticed a spec inside the crystal. That drives me nuts so I had to take it all back apart. Took care of it so now I can sleep tonight

Looks great - classic styling and really nice wabi.