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SKX007 spruce up.
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Fair play to you, great to be able give the watch a second lease of life! How is it running time keeping wise for you? Is it still on its original movement?
In my little seiko quartz appreciation world I added a 7A38-7270 to my 7A28 6060 Bishop (same but with the handy addition of day date) and somewhat more conventional styling. This one will be 38yo in July.
They've always had a cult following but they're beginning to fetch saucy money and finding one with no issues is kinda 50/50 these days. That is unless you're buying from an enthusiast, and paying accordingly. Lot of the time a clueless buyer can be unaware of issues such as split timing/counter/reset/day date issues etc. If it tells time and the stop watch works it's often described as "mechanically perfect".
This one was was a bit of a punt but worked out well, full functionality, crisp buttons, no evidence of battery leakage, no prints on the movement or dial, quickest and change over aok. Just a genuine unfecked with example in very good to excellent condition with no nasties hiding.
I had my ducks in a row for this and had ordered another custom sapphire with heaps of ar in 31mm x 1.5mm. Had all the gaskets too. The oem Hardlex was forgivable but they scratch too easy for my liking.
Anyone familiar with these can't help but enjoy seeing the 1/10 sec timer ripping around super fast.
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Wow. That looks absolutely amazing. Air play. I really love bringing older watches back to looking new.
Believe it or not it's an original 7s movement and it's keeping perfect time. -10 seconds per day and the amplitude and bear error are spot on.
I was tempted to change the movement at one point but I reconsidered. I think the movement is the soul of a mechanical watch and I can't bring myself to change it (if it ever dies I'll put in an NH movement).
I'm reconditioning another one at the moment. Got it on adverts and it was looking worse for wear. Keeping great time bit aesthetically needs to be updated. I'll post a picture when I'm done.
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Long winded this perhaps so the tldr is this is a classic triggers broom deal. If details bore you scroll down to pics.
I've notifications set for stuff on my oddball hitlist and sometimes it pays off. A 8229 602a sports 100 I've been hunting pinged from a retailer in HK. I've bought plenty from him before, he bulk buys from Japan and he also declares the value low when shipping, ideal...
Won the auction for 63 quid, watch rough but running with a lovely patina. Plan was leave it rough, reseal and new crystal, hey presto cheap thrills on something I dig that's lesser spotted.
They're a tank these movements, rebuildable and reliable quality quartz. The "a" denotes the more desirable Pepsi bezel. This one's 82, so think eye of the tiger and every little thing she does is magic :)
Off to my various places to look for that weird ass crown tube seal arrangement and what do I spot but "8229 602A SS Case". Two things are immediately considered, A, it's probably "good value" buying this as I won't have to buy seals crystal etc. And B, but is the case actually complete..?
I gambled it was and that the movement was sound. They're tank after all lol, what could go wrong?! Fuelled by this unbelievable optimism I bagged a dial/handset too in the style of a horological supermarket sweep.
So the parts arrived and yep full case! Quite a coup imo, cousins has an amazing back catalogue of rare sh1t (that they're unaware is rare and worth more lol), my 7a28 bishop bears testament to this.
Cool day wheel.
This is where something you swear will be simple kicks your ass. The whole deal fought me I had to broach the minute hand, it just wouldn't seat and then it started losing time when assembled, the horror, the horror! Optimism no more never again lol!!
In the end I eventually figured out the tail of the seconds hand was microscopically tipped up and I had reinstalled the crystal ever so microscopically off flat after changing the gasket, so my bad. Both these (almost unnoticeable) conditions lead to the seconds hand barely rubbing the crystal, deck height is miniscule on these.
I've seen this on some mechanical movements manifest as a wave form or dip in spd and amplitude at a certain portion of the second hands sweep. In this case I spotted the seconds hand slightly missed it's markers between four o'clock and ten, despite me setting it so it would. I worked backwards from there to my bads.
Once sorted it's kept great time, I put in a new murata, pressure tested it (passed) and overjoyed with it I am :) They're dead cool imo and lovely wear/size.
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"Was working previously, needs a battery, sold as seen", is nearly always seller for, "I put a battery in and it doesn't work"...
Maybe I need Nicky from Casino to smack some sense into my degenerate gambling head but sometimes you get a vibe it might be legit. In this case the...
1, sellers other items and history shows he isn't a watch guy
2, the crud and wrist goo was so dense it was evident the case back hadn't been off to replace the battery
3, its a seiko 7A28 so the force is strong (and I have a spare nos movement)
4, no bidders, watchers or reserve.
I bet the farm (aka fifty dollars) won it and it was duly sent to a US address who sent it to me. Total is now 70 euro.
Pushers are seized and the whole thing is rough as a badgers arse. Caseback off and I'm surprised, it's not taken a bath! But it's got a dead renata in… which tend to sh1t their guts so I popped it out expecting green death but no! Mmm promising.
New battery in and she ticks. I remove the movement and actuate the pushers with peg wood and everything works!! Chuffed to bits. These movements are insanely good. It's been holding perfect time.
The plan....the gold plating is nearly all corroded or worn away so the plan is blast it. Besides I don't really dig gold, but my set up is harsh and left trace pitting on a scrap case. I'd been on the fence about getting a vapour blasting set up as this finish seems superior to other media blasting imo. It peens the surface and stainless looks fab after it so I contacted a local fella doing doing it and will report back. If it works out I'll get a hobbyist vapour set up in the future. So here it is getting ready for action.
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Friends sentimental citizen
Dust/lint everywhere
Once given light she started ticking! Eco drive are bomb proof.
Case and bracelet are ehhh, well used, literal cement in places lol
Came up well, rebrushed bezel and light polish to case, likewise bracelet. This pic tells you all you need to know about the hard life it's had
Pushers take two seals each, which is good, but why not the crown?
Waiting on the crystal. Spurious, couldn't find oem anywhere!? Weird ass size 32.8 by 1.55. Could only find it in mineral.
I don't really like doing this with citizen, there just isn't the same level of support for spare parts put there that there is for seiko. At least it seems that way for me. Anyway, he should be chuffed once it's back on wrist looking sharper.
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Cheers Dave, very good of you to say that.
The citizen is once more sealed from the horrors of pocket link, and cement!
The crystal reference is F150CMH 328. So presumably that's F for flat, 150 being 1.5mm thickness, CMH I've no idea and 328 is 32.8mm di.
When refitting the movement it caught on the pushers and I suddenly thought I had omitted (aka lost) the springs that keep them out!
But no, seems the pushers are held under tension by the movement itself, by springy pusher levers, that make the contact. Once the pushers are fully out the movement wedges in if loaded that side first at a slight angle.
I couldn't remove every speck of dust from the dial unless I removed the hands. I had no appetite to do this as finding info on the resetting procedures for such a weird (and so many) complications was difficult. Anyway, tis heaps better, even without the nice gold ring the oem crystal had. Refinishing the bezel always gives a watch a lift, a brighter face.
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Operation needs a battery is fin. Fella who blasted the case was brill to deal with and great value. This is him....
Wanted the buttons and bezel mirror polished.
Got out the worst of the scrapes on the caseback and re did the circular graining.
Obviously I reaseled it and fitted a saph with clear. It's a bit of a strap monster this.
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Cheers Wibbs, they're a great watch and that movement is a legend.
Bagged another there, 7A38 so day date, same craic as above with the gold plating surrendered.
A princely sum of fifty quid lol. It's telling time but chrono no worko.... I think i might be able to sort it, maybe.
That central tension finger for the chrono is clearly bent! Happens a lot to these and is easily fixed.
A sneaky seller savvy to this movement might bend that to lure a degenerate gambler like me in :) I don't get this vibe from him but there's also evidence of possible water ingress or battery alien blood on the dial so may need to use my spare 38 movement. A long shot so but this case shape and full bracelet are lesser spotted and desirable so I bit.
Case wise I might try a vibratory tumbler with aluminium oxide as media this time. Maybe try some contrasting brush and polish finish?
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Cheers Lloyd, tbh it's nothing fancy I'm at, just a hobby.
Bought this as a bit of a fun doerupper. I had little expectation of a successful result. Seller wanted a fiver and then just wanted postage. Very generous of her but I paid postage plus a tenner. Some real nice people out there.
I have history with both suunto and these observer models so wasn't very optimistic. Tbh despite the excellent build and execution with Finnish built suuntos the sensors are failure prone imo. In fact I'd say even the elementum (premier model) is a bad bet. Shame as they get under your skin in that old volvo/saab/IKEA meatballs kinda way:)
Popped a CR2032 in and it's alive, just. Screen is dim and the EL backlight barely visible. I calibrated it and got inconsistent readings, the sensor seemed to hold a reading but not adapt to changes in alti and or pressure. Also, someones had a go in the past, there's a few specks of dust under the crystal which suunto don't do.
The hatch was jammed so I removed the back. No water ingress which doesn't surprise me, they're well sealed these. I popped the module out and freed the baro sensor from its housing.
The gold housing forms part of the contacts between the LCD screen and board and also physically holds the two parts together with sprung tabs. Upon separation I could see trace build up on the zebra rubbers and one of the LCD contacts. Isopropyl on a cotton bud sorted that. When reassembling you have to be sure all four tabs are 100% located or you'll have screen issues. When back together I had a crisp screen and super bright backlight, result. The baro readings were aok too!
I ultrasonically cleaned the case and there was a load of what I assume was mud blocking the holes for the sensor. Clouds of sh1te wafted out it.
Lots of marks are usually no bother but radial brushing is not something I've done before.
I took out the marks as usual but had to refinish it with a thin strip of 600 wet and dry mounted on the lady wife's nail file sponge yoke. I blended in the passes with 800 grit to even it out. The glass is mineral and was polished. The usual cracked strap was replaced with a fifteen quid green fkm rubber spurious one. Don't know why suunto never did a green one, matches the negative display so well. I bought a new battery hatch and O ring from spain for a tenner so all in forty quid.
Worked out well in the end, barely any trace of marks and still has radial brushing, if a little less heavily grained than before.
Roches point is my closest sea level station, used to have cause to do work in that station, beautiful place. So in baro mode I set it to 1020hPa and.....
.…in alti mode I am indeed at 132m above sea level. Wayhey it verks!! Compass is calibrated bang on too, success.
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Cheers lads, I enjoyed fixing it up. It's a trip to wear a watch you used to from a quarter century ago. The observer despite having an arguably poorer interface/feature set than the later Core had superior build/quality/materials being made in their home base Vaanta Finland, as opposed China for the Core, which was "designed in Finland".
Back then I used to repair lots of the infamous sticky Core buttons and other issues, I have several of their vintage military field and dive compass too so I suppose I'm a company fanboy. They have an innovative and rich history imo.
With my recent "bought for curiosity sake" Lotscher Swiss Army ISA8154 watch I should expect another ISA obscure chrono, seeing as things come in 3's!
I'll let the owner chime in on its sentimental history but the above needed a movement swap as the old one was slowing despite a good battery, good contacts and no drag on the handset etc. He even supplied the correct movement NOS in a factory movement holder:) No small feat that, considering the obscure brand, it's many similar modules and this ones odd six oclock date disc. He'd certainly done his eccer in getting one! When he initially approached me about it I got the movement selection wrong.
Uses a weird spacer to sandwich between the dial and mvt. Crown release utterly stumped me. Usually pulling the crown out causes an obvious pip to pop up/out indicating a release mechanism. I tapped out and had to Google it, needless to say it's near invisible and at all obvious.
Didn't have a spare 395 but my sons wonderfully named "Good Thing" says the battery's good for another while yet. Gotta find my multi meter…
This movement lacked the gold plating of the one that was in it, it was also marked differently but upon inspection it was identical. All hands that needed it were calibrated to zero and the day subdial at six set by advancing time, which is laborious but only usually needed to be done once. That is unless there's a different way but I couldn't find it.
The multi band g shock doing it's duty in setting exact time and the Cat watch is ready to rock after greasing the gaskets. Hopefully the owner does not report any big gain or loss in the coming days. They're old movements afterall.
I've fiddled on some expensive watches but it's the sentimental ones that spook me, hope it does as it should:)
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Saccades, love the back story and commitment to getting it sorted, glad to have played a part. Hopefully it's on your wrist by now and the new movement is behaving itself!?
I bought this SSC021P1 solar diver chrono for fifty euro. Described as "working…"
When it arrived it wouldn't tick in sunlight so...
Sorted.
These aren't faux divers, they're ISO rated and very well sealed, everything screws down.
Fitting the internal crown tube seals is tricky. I sandwich it inside the tube between two cocktail sticks (with flat ends) and wiggle until it seats behind the plastic spacer. All new seals fitted.
Prior to seals I started with 400 grit w&d to get the worst of the dings out, I go up to 1200 w&d. Then it's diamond abrasive on a mop, above 8k. I stopped at 15k (below) and rebrushed the lugs.
Then into the US cleaner and rinse.
New crystal gasket, flat 32mm sapphire with clear ar and brand new bezel with insert. You absolutely must remove the gasket, stretch and lube it before pressing on the bezel.
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