Quarterly report 2/2013: SOTC

[startsomething]

Gentlemen,

with the end of quarter two 2013 I would like to give a little update concerning my Vintage Seiko collection!

Shown are both pieces that have been in the collection for some time and were finished/had work done or finished new arrivals - not included are those few watches that haven't made it into the gathering due to condition and thus have been sold off again.

As before the material is sorted according to case number, furthermore it is noticeable that I more and more focus on the mid- to high grade three handers - neither a Bell-Matic nor a Chronograph have arrived in the last three months.

Ok, so let's get started with calibre 51:

5106-7000 SEIKOMATIC-P, May 1967
I have shown this watch previously, but finally had the guts to do the required movement work, overhaul and tightening of the cannon pinion were required and a NOS crystal installed. With its slender case, the sweet sunburst dial and the fine sword hands I consider this piece to be very lovely, also it sports its original BOR-bracelet in good condition. Overall condition is very good, too, apart from a few caseback 'repair marks' that I however do not mind too much.



5106-8010 SEIKOMATIC-P, September 1967
This one is a new arrival that did not require too much work, apart from a good cleaning and a NOS crystal nothing more was required to make her shine again. I am also very happy with this piece, the 32 mm crystal means that the watch has great presence on the wrist which is further fortified by the beefy lugs. The elaborate linen dial and sophisticated markers/handset make for a very nice overal impression, the bracelet is also original:

[startsomething]

5216-7080 LORD MATIC SPECIAL, November 1974
This watch had already been in my collection for a few months but showed (rather unexpected) technical difficulties: very low power reserve due to a malfunctioning automatic device, the hand winding functionality was faulty, which in turn also meant that the (directly coupled) date quickset was not working, too.

I thus disassembled the movement and the problems were obvious pretty quick: a jewel in the automatic compartment was broken, one wheel was missing its lower pinion, two further automatic components were completely worn out. The debris of these components obviously mixed with the lubricants leading to a nasty brown grinding paste which particularly manifested itself around the barrel and was pretty hard to clean up:





Unfortunately, the required repair was beyond my capabilities/equipment so the damaged movement parts went off to a REAL professional (you know who you are ;-), who replaced the broken jewel and automatic components. Here are two pictures, one showing the worn out auto parts, the other one the disassembled watch - a sight I had to live with for many weeks :-)





Said expert was also able to procure an unobtanium NOS crystal for the watch. Once all the parts had arrived, I could proceed with the movement service, which then went smoothly. Here is the finished piece, finally completed and on original bracelet:



5246-6020 KING SEIKO, May 1972
While I was lucky to acquire a very nice specimen of this model already at the end of last year, I could not resist when a rather sad and worn looking watch of the same model turned up in Italy a couple of weeks ago. Probably due to the poor pictures I could buy the watch for quite a bargain price, when I received it however I was a little disappointed. The watch had definitely been messed with, the crystal was shot, it had suffered from a (small) water entry at the crown, luckly leaving mainly marks on the casing spring but leaving the dial and movement in nice condition. The elaborate 5246A had seen better days, too, a screw was missing, another one was stuck in the balance, so I prepared for the worst. Again (typical for calibre 52, it seems) hand winding was very stiff and thus also the date quickset disfunctional.

Overcoming the first shock, I proceeded to clean up the watch, service the movement and replace the crystal with a NOS one. I am pretty happy with the result, the bracelet is original, also:



And a picture with her older sister from January 1972:

[startsomething]

5605-7020 LORD MATIC, September 1968
The next piece is a rather rare 'date-only' Suwa Lord Matic. Apart from the missing day display, calibre 5605A is identical to calibre 5606A, however, unlike the latter, the 5605 was only available with 25 jewels.

This purchase was pretty risky due to poor auction pictures, what lead me to it was the original BOR bracelet.
Luck was on my side, overall condition may not be to my full satisfaction, but technically all is well, the case is nice, original bracelet very good, only the dial has a few (small) marks. This particular model has gloss black markers on the linen dial, the hands are of the same color and at first glance look as if they are missing their lume, but looking closely, they are skelletonized:



5606-7190 LORD MATIC, November 1971
Another new arrival is the following calibre 56 5606-7190 LM. IMO, this particular model (case number 719x) is amongst the most beautiful LMs produced.
The watch itself did not require too much work, case and original bracelet are in good condition as are dial and handset, also under the hood everything is fine. The crystal has a few small marks, which however are not noticeable on the wrist, so apart from a good clean, I did not do further work on the watch:



5606-8051 LORD MATIC, January 1975
The next piece has been in the collection for a while, another 56 LM, late production -8051 series. The watch required a new crystal, the D/D-corrector was broken and the caseback gasket torn. A few days back I finally received the necessary press dies for the crystal replacement (which requires some practise), the movement service, gasket replacement and clean up were not a big challenge. This piece is also one of my favorites, I really like the case shape and the delicate looking, but quite sturdy original bracelet. While I really like silver dials, the flashy greenburst dial on this watch is a very nice change and also adds to the diversity in the watch box :-)



5625-8001 KING SEIKO, March 1975
Another new arrival is the following King Seiko calibre 56. The watch is of the late production case series 800x, which is in turn the successor of the popular -711x series. In the mid 70s, automatic movements were not state of the art anymore, so I figure Seiko streamlined the production a little and thus simplified their model line-up a little - while this watch still has the 'KS' sign on the dial and on the bracelet clasp, the caseback and crown are unsigned.

Cosmetically, the watch was very nice when it arrived, case and original bracelet had been given a polish, which I generally do not like - however, on the watch it was applied so gently that it is barely noticeable. The crystal was most probably replaced at the same point in time and was in good condition with a few small marks, so I chose not to replace it. The only small trouble was yet again a broken QS component, so the movement required some repair, which I however in the meanwhile am already familiar with ;-)

Here it is now:

[startsomething]

6217-7000 WORLD TIME, December 1964
The next piece had been on my watch list for a while, but so far I had never pulled the trigger - a first generation World Time, calibre 6217. The reason for my hesitation was basically the comparably low movement quality - 17J basic version of calibre 62 - compared to the market price. When however a promising piece showed up on the favorite auction site, together with poor pictures and an even poorer auction description, I decided to give it a go - and could buy the watch considerably below market price. Yet again, holding the watch in hands I was a little disappointed - the case was in very good condition, hands and dial good, the city ring average with some discoloration and the movement very tired and with a technical issue - the hands would not properly set. It seems that this is a quite common problem with calibre 62, I would speculate that the material of the gears in question is not best suited for the task/of insufficient quality.

Due to a generous donation from a fellow WIS I received some NOS parts the the watch, so I could proceed with the movement service. I really liked working on the 6217, everything is built a little bigger and more robust - provided the parts quality is sufficient ;-)



Here she is after a good clean up and with a NOS crystal installed:



Mind the fat crown:


As you know, this particular model was introduced at the time of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and thus either available with Dolphin or Olympic Flame caseback. While mine is of the first variant, both types had etched inscriptions, which wear of quite quickly - also in the case of my watch, the inscriptions are thus very faint - but they are there :-)




8346-8020 BUSINESS-A, June 1967
The last piece for this update is a calibre 83 new arrival, a Business-A with the slightly simplified calibre 8346A (27 rather than 30 jewels in the base calibre 8306). I bought this watch from fellow member stophmaster (thanks again for a smooth deal!!) and it arrived in very nice overal condition, case unpolished and w/o any significant marks, dial and handset very lovely, original mesh bracelet and sound movement. The tension-ring-type acrylic crystal had at some point been replaced with a generic crystal w/o the ring, to it took quite some time (and again help from a fellow WIS/expert!) to find a NOS replacement. With the crystal installed and after a good clean up, here she is - quite a fine looking piece, IMO:




In the end,

there are a couple of folks I would like to thank for lots of help over the last months (or years, even!): foremost Rod (otr002) and Noah (rileyNP) for lots and lots and lots of help and patience, Duncan (cannop) for gifting me the calibre 62 parts, Adrian (haloeight) for help with the calibre 56 QS parts - thanks guys, this hobby would make a lot less sense and be a lot less fun if it wasn't for you!!!

Best,
Hermann

[donciccio]

cheering-clapping-smiley-emoticon  Fantastic!

[sweephand]

Great stuff Hermann - and lovely pics as usual. All very nice pieces and good to see you were able to sort out the odd problem!

Stephen

[SpinDoctor]

Nice stuff.  Very handsome pieces.  I'd have to change my entire wardrobe to wear all of those.  

[Groundhog66]

Some fantastic pieces right there!

[Adrian-VTA]

Always a pleasure to help you out Hermann. It's guys like you that make this hobby/life so rewarding.

[seikoholic]

Man, your posts are always fantastically photographed as well as a wealthy of information.  Thank you for posting.

[cd_god]

Nice watches and nice breakdown.

I remember in college we had to tear down and reassemble an automatic transmission.  Me and my lab partner tore it down, laid all of the of pieces out in order of disassembly, and then the teacher came along and threw them all in a box, shook them up, and said good luck.

I guess you don't have that problem working on a watch at home by yourself.

In high school auto class me and my buddies tore down the shop engine, measured everything, and had it back together in 3 days.  The class was supposed to last a whole quarter.  We spent the rest of the time rebuilding a junk yard 4 bolt main Chevy 350 motor I bought for $50 that we rebuilt with my after school job funds.

15 years later I put it in my 1965 Malibu and was surprised it ran.

Unfortunately the heads that were on the motor were cracked.  The heads I got for free at the time had a bad casting and the heads cracked around the bold holes while torqueing them down.  After running motor there was antifreeze in the crankcase. 

Now all I need is a non emissions cam since the laws have changed here between 1995 and 2013 and some good aluminum heads.

I painted the engine yellow to put in the yellow 1969 Camaro SS I would own someday (still looking)









Polishing the old turd.  The motor that came with the car was a 1969 truck motor 200 HP which ad been rebuilt in the past (rods were stamped) but there were 2 porous cylinder walls, a few bad valve seats from running unleaded in a 1969 motor (and not premium) and the main bearings were worn. After the head gasket fiasco I had to reseal the motor that came with the car andf put it back in.

Change your oil every 3000 miles folks or you get sludge.

As with Phillipines Seikos just cuz it looks good on the outside you never know what is going on inside.  With 2 worn cylinders it will still light up the tires without a brake stand for 2 blocks like my old 5.0 used to do.

[serdal22]

Fantastic vintage timepieces, and an excellent car!

Thank you for sharing, Comrades . . .

Capt. Serdal

[lordflagpolecrabtree]

Some wonderful pieces Hermann. Hope one day I'll own a few like these as they are right up my street !

[startsomething]

Thanks for the kind replies, folks!

As for the pictures - I am quite happy with the quality I can achieve already, but there is still much to improve. I am about to receive a light tent in the next couple of days, looking forward to trying it out & hopefully nicer pictures :-)

Best,
Hermann

[cannop]

What a fantastic selection of Seikoness Hermann! I'm glad to see all these pieces being brought back to health, congratulations!