Might be joining the 1675 club

[Ascari_2]

Should be shipped tomorrow or the day after. It is in rough shape, but everything has its price!

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[indianmachine]

Welcome to the club. Let's see some pics when you get it.

[alwayshere]

shows us some teasers at least....

[Ascari_2]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

shows us some teasers at least....

Some of your may have seen it on a certain website. Looks like it got run over by a car?! Polished case, seems like service dial and hands, but relatively little pitting around the back and on the case back and the movement looks clean (though the watch is not working). Either way there is a return window if something doesn't check out.

Assuming all is as supposed to be, witha little cafe the watch has lots of potential.

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[alwayshere]

good luck with the project!

[1675-David]

cool project, keep us posted

[TimeLord2]

Looks like a "will be" than a "might". I have total confidence in your ability to get this one ticking like a time bomb! Fun project for you!

[dhknola]

Looks like mega potential!

[springer]

Projects...projects. Brings back memories. Some good, some not so good.

My very best to you and your project GMT.

[Rebel]

[Jackie Daytona]

Congrats! Look forwards to seeing the progress with this once you get it in hand.

[Boopie]

Nice! Good luck!

[Ascari_2]

Thanks all. Had a few unexpected events come up recently, so need to finish the Turn-O-Graph first ... some of you might remember that post. But hopefully by the time that's done I'll also have all the replacement parts (whatever will be necessary) for the GMT sourced.

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[Ascari_2]

Originally Posted by springer

Projects...projects. Brings back memories. Some good, some not so good.



My very best to you and your project GMT.

Thanks, Springer. Most times these projects go smooth and result in a great sense of accomplishment. Servicing a watch can be a great stress reliever.

But I've also had my fair share of gremlin watches. Still, overall it's a pleasure and this is neither the first, nor will it be the last watch on my workbench.

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[Bladeshot]

I’ll be looking forward to the updates!

[TuRo]

Totally salvageable - hope there is no twist across the serial number horiz block (with the vertical strakes/nap getting bent in appearance) between lugs for you... as that's the only really tricky bit if so.

[Ascari_2]

Originally Posted by pauldavidthorpe

Totally salvageable - hope there is no twist across the serial number horiz block (with the vertical strakes/nap getting bent in appearance) between lugs for you... as that's the only really tricky bit if so.

Looked pretty straight in this photo, so there is hope. But I'll be able to better inspect everything next week.

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[TuRo]

Looks good to me too. Rgds Paul

[Paulie 50]

I think what Paul meant was to check what's between the other lugs, your photo shows the model number, not the serial number. Good luck.

[Ascari_2]

Originally Posted by Paulie 50

I think what Paul meant was to check what's between the other lugs, your photo shows the model number, not the serial number. Good luck.

I think he meant if there is a twist between the lugs in general, but I might be wrong.

The watch is going to the authenticator now and once cleared it should be en route to me afterwards. I'll have a chance to see it on Saturday.

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[dbhak22]

Sounds like the beginning of a cool story/journey! Please share ongoing updates with us! The before/after will be so cool to see, :)

[Wahlberg]

Cool! Looking forward to see it repaired.

[Ascari_2]

Well, the watch has passed ebay's authentication, for whatever it's worth. Now a handful of days before it shows up at my door.

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[macloud]

Very nice, it is watches like these are very special

[Ascari_2]

Well, it's finally here.

Where to begin. I guess I still have no clue as to what happened through it. Getting run over by a car seems plausible, but I might never know.

Now on to the details. Starting with the case, it's a little rough particularly on the left side where it seems to have come into contact with something hard. Not unwearable by any means, but it's rough to the touch. This continues to the caseback where there are two dimples and a few more relatively prominent nicks. Good news is it screws on perfectly, so the inner and outer threads are healthy. The good news continues with the bezel which rotates without any issues. So overall, the case does not seem to be bent/twisted in any notable manner.

The rest of the case isn't in terribly bad shape either. The crown guards are polished and so are the lugs, but I've seen thinner lugs out there, so I don't mind it. There is also a little bit of pitting between the lugs, but both the SN and reference number are clearly visible engraved in what appears to be Typeface A.

Moving to the inside, the movement/dial/hands have some interesting things going on. One obvious thing noticeable from the pictures is the bent seconds hand. I have no clue what that's about other than someone wanting a recessed seconds hand look? Worth noting that while the crystal is thoroughly cracked, other than a few plexi flakes nothing impacted the dials/hands. So I am inclined to believe that this bend was intentional. But at the same time the seconds hand is pressed too deep onto the pinion (could be an amateur watchmaker who didn't know what he was doing?). So like the dings on the case, I don't know what happened there. But, as before, there is good news. While the watch wasn't running when I got it, removing the hands took case of that issue. Seems like the seconds hand being set so far down, it was basically friction-pressed against the hour hand. Removing the hand-stack got the watch beating with a pretty decent amplitude, telling me the internals are okay.

Continuing to the dial, as best as I can make out this is a service dial and is in pretty good condition (if anyone has any concerns with authenticity please chime in as I would love additional feedback). Just like the hands, the dial has a healthy glow after being exposed to regular light. In general, it is in pretty good condition with there being only two notable marks that likely came from a hand-removal tool. Sidebar, but why can't people working on these watches use a simple plastic spacer that costs a few dollars when removing hands!!?!? It does a perfect job of protecting the dial! But I digress. While being heavily magnified in the pictures, these marks are actually quite small and are unnoticeable when glancing at the watch to tell time. I haven't removed it yet, but I don't expect to find any surprises on the back.

As far as the rest of the watch, the bezel insert seems like a late 70's version (possibly installed during the same time that the service dial was put in?) and the bracelet appears to be a later oyster with an AB clasp putting it in year 2000. While the bracelet doesn't feel overly lose, it has suffered some deformation as a result of whatever happened to the watch. Luckily I have a few spare bracelets laying around that I should be able to use if this one doesn't get fixed up.

All in all, considering this watch was slightly over half of what a fully working one in decent condition would go for, I am content. I will want to fully service it, give it a new crystal, maybe get the case slightly refinished, and possibly give it a new set of hands. But aside from that it seems like a neat example that still has some life left in it.

[dhknola]

Dial looks great! Good luck with the rest of the project.

[Wahlberg]

I can't wait! I love seeing beat up watches getting fixed.

[hutch300]

Love this whole thing - Make sure to keep us updated. This is some of my favorite type of content on the forum.

[Ascari_2]

Part of me wants to explore the possibility of laser welding refinish. One of the charms of a 4-series case for me is the wide nature of the bevels, which this case is obviously missing. Normally I wouldn't think of doing something like this, but given the condition maybe it's worth looking into.

That said, a refinish can take place any time and doesn't need to happen immediately. Hopefully I can have it up and running within a few weeks.

[TimeLord2]

What a great project, thank you so much for sharing! The second hand is quite odd but the rest looks very nice.