How to replace the balance and anchor (Seiko 6309-7040)

A few weeks ago I sat idly rotating my “Stephen Go” 6309 to obtain a full wind, when I noticed to my dismay that it had stopped running. Hmmm! Another shake and the second and minutes hands began to race around the dial before coming to a stop. (Watchmakers reading this: please don't spill the beans yet!). After a few minutes of deep thought I suddenly realized: something was wrong!


“Stephen Go” 6309 on stainless Super Oyster bracelet

Being more than averagely astute I realized something must be amiss in the movement, probably a result of my previous Enthusiastic Agitation. After opening the caseback and examining the movement through a stereo microscope I soon discovered the problem: one of the pallet jewels had become dislodged and was blocking the escapement.

This is apparently not entirely unusual on cleaned vintage watch movements, where the shellac used to hold the pallet jewels in place loses its ability to hold the jewels.

Refitting the pallet jewels is the domain of real watchmakers, requiring an understanding of the melting characteristics of shellac as well as specialized equipment. Correct positioning of the pallet jewels is also an art unto itself. Fortunately I had a spare 6309, non-working movement in a dress watch I had picked up for free in a previous deal. In a flash my keen mind knew what to do: rip the guts out of the donor movement and fling them into the patient!

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MATERIALS:

While I waited for screwdrivers, loupe and tweezers to arrive from Ofrei, I began to trawl the net to find out how the escapement works, and for tips on disassembly and assembly. The task actually did not seem too daunting.

• Materials:

Screwdriver set
Caseopener
Tweezers
Loupe
Donor 309 movement
Headache tablets

• Terminology used:

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RESULTS:


Caseback prior to opening using the rubber-ball caseback opener from Ofrei.


Unscrewing the rotor for removal, unnecessary for the operation but the donor had a rotor without pitting suitable for swapping.


Removal of the rotor.


Unscrewing the single balance plate screw.


Removal of the complete balance plate and balance. Ideally the balance and plate should be held together using the tweezers.


Balance removed showing the anchor plate and anchor.


Removal of anchor plate screws (2)


Anchor plate screws removed. (yeah, I know, I´m pushing it now, but I took LOTS of pictures )


Anchor plate removed, anchor ready for removal. Pictures like this are good when reinstalling parts!


Anchor removed. Its small! Look closely and you can see the one pallet jewel is sitting at an angle. This prevented the anchor in engaging the escapement wheel, causing the mechanism to unwind rapidly. It caused something else too, which I only discovered later...


Parts neatly sorted.


The donor, rear and front, a non-running 6309 sports watch I had picked up for free.


The donor anchor ready for replacing.


Anchor plate fitted. It took a little jiggling to get the spline on the anchor to fit into the jewel on the anchor plate. You really need a loupe for this work, everything else could be done without a loupe. When you suddenly see the little white dot (spline end) appear in the jewel, you know you are home!


Tightening the anchor plate. Move the anchor to and fro to check that the pallet jewels engage and release the escapement correctly. If not, the jewels are not seated correctly and you need to enlist the help of a watchmaker.


Arty photo showing the balance ready for fitting. I was getting quite excited now. Things would however, soon change.....(drumroll)


Carefully sliding in the balance and balance plate. A loupe is good here to make sure the splines click properly into their jewels. A very satisfying experience when they do. At this stage, the watchmakers in the video clips I had seen would give the balance a little shove and the watch would become alive, its little metal heart pulsing. Not so mine, the balance turned a few times and stopped, glaring sullenly up at me. Let me save a lot of time by telling you that a few DAYS went by, where I refitted the anchor and balance umpteen times, each time with no result: the balance was not making the anchor move. And suddenly (after some brain scratching) it hit me...


Balance with missing roller jewel (see EMPTY halfmoon shaped hole on balance: elementary, my dear Watson!) - possibly knocked off by the rapid unwinding of the movement when the pallet jewel failed. Hmmm. Luckily I had a donor balance lying ready, slipped it in and....IT LIVES! IT LIIIVES!! Wow, what a great feeling!


Nice´n´shiny replacement rotor ready for fitting.


Gratuitious final shot showing me screwing in the final screw. Done.
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IMPRESSIONS:

Well, that was rather fun and satisfying. Very tiring on the neck and eyes, though - I would hate to have to repair Big Ben. I have a great window ledge to work on, at shoulder height, with indirect light, that certainly helped. The loupe is like magic, transforming you to another world where you are oblivious of time (ooh, sorry, pun not intended) and surroundings. Its kinda neat to know that if I was in orbit on a space mission and my pallet jewel failed, I could do the repair on site, time our entry into the atmosphere AND save my crew of lovely Danish college girls at the same time! Incidentally, I ....what?....no, dear, I´m NOT sitting at the computer again, I....yes, dear, coming..

SEIKO Railroad Approved Pocket Watches / Seiko 6110-0010 Second Setting Railroad Pocket Watch

A Railroad grade Pocket Watch or Wrist Watch is a timepiece used by Rail employees, and typically must have an accuracy +/- 30 Seconds over 24 hours, have a hacking function, and have an easily read dial, typically with Arabic numerals. While a number of websites provide details of e.g. American Railroad watches, there is a paucity of information regarding Japanese Railroad watches. I attempt in the following to compile some of the information I have been able to find, and invite other contributions in the hope that we can collect all available knowledge in this field - please also feel free to correct or berate me! If you would like to learn more, an excellent review is available at:http://www.gmtplusnine.com/2007/05/20/all-aboard-japan-railways-the-seiko-connection/ ... a review which served as inspiration for this post.

Authorised Railroad Watches are used to coordinate train departures and movements, and are used by both train drivers as well as conductors. Typically, the train driver and the conductor would set their watches with a central time source at the start of a trip - coordination of watches would help ensure that two trains would not be on the same track at the same time. Clearly, it is vitally important for a train driver and the conductor to keep their schedule, with fixed times alloted to specific points along the journey, allowing the driver to speed up or slow down as required to remain, uhm, on track (sorry...). In the following pictures from 2006, the train drivers Seiko pocket watch can clearly be seen nestling in an illuminated cut-out on the console:





Seiko Railroad Pocket Watch in use, 2006. Picture credit: http://japan.mattanderson.net/

(This has got to be a typical Seiko WIS thing - I got all flushed and excited when, after a long search I finally found this, the only picture I have seen of a Seiko railroad-approved pocket watch "in action". I gave a whoop of glee (I'm easily pleased) and she-who-must-be obeyed came to take a look and shot me a withering glance when she saw what I had found).

On Ikuo Tokunagas website: http://www.tokunaga.ne.jp/ a series of Seiko Railroad Pocket Watches can be seen. It is immediately clear that the basic design has remained unchanged, with changes primarily being restricted to the movements used, as well as the positioning of the seconds hand:




To the best of my knowledge, the five calibres presented here were used exclusively in pocket watches. From the dial symbols it appears that the first three movements were produced by the Suwa factory, established in 1943. It would appear in all cases (sorry) that the cases are chromium plated.
From left to right we see a hand wind caliber 91RW (Railroad Watch) 15 jewel movement with a 41.3mm diameter, running at 5 beats per second. The second piece is a 6110A hand wind calibre 61 Railroad Watch (61RW) with 21 jewels, issued in 1971 and running at a higher rate of 6 beats per second (21.600 bph). Interestingly, this calibre was introduced in 1968, suggesting it was required to prove itself in the field before being introduced as a replacement for the venerable 91RW. In 1977 the quartz-driven 75 series calibre was introduced, and a year later the quartz revolution reached Japanese railway-approved watches in the from of the 7550 Quartz Railroad Watch, which boasted a quoted accuracy of 15 seconds per month, a clear step up from the 30s / day accuracy of its mechanical predecessors. As an aside, a close relative and forum favourite, the 7549 300m Tuna was introduced at the same time. The 7550 calibre was followed in 1986 by the 7C11 quartz and the 7C21 quartz, which boasted a long-life lithium cell.

A glance at the dials of all five watches show that the same font was used for all pieces. This font has had a particularly long life, and using the numbers 4 and 7 as a reference, we can see in Seikos "A Journey in Time" that the same font has been used since at least 1913!




Seiko 6110-0010 Second Setting Railroad Pocketwatch

I was fortunate enough to recently acquire a Seiko 6110-0010 Second Setting Railroad Pocketwatch from Seiko dealer "secondhandseikos" (Paul is apparently a SCWF lurker) which lead to a pleasant exchange of emails and permission to use his photos:




Seiko 6110-0010 Second Setting Railroad Pocket Watch, Front

Seiko 6110-0010 Second Setting Railroad Pocket Watch, Rear

The 6110 is part of the vast and immensely popular 61xx line designed and manufactured by Suwa, ranging from simple, robust hand-wind models over the "Seiko 5" range to chronographs and the Grand Seiko 61GS. A characteristic of the 61xx line is their use of a large diameter balance wheel, which apparently imparts an improved rate stability. A further characteristic of the 61xx line is the use of the Diafix shock absorbtion/lubrication jewel system for the escape wheel.

The calibre 6110 is one of only three hand wind 61xx models (and is used only in pocket watches), the rest of the 61xx line being automatic. Introduced in 1967 the 61xx line appears to phase out in the mid 1970s, with the exception of a few movements well known to SCWF members: the Seiko Divers 150m calibre 6105 which remained in production until 1977 and the 6138/6138 chronograph calibres which remained in production until as late as 1979. With its wristwatch-like diameter of 27.4mm, the 6110 caliber is significantly smaller than the predecessor Railroad Pocket Watch 91RW calibre with a diameter of 41.3 mm, and I can't help wondering if Seiko had planned to use this calibre in a wristwatch series.

My impressions of this watch are very favourable. It is large enough to be a true pocket watch, and sits comfortably in the hand. Winding is exceptionally smooth and quiet, and the sweep of the second hand across the large dial is particularly satisfying. The dial is exceptionally easy to read, even under low light conditions. It fits nicely into a watch pocket:



There be gold over them thar hills...

Although it will be fun to wear on special occasions, I probably will not carry it very much. In my book, a watch which is rarely worn usually gets flipped. However, as you can see from the picture below, A Seiko Railroad Approved Pocket Watch makes a perfect focal point for a collection of Seiko watches, and even my non-WIS friends have commented it, allowing me the perfect opportunity to show-and-tell (until their eyes glaze) and as such it is justified as a definite keeper.




Prices for these pieces lie around the 200USD mark, the 91RW slightly higher, making these an affordable, interesting conversation piece for any Seiko collector.

6309 Divers - identifying original vs. aftermarket parts

There has been a lot of information lately regarding 6309s, aftermarket dial etc - I made the following composite from shots shamelessly stolen from other postings:





A.Font

B.Smaller bezel dots

C.Smaller bezel pip

D."Rounded" rather than "flat" hands

E.Thicker "sword"

F.Non-bevelled date window

7549-7010 Tuna in Sinai, Egypt

For the last two weeks I have treated my Tuna and the rest of my family to a trip to the sun, more specifically to Sinai, Egypt...



We spent some time travelling by camel and 4WD in the desert...





















...which can be thirsty work...







But most of the time we spent at the pool...



























...with a two day trip to Cairo...







...or exploring the coral reefs just outside our hotel:















In spite of all this stress, I was able to keep up with forum news, read three novels, watch five films, hear a lot of music and take some pictures on my iPhone!







I have never in all my life seen so many fake Rolexes in one place, but in the midst of it all I saw a 6309-7040 on a Z-22 strap on the arm of another Danish guest. We got back home this Tuesday to 1.5m of snow!

Reflections on the Seiko 6309 series divers

I would like to share a little of my enthusiasm for the 6309 diver series, by outlining some of the qualities which make this watch so very collectible.




First - it has a telescopic screw down crown with 7 turns. A solid SS brushed case with perfect proportions. A bezel, dial and hands so harmonious they remain essentially unchanged today. Clearly differentiated hour and minute hands, with the dominant minute "arrow" clearly indicating elapsed time on the bezel.




A non-hacking, non winding movement - simple, rugged and dependable, made to last for generations. Instead, we are offered a day and date complication - brilliant, not a neccesary diver complication, but a combination which sent sales figures for this model diver through the roof! Readily available today, with a multitude of modding options available.





One of the strokes of genius on the 6309 is the curved, almost organic case and caseback which moulds itself to the arm. The caseback with Seiko wave is a pure work of art.




Mandatory wrist shot while setting summertime on the "IWW" 6309 on Seiko straight vent rubber. The SS bracelet combination lends itself well to formal occasions!





Mandatory wrist shot while setting summertime on the "Stephen Go" 6309 on SS bracelet. The original rubber strap combination is more suited to non-formal activities like Saving Ladies from Vicious Sharks &c


The heft of these piece is substantial, and the overall impression is of no-nonsense, high quality classic timepieces. I have three, one for each of my kids. How excellent to be able to afford three of the same model of the most personal heirloom a father can pass on to his children!


*The oldest is from 1981, it was manufactured during my last year at high school. It will go to my oldest son Frederik (11 years), I let him wear it occasionaly so it is on a NATO strap. I might fit a YAO dial and bezel insert, but I gotta speak to my son about it first ...


*The second is the "Stephen Go 6309" on SS bracelet, made in 1983 when I was at college, it will go to my daughter Amanda.


*The youngest is the "IWW 6309" on original straight vent rubber - made in May 1985 one month before my 21st birthday - it will go to my youngest son William, who regularly asks me when I am going to die...


Sometimes I see my kids eyeing the watch I have on - "their" watch - it feels good to bond with them in this way.

Did you ever wonder: "Clockwise"

From Wikipedia:

"Technically, the terms clockwise and counterclockwise can only be applied to a rotational motion once a side of the rotational plane is specified, from which the rotation is observed. For example, the daily rotation of the Earth is counterclockwise when viewed from the North Pole, and clockwise when viewed from the South Pole.

Clocks traditionally follow this sense of rotation because of the clock's predecessor: the sundial. Clocks with hands were first built in the Northern Hemisphere (see main article), and they were made to work like sundials. In order for a horizontal sundial to work (in the Northern Hemisphere), it must be placed looking southward. Then, when the Sun moves in the sky (east to south to west), the shadow cast on the opposite side of the sundial moves with the same sense of rotation (west to north to east). That's why hours were drawn in sundials in that manner, and that's why modern clocks have their numbers set in the same way.

(The reason for the clockwise orientation of most screws is that supination of the arm, which is used by a right-handed person to turn a screw clockwise, is generally stronger than pronation.)"