Wow! Just WOW!
Words can not adequately describe just how happy I am with my returned from service Seiko 6105-8110.
Some of you may recall I purchased this watch as my birth year watch, it dates back to February 1971.
It was bought as a bit of a gamble and I've had to pay for a few bits and bobs to get it back to all original.
It started out looking like this when I bought it:
With an incorrect minute hand.
In order to restore the watch, this was my first priority. I asked quite a few people on the forums what the best way to proceed was and ended up deciding to ask Duncan ('Cannop' here on the forums) to service the watch and help me sort out any issues. Duncan kindly agreed and also took photos every step of the way!
I'll be sharing these with you below.
At this point I should also mention and thank the other members from various forums who I had hassled for advice during various stages and about various parts!
So, other than Duncan, thanks also need to go to Martin, Richard, Mario, Doug, Brad, John, Shawn, Pavel and James!!! I hope I haven't missed anyone out, apologies if I have.
As you can see I got lots of advice and bits and bobs from various people along the way. I should also point out this was my first restoration and I've learnt a hell of a lot during this process.
Right so, having tried and failed a getting a replacement minute hand of even genuine set of hands, I found out about what donor watches had the same hands and decided to buy a whole watch to harvest for the hand I needed! Not a cheap option but the only one left to me to do the job properly. So once acquired this was summarily dispatched to Duncan also.
Meanwhile Duncan had advised that a few other parts were needed and he set to hand obtaining those for me.
Whilst I was perusing another forum I happened upon an advert for a NOS 6105 crown which I also duly acquired and had sent to Duncan.
It wasn't essential as my crown was in a good state however this one was still sealed and the rubber inside was still pliant! Could we make this 6105 water tight again?!
I hoped so!
Duncan was also working on my 6309 7040 and 7002 7009 as the same time but I'll cover those in a separate thread.
Once Duncan had all the parts we needed he set to work and duly stripped case and movement and serviced the 6105B hacking movement to get it running sweetly.
Here's a few pics Duncan sent me:
The movement was cleaned and here's the mainspring back in the clean barrel, greased and lubed:
The going train together and ticking:
Autowind bridge back on with "b" (hacking) designation:
Calendar side coming together, keyless work going back in:
Calendar components reinstalled ready for the top plate
The case was then stripped ready for a sympathetic very light polish and brush:
Another issue we came across was the SEIKO logo on the dial was black and corroded as you can see (bottom logo in pic below). Brad was kind enough to send me a free logo (top one in pic below) however sadly it was a slightly different font to the original and a slightly different size.
Luckily Duncan had a spare:
Dial with the old logo removed:
And with the new one fitted, which actually came from a 6105 dial and is absolutely the correct slim style.
The old and new crown:
Luckily the stem came off without any issues!:
And the case assembled with new seals and crown:
It's looking good! Then Duncan pressure tested the case without the movement, in reality this is the ultimate test because if there's even the slightest pressure leak the crown will just blow straight out when the pressure's released as there's nothing to hold it in position, no threaded crown on this model. Up to pressure:
Wait 15 minutes and submerge:
Release the pressure and the crown remains rock solid.
This, for me was a bit of a wow moment, as Duncan said:
"This is the first original 6105 I've pressure tested succesfully!"
It was fantastic to see the 6105 back in its element!
