[ShaikCorso]

Ahhh.. so this one arrived this afternoon:




It arrived in the state you see with no crown or tube... yikes. Luckily, I had invested in a box of Chinese Triplock knock-offs and was waiting for a chance to use them. So... the hole for the tube was much larger than the threaded insert. I ended up making a sleeve and securing it in there, then threading the insert into the sleeve. It worked perfect! It may even be watertight, who knows? At least it functions. Luckily there was still a stem stuck in the movement and it was the right length for this job. Another problem solved. Next up was to clean up the case a bit, just a little filing, some sanding and a quick autosol polish and it was presentable enough for me. Initially I thought the dial too worn, but the "wabi" is growing on me. I think I'll leave it. It was of course missing the chapter ring, so the parts box yielded up a dial spacer that fit in there snugly (I polished that too). Lastly there was the crystal issue... But! I ordered a lot of crystals in to get one for my girlfriends watch, and the crystal lot just keeps giving. This is now the 5th watch I've dug a crystal out of that lot for. Not bad for $12.00.. and I was wanting a dome on this anyways. I actually thought this would have to wait for the wrist until I ordered an Oyster, but the parts box somehow had 22mm endlinks in it. So I whipped this cheapo president on there for the time being.

So I'm pretty happy with this thing and a few hours work. And my first triplock!

 

[killsnapz]

I have 4 of the 7S26-0040 watches. The correct Seiko crystal is a major Pain to track down. I have only managed to procure one new Seiko crystal. They are not discontinued from Seiko but I have been waiting on 3 of them for over three months from Seiko that J&B ordered for me. One showed up in a week. The rest they can not tell me when only that they are NOT discontinued. The 0040 are much more of a challenge to mod or restore due to the fact many of the other diver model dials crystals and even chapter rings are all of a different design or size. At least the 7S26 movement is easy to rebuilt and easy to come by. I got all four of mine from Ramon in the Philippines. I can tell from your posted picture that is where yours came from too. The yellow ruler and piece of paper with marker writing on it are a dead give away! A great source of watches to experiment with or build a spare parts inventory.

Michael

 

[DAHASCO]

Cool Beans...Ant pics of the Triplock conversion ? TIA

 

[ShaikCorso]

Well, I have these ones. As you can see it ain't that great, but it work for me. I actually stepped up to a larger one and did some filing on the gaurds.

 

[ShaikCorso]

I have 4 of the 7S26-0040 watches. The correct Seiko crystal is a major Pain to track down. I have only managed to procure one new Seiko crystal. They are not discontinued from Seiko but I have been waiting on 3 of them for over three months from Seiko that J&B ordered for me. One showed up in a week. The rest they can not tell me when only that they are NOT discontinued. The 0040 are much more of a challenge to mod or restore due to the fact many of the other diver model dials crystals and even chapter rings are all of a different design or size. At least the 7S26 movement is easy to rebuilt and easy to come by. I got all four of mine from Ramon in the Philippines. I can tell from your posted picture that is where yours came from too. The yellow ruler and piece of paper with marker writing on it are a dead give away! A great source of watches to experiment with or build a spare parts inventory.

Michael

Weel, in my case all of my watches come from Ramon and I end up restoring them. It's both cheaper and more fun for me, especially for the oddball rare ones he always gets. There have been very few that ended up being spares! But there have been experiments... Here is tonight's:



And the before:




The back was rusted shut so I took a torch to it, which resulted in the steam blowing the crystal across the room. Then I had to bash the rusted movement out with a small hammer. But after a paint experiment on the bezel, some 7009 parts, and a crystal from the magical crystal lot and I ended up with that. I'm happy

 

[killsnapz]

That is why I love buying those $15 dollar watches from Ramon too. Absolutely nothing to lose when something is stuck or rusted. It must have been pretty interesting when the crystal went flying out of the case! You've invented a new crystal removal method! It is great to see someone just having fun especially on a low budget with watches. No paying someone $500 dollars to rebuild a movement and do all the work for you. Just having fun. That is what watch restoration is suppose to be all about.

Michael

 

[ShaikCorso]

That is why I love buying those $15 dollar watches from Ramon too. Absolutely nothing to lose when something is stuck or rusted. It must have been pretty interesting when the crystal went flying out of the case! You've invented a new crystal removal method! It is great to see someone just having fun especially on a low budget with watches. No paying someone $500 dollars to rebuild a movement and do all the work for you. Just having fun. That is what watch restoration is suppose to be all about.

Michael

Oh ho, yes sir! That's how I feel about it. Plus, when you work on these old clunkers that are rusted together it makes servicing a clean non-runner like piece of cake. The collecting for me is definitely about the bringing junk back to life in whatever way I can. Just buying runners doesn't do it for me... plus I would have way less watches if I did that.

The crystal steamed up as soon as the heat went to it, so I knew it went swimming. How the water got in there and then the case resealed itself I have no idea. Maybe it's point of entry just rusted over..... Made a hell of a pop went the crystal let go though! Oddly enough I was actually able to save the balance and jewels from that rusty movement. After the hammer work. Everything else was pretty well toast in there except the dial and hands. I put several more layers of clear over the paint repair on the bezel since that last photo and I'm extremely pleased with how it came out. Another new thing to apply to some of these beaters I get.

And the triplock from the OP is still holding up I learned a few things there too, I hope to apply that to other damaged cases or customs in the future.

 

[mrchuckles]

I've seen those watches for sale and wondered who bought them and why. That's an amazing clean up job on what I'd have thought was a no-hoper watch. Lovely work.

 

[ShaikCorso]

I've seen those watches for sale and wondered who bought them and why. That's an amazing clean up job on what I'd have thought was a no-hoper watch. Lovely work.

Hey thanks man, much appreciated. All the stuff you see in my posts started out the same way. I have some more to post up once I get the internet sorted at my new place.

 

[bklake]

I need to do something similar to a 4205 lady diver with a stripped crown tube. About the triple lock crown. Is the part where the stem goes in spring loaded like the Seiko crown? Did the Seiko stem screw into the crown or is it a different thread size? Tap 10, I think. Do you know the Rolex part number of the crown/tube set?

 

[ShaikCorso]

It's a similar design yes, and while I did get the 7S26 stem to thread in (on a couple of these now) I don't think it's the exact same thread. But... that's never stopped me before. I have no idea what the part number is, I just bought a box of of knock off crowns and went to town on them. I see similar ones for sale without the logos for about $15.00 each, in straight stainless. I'll be ordring some of those, this was just a test. I haven't tried to thread the crown onto a Seiko stem (this one had no tube) but I have a watch incoming without a crown so I'll be trying it just to see.