A 1975 Seiko DX 6106-8729

 This installment features a Seiko DX 6106-8729 that has had a pretty rough paper route.  As the photos will clearly show, the case, bezel and crystal are somewhat the worse for wear and the movement hadn't been serviced in decades.

The DX is certainly not a "high end" watch but this one has significant sentimental value to its owner and he wanted it to look and function as new.  Is it "worth it" to put this kind of effort into such a pedestrian timepiece?  It was to him, and that's all that matters, no matter what any "experts" might say.  There is sometimes more to an item's value than "market price".

Let's get on with it then.

The watch, as it came in:

After disassembling the watch, it became apparent that the barrel arbor holes in the mainplate and train bridge were worn beyond serviceability.  This a common issue on 6106 movements used in Seiko's mid-tier watches.  The repair method is to upgrade to jeweled holes, as used in the higher-spec 61-series movements.

The mainplate is set up in the uprighting tool, using a shop-made holding fixture and the arbor hole is reamed, in .1mm increments, to the final size to accept the OEM Seiko jewel bearing.

The jewel bearing is then pressed in.

The train bridge uses a bushing for the barrel arbor.  This is pressed out and then the jewel bearing is pressed in.

With that done, the next item was servicing the barrel, which includes disassembly, cleaning, lubing and replacement of the mainspring with an NOS OEM part and reassembly of same.  The rest of the movement is cleaned, lubed and reassembled then set aside while I worked on the case.

Here is the case after many hours of hand work.  Seiko is known for their sharp case contours and (if you're not a hack) these must be preserved in the finished work.  The bezel was refinished in the lathe, starting with turning away the damage, then sunray brushing the face and finally, polishing the bevels.

After that was done. the caseback was treated in the same manner (minus the sunray brushing) and the case was cleaned and a new OEM crystal was installed.

The dial and hands were carefully cleaned, the new OEM seals were lubed and installed and the watch can be reassembled.

The final step is to clean up the bracelet and clasp, correct and polish the deformed endlinks and install the bracelet with new springbars.

Watches by SJX

 For the second time, I've had the privilege of having my work featured on the web's best watch site, WatchesbySJX.

My opinion however has nothing to do with my work being featured there.  It's based upon the fact that, among internet watch websites, SJX seems to be the most focused on watches (imagine that), rather than "lifestyle" articles.  That, combined with a technical writing staff that is clearly a cut above the rest, and a complete lack (thankfully) of pop-up advertising, is what sets them apart from the crowd.

The article on #2, by David Ichim:

https://watchesbysjx.com/2025/05/dewey-vicknair-regulator-watch.html

The article on #1, By JX Su:

https://watchesbysjx.com/2024/02/dewey-vicknair-first-wristwatch.html 

Updates: 02/15/25

 After being "computerless" for a while, the problem has finally been solved and I can get back to the blog.

The Handmade Watch #2 post has been updated with many more photos detailing its construction.

Handmade Watch #2

Gübelin Ipso-Matic

 Here is a vintage Gübelin Ipso-Matic that came in to have the movement serviced and the dial cleaned.  I neglected to take any "before" photos (sorry).  The dial had been refinished at some time in the past but other than the missing "Swiss" at the bottom, the refinish is pretty good.  This watch is powered by the Felsa 690 movement, an automatic movement that was used by many makers but none (I think) were as well finished as those by Gübelin.  

Compare the finishing of this movement to that of the Felsa used in the Glycine Airman in the previous posting.  The Airman uses the Felsa 692, which is the same movement as the 690 but with the addition of the calendar complication.

Here is the finished watch.

Repairing a Vintage Glycine Airman

 Here we have a 1957-ish vintage Glycine Airman, the OG pilot's watch (or at least the most infamous), powered by the excellent Felsa 692 movement.  

I say "infamous" because the watch seems to be best known for its unique, if crude, seconds hacking mechanism.  Maybe mechanism isn't the correct term, let's say "device".  In any event, they are very often broken/inoperative.  This situation is almost always (actually, always) caused by the machinations of either those who are unfamiliar with the design and are not expecting what they find, or those who are just fumble-fingered dolts, who don't really give a s**t.  This watch was clearly the victim of the latter.

The hacking device in the Airman is simplicity itself: a lever, pivoted roughly near its middle, is engaged at one end by the winding stem (which is modified to provide a "groove" into which the lever slots) and at the other end, attached to a small (VERY small) wire.  This wire protrudes through the dial at the top center and, when the lever moves about its pivot, the wire is either pulled downward, clearing the seconds hand, or pushed upward, thus interrupting the movement of the seconds hand.  

This device imposes its own disassembly and reassembly method: one does not simply release the winding stem and yank it from the watch.  Side cutters most certainly are not called for, yet were apparently employed at some point, as evidenced by the damage caused to the original hacking device.  As well, the wire that does the actual stopping of the seconds hand was broken off.  So, with the stem-end of the lever snipped off and the wire broken off, I was left with little choice but to make a replacement device in its entirety.  

The original lever is made from round wire, ground flat on one side, and with a "squashed" area to provide enough material for the pivot screw threads and for the stud that holds the wire.  I'm certain it was the most efficient design from a production standpoint but, since the replacement is a one-off, I was going to be a little less caveman about it.

This what it looked like when uncased (yes, it came in with the stem removed).

 

The casing spacer was a bit worse for wear as well but easily corrected.

 I made a pantograph pattern at 10X that would give a "blank" part, meaning that the holes would be located and the proper curvature established.  After cutting the blank, the pivot hole is tapped and the lever is fitted to the stem.  With that done, the next step was to turn the stud for the Nitinol hacking wire, create the aperture for the wire to pass through the stud, then assemble it and adjust the height of the wire's protrusion through the dial.

Turning the stud...

The finished lever...

The movement was also serviced while it was here.

I installed a new crystal to replace the cracked original, reassembled it, checked it on the timegrapher and it's ready to go back home.