[Sir Alan]

Hot on the heels of the 7546 movement I worked on a couple of weeks ago, I received a non working 7548-700F yesterday which I fixed this morning.

The hands have suffered from what I think is termed lume rot:




I bought the watch knowing it needed work on both the movement and the hands. I'd assumed that I'd need to relume the hands, but this isn't something I've any experience of. So, having fixed the movement, all I did was clean the hands up a bit:




and to be honest, I'm not unhappy with the final result:




could I ask for some advice please as to what you would recommend I could do.

My thoughts are:

1- if I try to remove the dark 'border' around the lume, I think the lume itself will fall out forcing me to re-lume the hands.

2 - will the hands need polishing / re-chroming? (I read someones post saying that you can re-chrome using a solution you just wipe on).

3 - if I do need to re-lume, the hands won't match the dial lume pips.

4 - if so, do I really want to attempt re-luming the dial.

5 - can I buy aftermarket hands.


thanks for your advice.

 

[ivorbiggin]

Theirs some that will look at those hands and wow over the patina/wabi, and originality.
Then there's the likes of me that hate a watch with scabby hands,
though you've cleaned them up quite nicely and i could probably live with that

I'm no expert, but i believe that 6309 hands will fit, and if 6309 hands do fit, then so will most other Seiko auto divers hands fit, 7002 and SKX etc.
As i understand it, you can fit auto hands to a quartz but not the other way around.

For good quality AM hands, Yobokies or Dagaz. Might be worth while dropping them an email asking to confirm that their hands will fit.
Hang on to the originals, for when you sell the watch on, (if you sell it on)

 

[LongBike]

Good Post

Glad to see questions being asked. I am looking at it now
it does not look that bad if to be kept as a user for self.
But myself I could live with that as being originals.
If you want them to be better than this Member
gives you more points as to what to do.

Member ivorbiggin :
He has given you very good advice on this one. :iagree:
He also gave the recommendation to a lot more you can follow.
If you want them nicer, then try to get more information as to
what is your taste for it.
I am not a expert also, but I like to rely on these members also
for their Extended and Correctional Advice given. They do know
their stuff, and it does help to obtain a good result.
( Always keep original parts as a important move . )
Aloha LongBike

 

[jringo8769]

well i think it looks amazing with what you have done...too many get overdone and never look right...if the lume would fall out..i would agree with addressing it...but it looks great to me just like it is

 

[jringo8769]

i was told this little trick to get that black off...but do not quote me..i was told that using a wooden bamboo skewer can remove it if done correctly without damage...i have been afraid to try this..but have use the bamboo on many other things and it works well for them...

 

[Sir Alan]

This little project has been on the to-do list for a few weeks. At the weekend I had a go at re-luming the hands.

I started by rubbing them down with 1500 wet&dry - I had to do this because the plating was very tarnished and wouldn't polish.




at this point I did investigate re-plating them, but I couldn't work out what kit I needed or whether or not I'd get the desired result.

Having just bought a 7C43, which had painted hands I figured that maybe I could re-paint my hands.

I had several attempts at this (about 6 iirc), first using car spray paint and then ending up using Humbrol modellers enamel paint.

The process involved cleaning the hands with paint thinners, masking off one part, painting (black), then repeating with the second colour (white).




I found that when painting by hand I didn't need to mask off for the second colour (white) as the paint would run naturally up to the black edge.




The spray did give a good result (the paint is very thin and dries fast), but with two effects that eventually ruled it out: 1- its very difficult to control the amount of paint which meant I had to rub the paint down very very carefully and 2 - the paint fills the inside edges and corners of the hands which was much harder to pick out with a scalpel without chipping the top surface.

Here's the two hands:




Then it was onto re-luming.

I had two problems here: 1 - given the width of the area to be lumed I found it difficult to maintain the lume film, it kept on breaking and drawing back to the start point. I ended up putting too much lume on. 2 - I bought white lume (Bergeon kit) and found that it didn't match the lume pips on the dial which have aged to a yellow colour.

I solved the first problem by just making the lume mix a bit wetter and the second by adding the tiniest amount of yellow enamel paint to the mix.

Here they are:




and finally, mounted on the watch:




I'm really pleased with this as a first attempt. The hands are very legible, the lume has a slight off-white tinge and the job is neat enough so I don't look at it and want to re-do it.

 

[Katobaggins]

Very well done! Looks great IMHO.

 

[ivorbiggin]

Im impressed.
Did you thin down the the modelers paint or use as is?

 

[dan83bz]

WoW! That's impressive! Wish i was that handy so I could tinker more on watches

 

[Sir Alan]

Im impressed.
Did you thin down the the modelers paint or use as is?

I thinned it down. My first attempt out of the tin was good, but the paint was too thick so I couldn't dab at it without immediately making a mess.

Once thinned it worked well.

I've got a lot of learning to do (through practice) with paint and lume but I'm pretty sure that the results will be worth it.

At some point I need to practice on a dial, but I'm reluctant to start because the first few attempts won't be great and I'm not sure how easy it will be to start again without ruining the dial.

 

[chévere]

That looks great! I've got a set of 6309 hands that I'm trying to refinish as well. I was moderately successful with a set I've got on an old Citizen diver I have, but it's never quite like the factory finish. This is a great alternative!

 

[jringo8769]

well great job...

 

[Seiko7A38]

Nice work - especially for a first attempt, Alan.

 

[diesel powered seiko]

Lovely job, I need to man up and do this for my own 7548 hands. Did you do the seconds hand differently? It looks a different shade and isn't painted like the other two in the blue back ground hand line up photo. That isn't a dig, love the skill.

Regards
David


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[diesel powered seiko]

I thinned it down. My first attempt out of the tin was good, but the paint was too thick so I couldn't dab at it without immediately making a mess.



Once thinned it worked well.



I've got a lot of learning to do (through practice) with paint and lume but I'm pretty sure that the results will be worth it.



At some point I need to practice on a dial, but I'm reluctant to start because the first few attempts won't be great and I'm not sure how easy it will be to start again without ruining the dial.

You can never ruin an AM dial/face in my opinion.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Sir Alan]

Lovely job, I need to man up and do this for my own 7548 hands. Did you do the seconds hand differently? It looks a different shade and isn't painted like the other two in the blue back ground hand line up photo. That isn't a dig, love the skill.

Regards
David


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I re-lumed the original seconds hand (the blue background picture) but I didn't paint it.

However, whilst this has a white painted tip, the bottom part appears to be plated, and the plating has faded due to age.

So, to better match the black & white painted hour and minute hands I fitted the seconds hand that I got with a set of new SKX007 hands I bought.

The black doesn't match (in close up) and I really ought to paint this and re-lume it to match.

If I do this, I'll probably have another go at the minute and hour hands doing all three at the same time.

I'll post pics if I do this.

 

[diesel powered seiko]

No problems, I was thinking of just fitting new hands, then having a go at a relume on the original set. Be great to see them all the same on yours, and more practice never hurts .

Regards
David


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[toxicavenger]

Looks great, the only thing I would do if it is was me was to paint the seconds black up to where it meets the same amount of black on the other hands. Like the og 7c43 hands.

 

[jringo8769]

well it looks great..i am going to doing this soon and will try the all black look with the lume...you inspired me to try this