Not just a one trick Donkey...

I was going to go for the popular vote and do a post on which of my Rolexes I should wear with my dashing red socks to go for a drive in my sports car. But I'm not here to be popular, so here's another boring post about restoring watches...

Disclaimer - This is called humour. There are no victims. There is no offence to be taken. I've noticed a worrying trend on WatchCrunch where contributors appear to think it is fine for anyone to express an opinion as long as it agrees with their own opinion. Remember, the word "opinion" is not the same as the word "fact".

Anyways...

Most of you who know me, know that I'm a bit of a Seikophile. However, every once in a while I take a stroll outside of Seikoville and look at something else. This time, it's a Mondaine from the mid/late 60s with a Felsa 4007N movement.

Before I start there's (another) small but nonetheless important elephant in the room I'd like to acknowledge...

There are those that believe a vintage watch shouldn't be restored. It's one of those opinion things I reference above. They believe the scuffs, dings and blemishes tell a story.

In certain circumstances I 100% agree. If a watch has been in a family for generations and handed down from father to son (other genders are available) those marks have meaning, they have a sentimental value. The watch has provenance.

A little while ago I restored a pocket watch for my good friend @Guvnor64. I did that as sympathetically as I could and left a lot of the "story" marks as they were. I'm not devoid of emotion when it comes to these things.. far from it in fact.

However, for most of the watches I refurbish, these marks are someone else's story. They have no tangible relevance to me or any prospective owner. That's where I look to restore as close as to new as possible.

As an example, if you prefer the car in the top picture here, then you probably consider what I do as heresy.

Personally I think these objects of ineffable desire deserve to look as good as they can do. I think - one of those opinions coming again - the car in the bottom picture is a much happier soul.

Now we've acknowledged the little elephant I'll actually talk about the watch - I can hear the collective sigh of relief.

I picked up this rather mundane Mondaine (I was pleased with that little bit of wordplay) off eBay a few weeks ago. It was after talking to @Aurelian about the Felsa Bidynator (Google it) and I thought I'd look for something similar. This one is actually a 4007N so the Bidynator remains on the watchlist.

As you can see, it wasn't in poor condition but it was rather tired and although it was running, it was not registering an output on the timegrapher. It was clearly in need of a service. So that's what I did...

It's actually quite an interesting movement if you like that sort of thing (I do 😁). It has a clever "double" third wheel that means the second hand doesn't "flap". I know... sexy right?!

Now, the case refurbishment - The heresy bit.

As part of the refurbishment I very slightly, but very deliberately altered the case shape at the lugs. I softened the lines a fraction because I thought it would look better (one of those damned opinions again)

I also reapplied the lume on the hands and the dial. I'm not sure what the old lume was but after removing it I can now climb smooth walls, stand on the ceiling and I glow in the dark.

I put a slightly lower domed crystal on it as the previous was quite "tall"

A new rear case gasket and crown gasket should ensure its waterproof to at least 3mm. If a small fly were to become very upset whilst sitting on the crystal, this watch would be fine... probably.

I did seek the opinion (there it is again) and advice of @Aurelian throughout this project as my kung fu is not strong in this area. The world outside of Seikoville is big and scary. Thank you sir

There are a few other bits I've been working on recently, including a custom build, a nice green Citizen and a very nice green Seiko. More on those another time...

Take care and be kind to each other.

❤