Give New Life to a Family Heirloom with an EXPERT Seiko Restoration!

[@jarlayari]

Thank you so much Thomas for restoring this watch for my dad. I wish he was still here to watch this and see the great work you have done. But as you know he passed while the watch was still with you. The restoration was meant to be his Christmas present on his last Christmas with us. He was fascinated by horology and would have loved to see this, maybe he can, who knows. I now wear this watch with pride knowing he would be proud to see it in all its glory again. RIP Dad. Courtney.

[@scotts9898]

I lost my dad in 2016 1 month before he turned 60. I can say I know your dad is loving seeing g his watch restored but I'm willing to bet anything your dad seeing you wear his watch and caring for it makes him smile ear to ear. Thank you for sending his watch in and making it possible to share his watch with the world.

[@Supercruze]

Aug 1971 Seiko Pogue. Nice work. Glad you decided the jewel the mainspring arbor ports. Many of these 6139s need that repair and upgrade. Min sub dial hand is incorrect but will function just fine. Sub dial hand should be a red tear drop hand. A nice heirloom piece.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

👍

[@radams009]

WOW LOOK AT THAT WATCH. Nice!!!

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

It is a very nice watch

[@mariomartin6437]

Love that dial

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

👍

[@quinninstrumets8259]

You’ve got all the cool tools to make this a delight to watch. Very cool watch and backstory

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Thank you. I try to have the best tools to make the best quality results on my watches

[@thebestcompaniondogforyou3367]

I’m a new sub. I am fascinated by the work u do. My father’s watch that he left to me, was water damaged and is now corroded to some degree. What makes this watch special is that it is one of the special 100,000 Omega constellations 1966. The special ones noted for their extraordinary accuracy. I wore it daily, as a reminder of his vital role in my life. Turns out that was a mistake. Now it sits in my dresser. A sign of my disregard for something that held such value to me. It is reparable. But not something I can afford. So it waits.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

That is a shame. If you are ready to restore your father’s watch such let me know

[@marcusott2973]

Much awaited, much appreciated looking forward to excellent work as always from you.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Thank you

[@radams009]

You have some cool tools👍👍

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

😉

[@brucebarlow6604]

Yes Perfect. Lovely watch and you did a great job. Regards from New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

👍

[@wowzers0_070]

Very good video and a nice touch at the end. I'm sure the subscriber will enjoy it very much!

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

I hope so!

[@DannyOhana]

OMG that watch is gorgeous.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Love this type of seiko

[@mattridgley9095]

It's a bobby dazzler, and no mistake

[@MyCityzen]

magnifique montre , beau boulot !

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Merci

[@jamessmith6402]

Absolutely fabulous watch 👍

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

It really is!

[@xyz_chain4199]

august 1971, rare to see a super clean dial for the pogue, the dil is also original to the watch (same dating), someone was in this watch before, the day disk c clip is was put on flipped

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Very good observation

[@SlayerMtg]

When you close up an arbor hole, is it good practice to then use a deburring tool to make sure no burrs?

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

I use a smoothing broach after closing up the hole. This will open the hole and makes it smoother

[@hmr171]

My dad had one of these when I was a kid. He bought it to time the 10 minute starting sequence of his sailing regattas. Apparently it stopped working correctly and it sat in a drawer for the remainder of the 70s and the rest of my childhood. About 10 years ago I tried to locate it but my mother had no idea what happened to it and my father had already passed away by then. What a shame that they threw it in the trash at some point.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

😢

[@123kosti]

nice video, just make sure you use the correct lift angle when regulating the watch. That amplitude seemed really low. What was the amplitude after a day or two? Also, neither of the two chronograph hands reset properly, it seems, in the very end of the video. Did you manage to fix that?

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Yes it is true that I don't change the lift angle on my timegrapher. I know for this caliber with the standard lift angle a 220 deg amplitude is perfect for me. It is what I got after few days. I don't like the hand setting on this caliber because I need to get a tool to set the hands perfectly. I managed to get it right after few attempts.

[@sholym2341]

How do you measure the size of rubbie for mainspring barrel? that is big update for seiko movement, nice job as always

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

These rubies are standard for the seiko caliber.

[@manemisjeff2473]

😮😮

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

😉

[@jacobscobie1302]

Which Tweezers are you using here? I have really liked my new Horotec brass, but haven't seen them with the bent tips.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Before I was using a bend brass tweezers. Now I use the more common

[@erbalumkan369]

i also have a watch like this. Bought it from someone who found it in a house that was being cleared. I brought it to an "expert" to restore the watch. At first it looked like he did a good job but the watch didn't keep time well and sometimes stopped al together. I opened it mysef and i noticed that he put in two rubies for the main spring barrel, but they were not aligned properly and that made the barrel sit at an angle, therefore rubbing against something inside. The Expert is gone and i still have the watch, sitting in a drawer.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Oh no. That is unfortunate. It is true that when you ream the hole you need to have a proper tool to be sure the hole is located correctly and perpendicular perfectly as well. It is a shame for your watch

[@jjver]

Can you give some more information about this tool to center both holes. Thanks for the nice and clear video!

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

@ it is the tool that are using in the video

[@jjver]

I can't see it in the video. I only see the Bergeon/Seitz with a reamer and a flat holed stump. When is the tool used to center both holes when not sure they are perfectly round and straight above each other?

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

@@jjver The reamer are perfectly centered in the original hole. The original hole are perfectly center. When you ream you need to be sure the reamer is at 90 deg and the tool allow that with the table underside. The reamer has a slight conic shape to center perfectly on the original hole.

[@EngrMoe]

You did an amazing job servicing the watch, and the content was top-notch. I’ve always admired Japanese craftsmanship, but I was really annoyed by the fact that the watch can’t be hand wound I can’t believe they didn’t think of that! Another thing I noticed is that the chronograph counter wasn’t perfectly centred. Even when reset, it always lands on the first minute marker. Is this part of the design, or was it just a slight misalignment when you set the hand?

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

The minute hand was not aligned perfectly and I had to adjust it later on

[@coolnessfactor1]

Here's the most common story I've heard. Zenith announced it first, Breitlin, Buren, Heuer had the first prototypes and Seiko had the first "mass" production chronographs.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Thank you for the information

[@ygrbooks]

Another great video: thank you so much 👍👌👏! Just one thing, though, please do not refer to Heuer watches from the time before 1985 as "TAGHeuer". Watch collectors and cognoscenti love Heuer watches, which cannot be said about anything TAGHeuer has come up with ....

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

I agree with you and I understand for the Heuer and TagHeuer

[@scousewillo62]

Very nice watch. I have a couple of interesting watches that need servicing but unfortunately the service charge far exceeds the value of the watches. While one is a Vostok 40th anniversary (1985) with no date so the cost of service would not be to prohibitive the other is a Poljot 3133 chronograph with date (Olympic lottery 1992 126 of 300) and the cost of service would be in excess of £500 for a watch value of about £350. I would love to learn to do the work myself but severe arthritis in my hands prohibits this. Very nice work, you always seen to show interesting watches.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

More than £500 for a chrono is a bit too much if it is just a service. You can reach me if you want on my website

[@42Hertzer]

I love a psycho! ;) Isn't there a re-issue of that watch?

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

It is better to have no original one

[@this-is-not-a-channel-]

Is that the bioceramic swatch on wrist? No hate here

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Yes I have a couple of moonswatch

[@lanzjasonsilverio9493]

I think the hand on the minute subdial is a bit off-centered. Otherwise, awesome job!

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

Yes I had to recenter the hand. Quite tricky on this caliber. I need a special tool to align them perfectly

[@lanzjasonsilverio9493]

@ Cheers on the awesome restoration!

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

@ 👍

[@markgarin6355]

Heirloom? I have one of those. But they never worked well.

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

They work well if everything is correct inside

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

:)

[@FrenchWatchCollector]

👍