Seiko 5717-8990 identification

[bertnet]

Hi, could you tell me if this configuration was originally made , I didn't find in the one button table configuration.
The owner tell me that his father bought this watch " new "
Thanks for your help...

[HiBeat]

Hi Bertrand,

Good news, yours is 100% original and correct.   Here is a photo of the 5717-8990 that my extended In-Law bought brand new at an Army PX in Vietnam in 1965.  This is how it was when he sent it to me for fixing up. So we know it was never subjected to a redial or new hands.  You will notice the inner chapter ring is missing, thrown away by some hack jeweler when he had the crystal replaced with the wrong size some time in the 1980's.   Also the wrong crown was used at that time.  And he lost the chrono push button along the way.

His is also an April 1966 date code like yours again with the Asian Games back but so worn away so hard it is very hard to make out some features.  Your case back is remarkable as these usually wore away all the detail.

Yours above has the exact same lumed hands as mine plus it has the dial variation with the little lume dots inside the hour markers.  

I could never find a photo showing this exact combination until now !   Amazing !

So yours is correct and that means that the black inner chapter ring that I found for a replacement was a lucky guess and now I know I used the right color chapter ring when I restored his.

As sent to me:


Before and after pix of my restoration.   New crown, crystal, OEM Seiko used pusher button (he lost his along the way), the aforementioned black replacement chapter ring, new paint in the bezel. and tons and tons of detailed cleaning, Cape Cod cloth polishing and sympathetic brushing with many many small BOR bracelet link repairs:

[bertnet]

Thank you Jon for your help, your description was perfect , It's a really nice watch but this configuration wasn't in the tablet " Seiko 5719/5717 "one button configuration " or mine wasn't Update...in any case thanks

[69ChevelleSS]

Congrats Bert on another nice find!  And to Jon . . . great result . . . . winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Awesome looking watches gentlemen!

[mapies]

Hi Bert, wanted to check where you got the chapter ring from? I am hunting one for my Seiko 5717 also as it's missing the chapter ring. Thanks

[estrickland]

Can not overstate how much I love the etched torch. 

[peenemunde]

Beautiful version of "one button".
Exellent condition.

[m84]

HA! So after all this time, I finally join WS and discover that bertnet came here to confirm his suspicions on my watch!

I had shown it to him at the time via Instagram, and the pics on this thread are mine but bad quality so here are a few others I took a while ago for a review/history lesson on the Portuguese watch forum. Glad it looks legit and all original to itself! When I bought it, the bezel actually had more paint, but got 'cleaned' out when i took it to a watchmaker at the time. Maybe i'll repaint the bezel markings again... 

I love this watch, and to correct the OP, it wasn't my farther's watch but someone else's father's watch. I wasn't looking for one, but through some blurry looking photos online I managed to identify it and eventually buy it from the seller

Hope you enjoy the new photos and apologies for the thread resurrection!








And here, more recently, back on the BoR bracelet it came with. Don't mind the shadows on the dial, they come from the scratches on the crystal.




Cheers,
Lou

[ewand]

Nothing wrong with thread resurrection ;-)

Here's mine - I've a question to those of you with BoR bracelet particularly - is it branded STL (Stelux) inside the clasp?