Handed a 6309-7049

[Bodo]

I've recently had the privilege of sorting out a 6309-7049 for a member that had a few issues to deal with. The watch, I mean...the watch had the issues, not the member! :)

When it arrived I noticed one or two more problems that I hadn't spotted at the time. 100 points for guessing...



I thought I'd post the details incase you're interested in seeing the results.



Here's a 1983 caseback, given the hands and date wheel issue, and the seemingly destroyed chapter ring due to what looks like water intrusion or mishandling, but a remarkably clean dial, I think this could a later Hong Kong movement and case but with a Suwa dial installed possibly to replace an originally poor condition dial. I will confirm this if I get the chance, but I completely forgot to pay attention to what date was stamped on the dial back, which would help with determining what happened. However, I don't doubt that Seiko could have used surplus Suwa dials in watches later than '81. Will see if I can be bothered to check but I'd rather not disturb the movement again, and I do recall mention of another Suwa dialled 6309 from '83.



Here is a shot of a nice looking 6309A movement. I liked the look of the condition but the movement was in need of a clean as it was running slightly low amplitude around 180 amp and a fairly noisy reading on the tg.



Here is a close-up of the dial and hands and the other issue, the date wheel being incorrect and also the worn chapter ring. We decided to tackle this with a new crystal (thanks to Tom) new chapter ring (thanks to Max) nos hands (thanks to me and can't remember when I got them) and give it a fresh set of gaskets a new date wheel and a service.



Lovely crisp text and appealing tone to the lume. I enjoy seeing these dials and since favoring the red text on 6309s etc, I actually really enjoy seeing the faded yellow text just as much these days aswell.



Hands removed without issue, very slight glossing to areas around the hands from previous removals but nothing too bad at all. A very smart looking 6309 dial indeed and was looking forward to sorting this out.



Dial stored safely away a quick look at the date mechanism. Again, no immediate signs of damage or over-oiling etc, just the black date wheel that would become a spare part for the owner soon. A nice condition English and Spanish day wheel is visible.



Flipping the movement around and setting it on to the holder let's remove the balance and start the process of stripping it down. Again, it's nice to see the condition of this movement the way it is. Crisp lines, no scrapes or scratches. Text is crisp, just the odd patch of dirt that will clean up.



Here I'd say is signs of some excessive oiling. The second reduction wheel has quite a splatter around its surface.



Getting on with the calender side here is a quick shot of the different coloured plastic that is sometimes used. I'm reliably informed that the type of plastic is called Delrin. Not Delboy, you plonker Rodney.



Moving on was fairly straightforward, I turned my attention to the case and crown whilst the movement was getting a clean. The chapter ring would need to be replaced, of course. Case needed a good clean. The rust at 11 o'clock turned out to be superficial and would clean up.



And another issue is spotted. Should be 5 parts here, crown, male stem, female stem, stem spring and....



The mainspring showed its usual molybdenum grease, possibly Seiko S-4.



And removal of the spring carefully alternating my grip and allowing the spring to unwind outside of the barrel.



Here is the crown after cleaning and removal of the gasket as I loop a fresh one over the stem.



Placing a spare oiler carefully between the stem and the portion of the gasket that's situated lower in the case I can help the gasket find its groove.



As I poke the gasket into the crown with some blunted tweezers or stick or pegwood it naturally walks itself around the oiler and into the groove.



And now we have the crown assembly with the missing piece.



Mainplate cleaned I start with the stem and setting lever set up.



Skipping a few pictures here is the train being installed.



Click spring held to aid installation of the train bridge.



Calendar cleaned up nicely and here it is nearing completion.



And another shot with a freshly installed and correct date wheel.



Framework for auto device cleaned and assembled and not over oiled! Used S-4 for the pawl jewel here.



I thought the above photo looked pretty cool. Nice colours, excellent condition movement nearing completion.



Balance and diashock cleaned and installed. What a lovely looking 6309A here. Simple, yet smart. Industrial yet elegant. Just a great, robust movement and the more I enjoy Seiko and despite the quality of components etc I find knowing the movement that's hidden underneath the immediately obvious surface of dials and hands and inserts, well it's just as important, and knowing this is working away underneath it all has added to my appreciation of watches I have or have had where the movement is in similar condition. Often overlooked, would you say?



And here we are with the hands and dial attached and if I may say so, looking pretty good indeed.



Movement ticking away to settle in here we have some necessary parts to install.



Movement eventually cased, no pitting around the case gasket groove.



Nor with the caseback itself.



And so on with a fresh gasket very lightly coated in silicon grease.



Very smart!



And a shot through the magnifying lamp which I do to check dust under the crystal.

This is after 12 hours dial up:

And crown down:

I would have liked to do better with a higher amplitude, but I think that's pretty decent and with the crown down reading showing quite decent accuracy I'm hoping it wears well on the owner's wrist timekeeping wise.

There we have it, I hope you enjoyed reading!

[number2]

Thanks, thoroughly enjoyed reading.

[greasemonkey]

thanks for taking the trouble to do this thread,very enjoyable..

[Mr Nuttington]

Another vote of thanks. Really informative and a great set of photos. Just my sort of thread.

[JackW]

Thanks for taking the time to post this, I wish I had the skills! Great to see how, with the right skills and materials, a watch that many would consider a lost cause can be turned into an excellent condition classic.

[Bodo]

Thanks all. Pleased with it and the positive comments are good to hear. :)

[Onespeed]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative read and, as previously said, just shows what can be achieved by way of repair and restoration by someone with the appropriate skill set.

Thanks for sharing.

Gary

[Integrale]

What a result!

I've always shied away from buying "well used" as my impression was that a refurbed costs a fortune.

Could I be bold and ask roughly how much this degree of "renovation" would cost?

I have a few cheap watches that mean a lot sentimentally and would benefit from getting sorted.

Hope the question isn't inappropriate

Thanks

[Bodo]

Crystal £25.
Gaskets £6
NOS hands £50
NOS chapter ring £25
Date wheel £10

Is a ballpark amount for each part here, I guess. But it varies and the nos chapter ring could have been very difficult to find, but I don't know if many are out there. The seller sold me their last one.

[200mwaterresistant]

Interesting read, thank you!

[Thorien]

Excellent work . Love the detailed report and pics and what a fabulous result !!

[verv]

Fab stuff guy!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading and I definitely know where to come for fixin' :)

[Integrale]

Crystal £25.
Gaskets £6
NOS hands £50
NOS chapter ring £25
Date wheel £10

Is a ballpark amount for each part here, I guess. But it varies and the nos chapter ring could have been very difficult to find, but I don't know if many are out there. The seller sold me their last one.

That's really not much to resurrect it. Got me thinking now....

[WORKSIMON]

Thanks for posting, a really enjoyable post

[Redwolf]

I love all this, photography of servicing. Next time I get a service it’s going to someone who takes photos like you did along the way. Do you take on work of any watches?
And a lovely watch to boot.


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[halfscrew]

Excellent read. Thank you. Good to see a refurb done sympathy for the existing condition.

[Dynam0humm]

Nice work Guy

You mention the Suwa dial and the 1983 case back but I think the case back has been taken from a different watch. The movement is stamped Seiko Time Corp which is for the US market and as such it should be a 7049 vs 7040 for the rest of the world.

[Robins]

Thanks for uploading that, enjoyable read and very interesting

[Bodo]

Nice work Guy

You mention the Suwa dial and the 1983 case back but I think the case back has been taken from a different watch. The movement is stamped Seiko Time Corp which is for the US market and as such it should be a 7049 vs 7040 for the rest of the world.

Thanks Dave. How strange I called the thread by the proper caseback number! :)
But yes that would make sense! *kicks myself*

Thanks for the comments aswell guys, they're a pleasure to read.

[andy tims]

Nice one.

[j111dja]

An interesting read. Thanks.

If a 6309 Diver has an original Suwa dial (so pre January 1982) and a later case back (as in this case) it is normally a change of case back that is the issue to hand. It is an all too common problem unfortunately.

[Bodo]

I guess so David. I do wonder just how definite one can be about it as you know with Seiko things can be hard to pin down. But this is one of those situations where I believe the watch has changed quite a bit over the years.. I really should take the dial off and check if it has a date marking as if that said 33/34/35...it would be interesting! But I imagine it will say something dated to the years '77-'81. Will report back if I find the motivation to remove hands and dial from this one.

[Thewatchbloke]

One thing you can be sure of with vintage Seiko is you can never be sure

[ed335d]

Another great job and a very informative post Guy

[Gee252]

Great write up and the photos were the icing on the cake.
I would love to have the steady hand and skill for this
Thanks for the post.

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[Derivative]

fantastic watch and super work. thanks for taking the time to post this.

[.olli.]

Nice job, runs nice and clean! It looks like it is still on the original rubber strap as well which is a nice touch, the replacements do not look/ feel the same

[Bodo]

Thanks guys. And yeh I would agree, Olli. Nothing beats a GL831, or an A06BZ, they're the perfect length and feel I find.

[gmcg]

Thanks for taking the time to post this Bodo, very interesting for a newbie.

[Rodder]

Crystal £25.
Gaskets £6
NOS hands £50
NOS chapter ring £25
Date wheel £10

Is a ballpark amount for each part here, I guess. But it varies and the nos chapter ring could have been very difficult to find, but I don't know if many are out there. The seller sold me their last one.

Great write up, it's these types of posts that make the forum.

Out of interest are the parts easy to source?

[Bodo]

I had a few spares, but hands are getting harder to find or expensive. The crystal is easy and so are the gaskets but I wouldn't fancy my chances tracking down another chapter ring.

[Stringer]

Love this sort of thread & super pics - most informative and strangely satisfying. Thanks.

What a handsome Seiko diver too, well worth preserving.