As luck would have it.........
Aug 19, 2014 16:54:03 GMT -8
Groundhog66, donciccio, and 5 more like this
Post by SeikoPsycho on Aug 19, 2014 16:54:03 GMT -8
I stumbled across a poorly listed 6138-0030 a while back. The bidding started in a high enough range to discourage the low ballers who hoped to get it for nothing but also other potential bidders who would have been caught up in the bidding and possibly bid the final price higher then my budget would allow. I watched the auction for a whole week and by the end of the auction there was only one bid. I patiently waited until the closing minutes of the auction and placed my bid accordingly. Needless to say, with no other bidders, the watch was mine at a very reasonable price.
What caught my attention the most was that the watch appeared all original and was the JDM speedtimer version... :winner:When the watch arrived it was coated with dna deep enough to confirm my original observations of it being an original example. We all know how hard it is these days to acquire original unmolested examples. It had been advertised as running but chrono didn't work. Shortly after it arrived I had a look at it and sure enough it ran but the chrono wouldn't start. I carefully examined the pushers and operating levers without seeing anything obvious. After working the levers manually a few times I noticed one hadn't been correctly positioned for some reason or another. Once repositioned everything fell into place and the chrono went to working flawlessly and hasn't had an issue since.
I disassembled the case, gave it a good cleaning along with the case back, pushers, crown + stem. I gave the case a gentle hand polishing to bring back the luster. Installed a new crystal, pusher, crown, and case back gaskets. Gave the watch a good wind and wore it for 3 weeks straight. The first several days it was +5 seconds fast. After three weeks it was 15 seconds slow. Not bad for an almost 40 year old watch.......
This is definitely a Keeper.........
What caught my attention the most was that the watch appeared all original and was the JDM speedtimer version... :winner:When the watch arrived it was coated with dna deep enough to confirm my original observations of it being an original example. We all know how hard it is these days to acquire original unmolested examples. It had been advertised as running but chrono didn't work. Shortly after it arrived I had a look at it and sure enough it ran but the chrono wouldn't start. I carefully examined the pushers and operating levers without seeing anything obvious. After working the levers manually a few times I noticed one hadn't been correctly positioned for some reason or another. Once repositioned everything fell into place and the chrono went to working flawlessly and hasn't had an issue since.
I disassembled the case, gave it a good cleaning along with the case back, pushers, crown + stem. I gave the case a gentle hand polishing to bring back the luster. Installed a new crystal, pusher, crown, and case back gaskets. Gave the watch a good wind and wore it for 3 weeks straight. The first several days it was +5 seconds fast. After three weeks it was 15 seconds slow. Not bad for an almost 40 year old watch.......
This is definitely a Keeper.........
I do consider them an "upscale cousin" of the Panda - better movement & more "richly appointed" dial.
