Seiko - parts availbility, variablity and observation

[solex]

I have been searching for a few parts a crystal for my 7002 and a crown and stem for my SKX009. 

I received a crystal from an eBay seller in Seiko packaging but it did not have the correct bevel making the bezel difficult to turn.  It has since been returned.

I also just received a crown and stem for my SXK009-0020[A0] from Ramon and with the help Jon and Louis was surprised to find there is variability in the stem based on the case and also there are no substitutes.  I was happy to find out that the crown tube was not stripped as the original owner had thought but the stem collar was not completely threaded so I could never get it to the correct length.  I contacted Ramon and he is sending me another stem.

In the past I have worked with the ETA-2824 and have never come across variability in the stem.  I was also a little surprised by the availability of Seiko parts.  In the case of a crown tube, the only option is to replace the case.  In the case of the stem you must purchase the stem and crown at $40.00 with the exception of Ramon.

So far the Seiko - parts community on eBay has been very responsive and helpful.

[Adrian-VTA]

It's tricky with particularly some of the older parts, I guess the question is how long should they support these for? I know some of the Swiss brands they seem committed to always supplying the parts, but then when you look at the vlume of pieces they put out and the price, it's a completely different market to everything SEIKO.

So far I've had a fairly good run with getting stuff, but I think the internet really enables that, I'd say a lot of the dodgey work done in pre-internet times was simply because a lot of this stuff could not be found from reachable resources to the repairer.

I think the majority of SEIKOs are designed along Japanese methodology with how they design most consumer goods, which seems to be great for 10 years then just replace it.

SEIKO also have a tendency to supply a lot of parts as assemblies rather than broken down parts, which is good for a repairer and efficiency, bad for a hardcore watchmaker.

The stems are a real bugger on these pieces, particularly with the rotating ring models. One day we will solve the problem somehow though.