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Soooo, the first watch of the pile of Seikos destined for the scrapheap is done. Case was completely redone, bezel was redone and black legend repainted, rusted movement rebuilt, new glass, sourced missing crown and stem and finished with a new nylon strap. The saving grace for this one was that the dial and hands survived almost perfect when watch was damaged.

I'm pretty chuffed with the result for a first attempt to be honest.

IMG-8701.jpg
 
That's an excellent result - I particularly like the brushed/satin finish on the case. Are you using a Timegrapher or suchlike to regulate your watches?
 
gbyleveldt said:
Soooo, the first watch of the pile of Seikos destined for the scrapheap is done. Case was completely redone, bezel was redone and black legend repainted, rusted movement rebuilt, new glass, sourced missing crown and stem and finished with a new nylon strap. The saving grace for this one was that the dial and hands survived almost perfect when watch was damaged.

I'm pretty chuffed with the result for a first attempt to be honest.

View attachment 1244012
Click to expand...
Good result.

Is that the original strap? It's a good combination.
 
riscbroker said:
That's an excellent result - I particularly like the brushed/satin finish on the case. Are you using a Timegrapher or suchlike to regulate your watches?
Click to expand...
Thank you! I'm not one for shiny things and these aren't particularly expensive or unique watches, so I decided on the brushed look as I prefer the finish. I'm busy with yet another one and for this I'm going for a shot blasted finish, although I might have the sides polished. I'm a little undecided at this point.

Yessir, I do use a timegrapher after I've rebuilt it. Here's the results (this was last week when the watch had another strap on). The amplitude is in line with the new Seiko movements I have here. In this case, I did replace the mainspring with a brand new one just to be safe.

IMG-8689.jpg

vigras rojara said:
Good result.

Is that the original strap? It's a good combination.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Nope that's an Archer Nylon strap that I got in this morning specifically for this watch. I'm really liking the quality and look of these over the typical Nato straps that you get. I'll be ordering more of them in so I have a variety for my other watches.

The watch originally came with a bracelet, but I only got half that bracelet in the lot. In general when you buy these lots they mostly don't even come with bracelets; those are the first to be ripped off for scrap. Truth be told, I'm not much of a bracelet guy anyway.
 
For those interested, this is generally the condition that the watches come in. This is one of the watches I'm working on now. Not a pretty sight; the bezel was stuck on with epoxy. As above, the dial, hands and chapter ring are in perfect condition so it's the only reason I even bother with it.

IMG-8632.jpg

IMG-8637.jpg
 
gbyleveldt said:
Thank you! I'm not one for shiny things and these aren't particularly expensive or unique watches, so I decided on the brushed look as I prefer the finish. I'm busy with yet another one and for this I'm going for a shot blasted finish, although I might have the sides polished. I'm a little undecided at this point.

Yessir, I do use a timegrapher after I've rebuilt it. Here's the results (this was last week when the watch had another strap on). The amplitude is in line with the new Seiko movements I have here. In this case, I did replace the mainspring with a brand new one just to be safe.

View attachment 1244078



Thanks. Nope that's an Archer Nylon strap that I got in this morning specifically for this watch. I'm really liking the quality and look of these over the typical Nato straps that you get. I'll be ordering more of them in so I have a variety for my other watches.

The watch originally came with a bracelet, but I only got half that bracelet in the lot. In general when you buy these lots they mostly don't even come with bracelets; those are the first to be ripped off for scrap. Truth be told, I'm not much of a bracelet guy anyway.
Click to expand...

Group buy on straps? I'd love that green canvas and a couple of sailcloth.
 
gbyleveldt said:
Thanks. Nope that's an Archer Nylon strap that I got in this morning specifically for this watch. I'm really liking the quality and look of these over the typical Nato straps that you get. I'll be ordering more of them in so I have a variety for my other watches.
Click to expand...
+1. I've got an Archer strap on my hammy and a spare for my Kamasu, really like their straps.
 
Jefferson D'Arcy said:
Group buy on straps? I'd love that green canvas and a couple of sailcloth.
Click to expand...
I get them from Amazon to be honest. You welcome to go have a look for something you like. I've got no issue combining a bunch. I have noticed that you don't really save that much when you bring more in, but go pick a few and PM me links. Every little saving helps hehe
 
theratman said:
+1. I've got an Archer strap on my hammy and a spare for my Kamasu, really like their straps.
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Yeah, first time for me and I'm in love with the way it's all constructed. Especially with the easily removable spring bars, makes changing straps a breeze without risking scratching your watch if the tool slips.
 
You guys find this kinda thing interesting? I've got a LOT of pictures I can post of the whole rebuilding process but I'd rather not derail this thread, so was thinking of a dedicated Watchmaker Restorer thread and have a place to nerd out. If enough guys are keen I'll do up something nice.
 
gbyleveldt said:
Yeah, first time for me and I'm in love with the way it's all constructed. Especially with the easily removable spring bars, makes changing straps a breeze without risking scratching your watch if the tool slips.
Click to expand...
They do make it very handy, I also got it for the spring bar (My eyes have had enough close encounters with jumping pins lol). I'll be ordering another once I've got the Laco I've been eyeing.
 
Anyone know where I can find off the shelf tourbillion mechanism models?
 
saturnz said:
Anyone know where I can find off the shelf tourbillion mechanism models?
Click to expand...
You mean the actual movement? If so, you'll only likely get the Chinese version (the Seagull which is pretty good actually) but the price is still gonna suck. If you want something Swiss you out of luck, as most of these manufacturers are owned by the Swatch group and they've stopped supplying parts to independent repairers in 2015.

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/tourbillon-seagull
 
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