Light restoration of Seiko 8222-8000

Got this Seiko from a colleague at work. He was planning to give his old graduation watch to his son and was wondering if I could fix it up a bit. So I did. Just a case of some TLC. The Seiko is from 1980 and the case and crystal had some scratches that I removed with Autosol and a Dremmel the end result came out pretty good just after an hours work.

Seiko SQ 8222-8000

The Watching – New delivery

Today in the mail a got some new parts from my two favourite watch part dealers on eBay, “Findingking” (www.findingking.com) and “qwatchaccessories”. The parts I ordered was click springs and new watch crystals.

New parts

I have an old 70ies Lucerne diver’s watch that I bought on eBay a few weeks ago, the strange thing is that the seller thought that the watch were missing batteries (on a mechanical watch?) and therefore didn’t work, I didn’t argue with that as it was posted as a quartz movement. When I got it I discovered that it just needed a good clean and of course lost the click spring while doing so.

Lucerne Marine Luxus Diver 200ft

I also have an old English fusee pocket watch that I was entrusted with by a friend (Big Mike). It’s a wonderful watch from the 1880ies and I think it works; the thing is that it’s missing the click too.

English fuseé

The two watches are completely different and therefore needs different springs, I am hoping that the spring for the Lucerne will fit perfectly, but with the fusee I’ll have to fix it a bit. This will all come clear when I post the repairs soon.

Seiko automatic

The watch crystals I mainly bought because of a nice Seiko automatic I have. The watch had a crack in the crystal when I got it and needs a replacement. I will post this repair shortly. Its always I good idea to have some watch crystal in different sizes, they may come in handy for that special vintage watch you have and then its easier to replace it right away then ordering parts that may take 1.5 weeks.

The Watching - why Im in this mess

I’m a pretty normal guy that has in recent years shown a big interest in wristwatches and at some extent pocket watches. Some people may call it an unhealthy interest and they do. Family and friends are not always as sympathetic as I would like but I can understand were they are coming from. I bought my first watch at flea market in Stockholm (Skärholmen). I dare say that I got cheated by the salesman (he kept saying that the watch contained jewels and was worth a lot of money even thou it wasn't working) and I think I paid about 100 kronor (10 euro) for it.

watch was a nonworking “Tevomatic”, automatic of course and 25 jewels.

When I got home I took it apart with a screwdriver that was not intended to be used on anything bigger than a grandfather’s clock. I never did get that watch working and now it sits dissembled in a box, I think that it was something to do with a broken jewel for the mainspring. Six years has past since that day in the flea market and since then I have bought many more watches. Even if I buy watches with intent to sell them I usually never do. This blog is a way for me to keep track of the watches I buy and what I do with them, so you can say that it is manly for me but I hope other people will enjoy it to. I have realized that repairing watches is hard and should not be done by someone who does not know what they are doing. This is true but if you do not try how will you learn? Most people that collect watches and have horology as a hobby have no training, only a interest.

My motto is “if it’s broken and cost under 50euros, try repairing it!”

it’s always worth a try. I have nothing against hard working watchmakers, but I will not pay 20euros for a crystal change that I can do myself for 2. Unfortunate the watchmaker’s occupation seems to disappearing and now when you buy a new watch they ship in abroad for repairs. If you make friends with a real watchmaker and get discounts you are lucky. In my blog I will mostly write about diver watches.

In recent years I’ve discovered that I love Seiko divers, especially from the 60-70ies. I own a few and I am always looking to find new ones.

Heres an Seiko diver 7005-8050

The particular Seiko in the image I bought on the net, I don’t remember what I paid exactly but I think it was around 40 euros. The watch was posted as “nonworking” but I was willing to take a chance. When the watch first arrived I noticed that the Seiko smelled funny and the smell reminded me of a lubricant and rust removal spray that you use on rusted screws. When I opened the watch I realized to my horror that the former owner had sprayed the entire movement with it! I guess to get it to move again. I email the seller and asked why he had done this, I never got an answer.

The Seiko divers are workhorses and highly reliable and if they are broken it is easy to find replacement parts for your movement. The hard part can be to find replacement parts for the case. Finally, I am not a watchmaker; I make repairs to my watches with the best of my knowledge and hope that it will work. If it doesn’t I still learned something. 90 percent of the repairs consist of changing crystals, cleaning the movement, oiling the movement and finding replacement parts. I do not make my own parts (yet).