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Vintage Sport Diver…From Sour to Sweet!!

3K views 20 replies 21 participants last post by  Gene465 
#1 ·
I was browsing the auction site a few months ago and spotted an interesting looking Seiko 7019-6000 Sport Diver with a platinum color dial that dated to January, 1970. I’d never seen this model before, so I did some quick research and learned that Seiko didn’t produce many of these. The seller’s description stated that there were a few minor marks on the crystal and case and that he had worn it for a few days and it was keeping good time. His photos of the watch didn’t include any close ups, but I told myself that it didn’t look too bad and I bought it…I’m a sucker for a cushion case and orange seconds hand plus it was a unique dial color. When the watch arrived it was a disaster. It was sliding around loose in an envelope so it took a good beating during shipping. The case and bezel were much more scuffed than the seller's photos showed, the crystal had some serious scratches, and it ran but was losing 1-2 minutes per hour. The only positives were that the dial and hands appeared to be in good shape and the internal bezel rotated as it was supposed to by turning the crown. Here’s what it looked like when I got it and it looks much better in this pic than it did in person.



My initial impulse was to return it to the seller but, in spite of all its issues, I really liked the watch. I got in touch with our resident WF restoration guru Rod (crotchhasteeth) and asked him if he would do some work on it. After he serviced and cleaned the movement, installed a new crystal, and did some refinishing work on the case, I have what I think is an amazing vintage watch that looks great and is running strong. Hats off to Rod for his excellent work. Here’s what she looks like now.









 
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#3 ·
"Some refinishing". Holy moly, it's a stunner! Somehow a whole generation of watches passed me by when I looked the other way.
 
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#21 ·
Very nice resto!
 
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