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Thread: 1969 Seiko 6139-6010 service & restore

  1. #1
    Master
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    1969 Seiko 6139-6010 service & restore

    Another 6139 refurb (as people seemed to like looking at the pics last time)

    Got this watch recently myself off eBay. Was actually quite surprised the price it went for considering it had its original box and papers, even the inner foam pad and the novelty date wheel tag plus spare bracelet links!

    The Watch had one previous owner and was sold on eBay on behalf of the widow of its deceased original owner, the family didn’t want the Watch as it was ‘broken’. I actually asked the seller for some provenance relating the box to the Watch & he went above & beyond telling me a bit of history of the gent and where he lived and bought it etc.

    Anyway, on to the Watch. A nice blue dial 6139-6010 from 1969 with its original bracelet. Watch wasn’t running, but a shake would show it lived (briefly) and the day wheel was out of alignment.

    Here’s how it turned up, crystal scratched, hands a bit mouldy. Good things to note, original two piece sweep & dial looked good.




    Movement out the case, lovely dial




    Dial removed, day wheel is still together but has slipped round out of line.




    Let’s see what it can do... not happy




    Close up of train side, dirty and hammer spring missing.




    Chronograph bridge removed




    More stripping, very dirty around the flyback lever.




    Balance ass removed




    Train bridge removed




    More




    Let’s have a look at the dial side. Day wheel removed.




    Date wheel & it’s spring in the background




    Getting there




    Naked




    Parts, parts, parts





    While parts are cleaning, let’s have a look at the case.




    Case stripped down




    Quick hand polish on the bezel, and polished sides of case.




    Dirt and old D rings cut off




    Everything sparkly




    Mainspring refitted




    Onto the rebuild. I like to use a tiny amount of silicone lube on the top and bottom of the plastic part of the day change mechanism.




    Looking clean




    Oiling the cap jewel for the dial side balance setting.




    Looking good coming together




    Back to the train side. Barrel, centre wheel (& bridge) centre Chronograph wheel, third wheel & escape wheel in




    Had to make a new hammer spring up, train and chronograph bridges back on




    Balance back in. Never gets old when they fire up and live again!




    Date whee and spring back in, quick day/date change lever in




    Auto work back on and winding bridge





    Close up of the mouldy hands. I did bleach these successfully but there was some corrosion on the underside of the hand. I was concerned this would come back to haunt me so I stripped the hands in the end and removed the corrosion, then relume and gave the lume a touch of ageing.




    Clean case, new crystal




    Onto the bracelet refurb, Anyone for bracelet soup?




    Before finish




    Re-brushed




    And here’s the money shot, hands resumed and aged to match dial markers




    And reunited with its original box.




    Sorry this thread is a bit patchy, would have liked some more pics on the rebuild but it does add a lot of time doing pics.

  2. #2
    Master Thewatchbloke's Avatar
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    Nice job and the 6139-6010 is a lovely chrono variant, I've just finished restoring that exact model this morning and have a pogue stripped and in the cleaner as I type.

    Nice to see the box and paperwork too!

    Edit* Also nice to see an original hooked coupling lever spring, these were only used in the 1960's.
    Last edited by Thewatchbloke; 9th April 2018 at 11:38. Reason: Extra info

  3. #3
    Grand Master magirus's Avatar
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    Bravo! Great work, a lovely example.
    F.T.F.A.

  4. #4
    Grand Master number2's Avatar
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    About the most enjoyable part of the forum is watching these resurrections, thanks for taking the time to post the photos
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

  5. #5
    Master Sharky's Avatar
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    Great job. Well done.

    I love these kind of posts

    Mark

  6. #6
    Master
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    Thanks chaps. I always envisage a better looking thread but I’m no David Bailey!



    Quote Originally Posted by Thewatchbloke View Post
    Nice job and the 6139-6010 is a lovely chrono variant, I've just finished restoring that exact model this morning and have a pogue stripped and in the cleaner as I type.

    Nice to see the box and paperwork too!

    Edit* Also nice to see an original hooked coupling lever spring, these were only used in the 1960's.

    Thanks Duncan. I still can’t believe nobody bid through the roof for it just for the box and paperwork (seeing as it’d complete a mint Pogue that people seem to be splashing mega cash on)

    I think this is the first 6139A movement I’ve done, pretty sure they’ve all been 6139B movements otherwise. Do you know how the Chronograph reset feels in comparison to the B Duncan? I had to make a hammer spring and the reset works perfectly but it feels a lot lighter on the button to reset compared to the B movements I’ve done. There’s not the same level of adjustment as the B so I can’t load the tension on the hammer click but they may well just be lighter to use.

    Was a shame the hammer spring was missing but seeing the bits of rust I think it probably bore the brunt of moisture ingress.

    The sweep hand is pretty cool on these early ones too.

  7. #7
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    That is a very comprehensive and interesting report. I service and restore many of this model.
    Finding it hard to get the pinion which drives the inner bezel ring.

    Sent from my SM-G900F using TZ-UK mobile app

  8. #8
    Master
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    Nice work James and a very comprehensive write up

    Quote Originally Posted by Webwatchmaker View Post
    That is a very comprehensive and interesting report. I service and restore many of this model.
    Finding it hard to get the pinion which drives the inner bezel ring.
    Here you go Brendan - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401194563862

    There are also aftermarket options out there but I can't vouch for their suitability as I've never used them.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dynam0humm View Post
    Nice work James and a very comprehensive write up



    Here you go Brendan - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401194563862

    There are also aftermarket options out there but I can't vouch for their suitability as I've never used them.
    Thanks d/h !

    Sent from my SM-G900F using TZ-UK mobile app

  10. #10
    Master
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    This model doesn’t have the inner rotating bezel but assume you’re looking for the one for the 6139-600x (Pogue style)

  11. #11
    Master patrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jameswrx View Post
    This model doesn’t have the inner rotating bezel but assume you’re looking for the one for the 6139-600x (Pogue style)
    I'm looking for a crown for one if anybody has a spare.

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