A watch with a lot of character! But apart from a lot of scratches, it’s not too bad. It’s a 1971 vintage Seiko chronograph with a 6139B movement.

I’ve always liked the Seiko chronos, I have twelve of them in my collection and there is room for more.

Very scratched but quite restorable

Seiko discontinued the parts for this watch about 30 years ago but I should be able to source the case parts that I need and any mechanical parts that’s required, I should have from several old movements that I have as wrecks. I won’t proceed with the restoration until I am sure I can secure all parts.

The obvious thing first, it needs a glass. The case is badly scratched but will polish up well, pity about the engraving on the back and although I could change the back, I don’t like doing that because that is where the serial number is etched.

The band is original, well worn but will tidy up nicely.

Both the push buttons jam when operated – rectifiable.

All the seals have perished and need replacing, the only one I’m worried about (procuring) is the glass seal.

The watch is dead stopped, the chrono mechanism is not working, at best, a clean and overhaul will fix all that, but it could require parts. I won’t know until I disassemble it. Surprisingly, the movement looks pretty good.

Prima facia the dial looks great but close up it is a little blotchy. The printing is fair, as is the raised “Seiko” emblem. Importantly it still holds its rich iridescence that would have helped this models popularity in the marketplace. The luminous index markers have lost there “brightness” but I can’t do anything about that and I don’t intend to do anything to dial at all.

The hour and minute hands are another story – terrible! and must be replaced. These could be a problem to find.

Okay, so that’s the initial inspection, the next step is to find the parts. Once I’m sure I can get all I need, I will start the work.