Seiko 6139-7002 Speedtimer desperation special
Apr 12, 2015 23:49:56 GMT -8
Groundhog66, lordflagpolecrabtree, and 2 more like this
Post by pollythecat on Apr 12, 2015 23:49:56 GMT -8
Hi Chronofreaks,
Every time I buy a watch off Ebay based on a blurry picture I invariably regret it and guess what? this latest turned out to be the same, behind the blurry image and misleading description lay a pile of poo.
I already have a black and a light blue/gray 6139-7002 and was on the eye for a blue one to add to the collection when I saw one on Ebay, I could see it had incorrect hands and had been polished to death but did not mind because I was after the dial. Although the picture was blurry I thought there may lie a good dial as it looked fairly bright and the seller described it as "beautiful".
Sellers piccy
See what I mean...a glimmer of hope?...nope.
When in the paws it became obvious the indices had been painted with white enamel and the dial had some pretty awful dirt and aging plus a few dits of paint removed. I figured the watch was worth what I paid for it in spares so decided to have a go at restoring the dial, the paint was chizelled off but no amount of rubbing and scraping would shift the dirt off the dial as it had gone into the paint. Out of desperation and with nothing to loose I shoved it in the ultrasonic for ages and the dirt did not come off but some of the minute track did
Change of plans then
After scrummaging through Pollys old drawers I found a few old 6139 dials that had been pulled from spares scrappers and in true WIS tinkering spirit had not been binned but stashed away "just incase". The most suitable was a black Speedtimer dial that I think may have come from a 6139-603X, it was a bit roapy but better than the "beautiful" blue one so after running a dollop of Rodico over it the indices were relumed with Pollys secret vintage mix.
Right what about the hands, more scrummaging turned up a pair of Seiko 6139-7100 hands that I had prevoiusly repainted and relumed when playing with the black barnacle and a used sweep hand that was stripped and painted yellow to match the AM minute recording hand (I like yellow, you may have noticed).
The crystal was replaced with a new Sternkreuz and the case run over with Scotchbrite to eliminate the hideous fully polished appearance.
The bracelet was not the correct one for a 7002 and is made up of a load of junk links connected by bending the center link, no removable links here matey. After rearranging the links to make the taper follow through it too was given the Scotchbrite treatment along with the polished endpieces. The clasp is a bit bent up but it straightened with a pair of smooth nose pliers.
On to the movement. Straight off I put it on the Timegrapher for initial analysis, as you do:biggrin: bloody Norah, its snowing, last time I saw this it turned out to be a dirty Diashock so no worries. Indeed a full COR sorted it out and while checking the components the movement is in fair condition considering the external appearance of the purchase watch being a cobbleration special.
So time to put it all together with new gaskets all round and also a new crown (the one on the watch was incorrect for a 7002). So to the pictures of the finished unintentional 6139-7002 Speedtimer mod, its not what I would have done by choice but I had to do something:-
Repeat after me. "blurry pictures conceal something a seller does not want you to see", with modern digicams there is no excuse for blurry pictures, most cameras cope fine with close ups.
On a slightly more up tempo note my next purchase was a really nice black 6602-8050 on the original BOR bracelet that had been passed over by the Ebay scourers for a couple of weeks so I bought it for £25. Its nice but that is my next storey
Every time I buy a watch off Ebay based on a blurry picture I invariably regret it and guess what? this latest turned out to be the same, behind the blurry image and misleading description lay a pile of poo.
I already have a black and a light blue/gray 6139-7002 and was on the eye for a blue one to add to the collection when I saw one on Ebay, I could see it had incorrect hands and had been polished to death but did not mind because I was after the dial. Although the picture was blurry I thought there may lie a good dial as it looked fairly bright and the seller described it as "beautiful".
Sellers piccy
See what I mean...a glimmer of hope?...nope.
When in the paws it became obvious the indices had been painted with white enamel and the dial had some pretty awful dirt and aging plus a few dits of paint removed. I figured the watch was worth what I paid for it in spares so decided to have a go at restoring the dial, the paint was chizelled off but no amount of rubbing and scraping would shift the dirt off the dial as it had gone into the paint. Out of desperation and with nothing to loose I shoved it in the ultrasonic for ages and the dirt did not come off but some of the minute track did
Change of plans then
After scrummaging through Pollys old drawers I found a few old 6139 dials that had been pulled from spares scrappers and in true WIS tinkering spirit had not been binned but stashed away "just incase". The most suitable was a black Speedtimer dial that I think may have come from a 6139-603X, it was a bit roapy but better than the "beautiful" blue one so after running a dollop of Rodico over it the indices were relumed with Pollys secret vintage mix.
Right what about the hands, more scrummaging turned up a pair of Seiko 6139-7100 hands that I had prevoiusly repainted and relumed when playing with the black barnacle and a used sweep hand that was stripped and painted yellow to match the AM minute recording hand (I like yellow, you may have noticed).
The crystal was replaced with a new Sternkreuz and the case run over with Scotchbrite to eliminate the hideous fully polished appearance.
The bracelet was not the correct one for a 7002 and is made up of a load of junk links connected by bending the center link, no removable links here matey. After rearranging the links to make the taper follow through it too was given the Scotchbrite treatment along with the polished endpieces. The clasp is a bit bent up but it straightened with a pair of smooth nose pliers.
On to the movement. Straight off I put it on the Timegrapher for initial analysis, as you do:biggrin: bloody Norah, its snowing, last time I saw this it turned out to be a dirty Diashock so no worries. Indeed a full COR sorted it out and while checking the components the movement is in fair condition considering the external appearance of the purchase watch being a cobbleration special.
So time to put it all together with new gaskets all round and also a new crown (the one on the watch was incorrect for a 7002). So to the pictures of the finished unintentional 6139-7002 Speedtimer mod, its not what I would have done by choice but I had to do something:-
Repeat after me. "blurry pictures conceal something a seller does not want you to see", with modern digicams there is no excuse for blurry pictures, most cameras cope fine with close ups.
On a slightly more up tempo note my next purchase was a really nice black 6602-8050 on the original BOR bracelet that had been passed over by the Ebay scourers for a couple of weeks so I bought it for £25. Its nice but that is my next storey
