Skip to main content

My Watch Making Journey: Part 4 - The Watch

 After a few more hours of tinkering, I finally gave up on the movement and busted out my backup movement. Eventually, I was able to put the watch together, but without the second hand.

The completed watch without the second hand.

It was quite bothersome for me to have a watch without a second hand. Since I had no indication whether or not the watch was still running.

I wore this for a few days without any problems. Even my wife showed some interest in the watch and I can see she wanted it so i gave it to her. A few days later the watch just died.

The watch before the movement replacement.

 I had to buy another movement and this time I did my best to look for one that was advertised as being made by Seagull. I picked the Seagull 2813, assembled the watch all over again and the watch was resurrected.

Here is the watch now with a new movement, new strap, and finally a second hand.

Sterile white dial, mercedes hands, oyster case.

I opted for a NATO strap because it is easy to install and replace.

The second hand came from a set of hands I ordered that was missing the hour hand. Although the seller sent the replacement hour hand I had no longer a need for it and opted to just use the second hand for this build. The only thing is that the second hand has green lume, but the dial and other hands have blue lume.

 

Blue lume on the dial indexes, on the hour and minute hands, green on the second hand.

Though this belongs to my wife, I still wear this occasionally. For a first build, I am quite happy with the end result, but I had quite the experience and I know I can do better. I also gained a new found respect to the people who make and repair watches. It's easy to just buy a mechanical watch without appreciating the skill and hard work put into it.

Doing it is very different from watching someone else do it. While some online sources make it look very easy, I assure you it is not that easy especially on the first try. The challenge is mostly in the fitting of the hands to the movement. I also learned a few tricks that I will share in a future post. I will try to document my next build better and hopefully it will be a benefit for someone else.

Since this build, I already did a few more and I can say I have gained some confidence. I still made a few mistakes, destroyed a few more movements and bent some more hands. I hope to improve my skills more and the next step would be to purchase better tools. With better tools, I'm sure the build quality will also improve.

My thanks go to the people who share their skills in watchmaking for free on the internet. And to the watch reviewers, modders, and enthusiasts, more power to you!

Enjoy!


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch Review: Citizen Eagle 7

While Seiko has the "5", Citizen has the "7". Also called the Eagle 7, this must be Citizen's answer to the popular Seiko 5 line. Though, I'm uncertain if the Eagle 7 lineup is as extensive as the Seiko 5's, the watches I have seen are quite good looking. And like the Seiko 5's, it has a myriad of different flavors and styles. I got this one from the used market earlier this year (2018). It was an accidental purchase because I was not counting on it being gold. The posted photos looked silver to me and there was no mention of it being gold. I was uncomfortably surprised when I saw the watch in person and by then it was too late to cancel the deal. Here it is, my Citizen Eagle 7. It came with a metal bracelet, but it was missing the end link. I scrapped the bracelet and got a black leather strap for this. It has a black dial with stripes, a day & date complication. It has that iconic eagle badge with a red shield. In the middle of the shiel...
2 comments
Read more

Watch Review: 1974 Citizen Automatic Calibre 6501

My father gave me this watch sometime in 1993. I was in grade school and back then all of my classmates had those really colorful digital watches. I didn't mind though. I reveled in the thought that my watch didn't need any batteries. My classmates would look at me in confusion as I tried to explain that my watch didn't need batteries because it was an automatic. Of course back then, I didn't care about brands or movements or what "jewels" meant for a watch. It was just cool to brag about a watch with no batteries. I don't know where my father got this watch. He also couldn't remember how this came into his possession. It was obviously pre-owned since there was some name engraved on the clasp. By the time I was given this watch, it was already pretty scuffed. Of course in the years that followed, I also added to those dings and scratches. I've tried searching the internet for a similar one, but so far I have not found any. There is also no spec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch Review: Special Citizen Center Second

Acquiring this piece was a bit of an impulsive decision. I saw this watch in the used market and the seller told me that it's not working as it was suppose to. I pulled the trigger anyway because I was enamored with how it looked. It was a vintage piece that spoke to me. Little did I know that it was a very small watch. By today's standards, it is in the realm of lady's watches. However, during the time it was released, it was marketed for both men and women. Do I regret buying this? Absolutely not. Here it is. The Special Citizen Center Second. As far as I know, this was  made in 1950, but I do not have paperwork to back this up. However, I did have a correspondence with the owner of  https://sweep-hand.org/ . He is the go to guy for things Citizen on the internet. He did provide some info on the watch. I'm quoting from part of his email to me. "the old hand winder is from 1950 - the movement was known as the Center Second, and was an improved version of...
Post a Comment
Read more