Modern Seiko Divers

[SeikoKid]

Great to see a keen interest in Seikos as well as bikes

I am a big fan of the 7548 and have a JDM model myself

 

[kd498]

Re:

My wrist's too small for a diver.
Modified Seiko 5

 

[legrandefromage]

Ok, so not a Seiko but a Zeno Army 300m with the ETA 2846 automatic movement.

 

[misteroo]

Re: Re:

My wrist's too small for a diver.
Modified Seiko 5

WOW....love the modded ones.

Here's mine...wear it everyday, but I think it's gaining about a minute every month ish!!

Who could sort that for me and change the glass for a nice sapphire crystal dome??

 

[Neil]

Re: Re:

My wrist's too small for a diver.
Modified Seiko 5

WOW....love the modded ones.

Here's mine...wear it everyday, but I think it's gaining about a minute every month ish!!

Think my Seiko 5 gains as well.

Who could sort that for me and change the glass for a nice sapphire crystal dome??

I've got family living in China, who has the same Seiko 5 as me (no surprise, really, since he bought me mine), and he had it regulated over there. He said he took it to a "watch guy" (business, though, not acquaintance / enthusiastic amateur) who put it on some machine, which presumably told him something, then took the back off, tinkered, and now gets surprisingly decent timekeeping from it.

I think you need a very steady hand, and a decent mix of caution and chutzpah to do it yourself. I've often thought about regulating mine, then considered the yips, and decided it's not broken enough to warrant my fixing.

My Kinetics are reasonably accurate, and about as much as I want to take years off my life is about as far as capacitor replacement on them (and those capacitor plate screws are truly, grey-hair-raisingly, tiny).

 

[Fudd]

Re: Re:

Here's mine...wear it everyday, but I think it's gaining about a minute every month ish!!

Who could sort that for me and change the glass for a nice sapphire crystal dome??

A minute a month is exceptional for one of these considering a new Rolex should be within -2/+4 seconds per day. The 7S26 movements are built by robots and they leave the factory with no adjustment so Seiko quote specs of -25/+30 seconds per day but they usually run much better than that. Sounds to me like you got one of the better ones.

I've got family living in China, who has the same Seiko 5 as me (no surprise, really, since he bought me mine), and he had it regulated over there. He said he took it to a "watch guy" (business, though, not acquaintance / enthusiastic amateur) who put it on some machine, which presumably told him something, then took the back off, tinkered, and now gets surprisingly decent timekeeping from it.

I think you need a very steady hand, and a decent mix of caution and chutzpah to do it yourself. I've often thought about regulating mine, then considered the yips, and decided it's not broken enough to warrant my fixing.

The machine you refer to is a timegrapher and its probably best not to try and regulate it unless you or your watchmaker has one. The main reason being that there are two adjustment levers, one for the speed and another for the beat error and you need to get the beat error adjusted first before you tackle the rate or speed of the watch, otherwise the timekeeping will always be inconsistent. In my experience a new 7S26 can vary by up to 20spd depending on the position it is placed in so a timegrapher will only get you in the ball park and further adjustments may be necessary after a day or two on the wrist. If the beat error is less than 0.2ms and its running within 5 seconds per day on the wrist then thats probably as good as it'll get. To slow or increase the speed of the movement by 10spd requires the very slightest of touches on the regulator arm and if you see it move then you've moved it too far, and that's working with 2.5x magnification. Here's a pic of the last 6309 I serviced on the timegrapher -

 

[lrh]

I've only got two mechanical watches but the Rolex method of making a small correction each night works well. I assume it works equally well on a Seiko?

 

[Fudd]

I've only got two mechanical watches but the Rolex method of making a small correction each night works well. I assume it works equally well on a Seiko?

It sure does and applies to all mechanical watches as they all share a similar 300 year old design.

 

[Neil]

Re: Re:

I've got family living in China, who has the same Seiko 5 as me (no surprise, really, since he bought me mine), and he had it regulated over there. He said he took it to a "watch guy" (business, though, not acquaintance / enthusiastic amateur) who put it on some machine, which presumably told him something, then took the back off, tinkered, and now gets surprisingly decent timekeeping from it.

I think you need a very steady hand, and a decent mix of caution and chutzpah to do it yourself. I've often thought about regulating mine, then considered the yips, and decided it's not broken enough to warrant my fixing.

The machine you refer to is a timegrapher and its probably best not to try and regulate it unless you or your watchmaker has one. The main reason being that there are two adjustment levers, one for the speed and another for the beat error and you need to get the beat error adjusted first before you tackle the rate or speed of the watch, otherwise the timekeeping will always be inconsistent. In my experience a new 7S26 can vary by up to 20spd depending on the position it is placed in so a timegrapher will only get you in the ball park and further adjustments may be necessary after a day or two on the wrist. If the beat error is less than 0.2ms and its running within 5 seconds per day on the wrist then thats probably as good as it'll get. To slow or increase the speed of the movement by 10spd requires the very slightest of touches on the regulator arm and if you see it move then you've moved it too far, and that's working with 2.5x magnification. Here's a pic of the last 6309 I serviced on the timegrapher -

I've read about the sensitivity of the regulator arm, and that, and a propensity for the yips has made me reluctant to mess with it - much the same as not wanting to take on changing the generator on one of my Kinetics.

The Seiko 5 that was regulated in China, though, seems to have transformed it's accuracy. I was given an interesting auto from China (an Eyki) as a present - they also make an interesting copy of the triangular Hamilton.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Since we have some experts I wonder if anyone can answer my query?

My 007 is not keeping going for as long as it used to. I wear a G-Shock beater for work so save the mechanicals for evenings and weekends. If I have been using my Seiko all weekend then I used to be able to pick it up after work and it would still be running and at the right time until wednesday or thursday. Now it barely lasts til tuesday. What's going on?