Seiko 6139 Buying/Repair: A Tale of Two Chronographs

My experience buying and repairing the Seiko 6139-8000 and 6139-6015

[@saintsmccastle3521]

Hello. Nice watches. I have a Seiko 6139.8001 black dial from 1971 that was my grandfather's daily watch and it was in a very used condition but still working. It has been fully serviced by my watchmaker, replaced crystal, polished and brushed, but original dial , and new stainless steel bracelet. It had to be done to be wearable. Now looks awesome so it is on my wrist almost every day keeping a very accurate time. A beautiful watch with an actual size in my opinion.

[@phmwu7368]

Seiko 6139 as worn by astronauts William Pogue ( Skylab-4 Nov 1973 to Feb 1974 )and James Irwin ( Post-Apollo 15 about 1974 onwards ) MoonwatchUniverse

[@FlyingEriksen]

None the less,- the dial is in super great condition! 👍👍👍

[@mariozee899]

Thanks for the reminder....it reminds me few years ago...my vintages stamp/crown were swaps by the watch servicer...it hurts😢😢..

[@johnsanabria3279]

Good,honest video,btw.

[@watchingtimepassby]

Some people also think that vintage means antique.....

[@johnsanabria3279]

The one thing I Could suggest is for those looking to own and use vintage watches is......DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! Find out about the brand of watch you are interested in, find out everything you can online. Then take that knowledge and scrutinize every part of the watch you want. Scrutinize the seller(if you're looking online)......you may make a mistake once in a while,but you'll be further ahead of the crowd.

[@InterestingWatches]

Mistakes are inevitable in this hobby. Most of us aren’t trained watchmakers, so it takes a while to get comfortable with the mechanics. I have found that eventually, you will be able to utilize (or even fix) your old mistakes.

[@johnsanabria3279]

@@InterestingWatches I agree with you wholeheartedly about making mistakes.....when I first started into collecting watches as a hobby,I made mistakes often,not picking up pertinent info on watches I was interested in(I like to research as much info as I can about a given watch). The wonderful thing about mistakes is that they can become stepping stones if we use them that way.

[@mja1691]

what a nice video.thanks

[@smashmash2714]

on you 6012/6010 your crown is the wrong crown , and the chapter ring is fine it just needs a little rotating to fit into the tabs and it will snug the dial right back up to it, you can see the dial and chapter ring are not in alignment:) very tidy like new dial too

[@smashmash2714]

oh i was too impatient maybe as you say the tab is broken sorry

[@smashmash2714]

also there should be a movement ring holder and a spring in it that pushes the dial into the chapter ring from the caseback perhaps you are missing the spring?

[@key2theuniverse713]

Hey pal, did you ever get the chapter ring aligned??? Mine has a similar issue

[@InterestingWatches]

Yes, I did. Here’s the video for it:kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4bHdIKhiJ2ap7s

[@key2theuniverse713]

@@InterestingWatches cheers what an absolute legend

[@rerami30]

Great video and topic. In the past I have had relatively good luck sourcing vintage Seiko's from Yahoo auctions. However I have noticed that the well is drying up sort of speak. It is to the point that I have seen many auctions on there showcasing pieces outside of Japan. Any thoughts on that?

[@InterestingWatches]

Thanks! Like with eBay/flea markets, you really have to be patient and dig through everything. It’s strangely therapeutic for me, though I imagine it could be tedious for others. The easy to find low hanging fruit is typically over-priced/over-polished dealer stuff. These watches were sold in large numbers there, so I don’t think we are at the point where MANY of them are inaccessible.

[@todoroki]

I have never had an issue buying from yahoo auction. However there is one very aggressive seller called “Saltotheworld” who I would never buy from.

[@InterestingWatches]

Yes! His auctions are something else...

[@andrewbalahura1555]

Don’t buy in Fleamarkets Go and buy from store dealer and pay 5 times more even you pay you never know you get.

[@John-oz1do]

But this is all normal when you buy old watches , it may have all sorts of non original parts. You start slowly and you slowly develop skills to tell whats real and fake. Do your research before you buy old watches and have trustworthy dealers