Lengths I Go to Align a Seiko Insert 😭
I asked Mark of Long Island Watch to get me an aligned SNE583. Sadly, whilst the chapter ring and hands are aligned, the insert was not 😡 The watch is too good to have this imperfection, so I decided to break it down. Here’s the tedious process.
Removed caseback and gasket. Removed crown. Removed movement, dial, and chapter ring. Popped out the sapphire crystal, giving me access to the bezel insert. Insert and pip removed.
Caseback and gasket, sapphire crystal, and crown reinstalled without movement and dial. I dropped the sealed case in several feet of water for 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes passed, thankfully, no water ingress. She’s good to go!
Movement, dial, and chapter ring reinstalled. Fresh Silicone grease applied to gasket, prolonging life. Insert reinstalled and aligned using hyper cement. Now it’s time to let the insert dry overnight.
Imagine doing all this just to align a freaking bezel insert 😩
You may question why I didn’t remove the bezel in order to remove the insert. The bezel on this watch will not budge with a traditional tool. It requires a special four prong tool, so instead of buying that, I went through the caseback.
Seiko, I love you. But your QC also makes me hate you 😘😡
Picture is of the final product.
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I hadn’t read the last sentence in your post and was having a lot of trouble understanding how the bezel was misaligned. Helps to read it all.
Impressive job fixing it the hard way!
I hadn’t read the last sentence in your post and was having a lot of trouble understanding how the bezel was misaligned. Helps to read it all.
Impressive job fixing it the hard way!
Thank you. It was a pain the rear, but since I love watches, I also enjoyed this undertaking. It’s a beautiful ISO diver, so it was worth it. Thx 🙏🏻
I have the same watch. So well worth it
I applaud the effort and it's successful outcome. I don't understand why it's so important for inserts to align perfectly but then again I am weirdly anal about other stuff in my own way (so not exactly in a position to judge 😉) and certainly I like seeing people fix issues they got.
I have the same watch. So well worth it
Is everything aligned on yours?
I applaud the effort and it's successful outcome. I don't understand why it's so important for inserts to align perfectly but then again I am weirdly anal about other stuff in my own way (so not exactly in a position to judge 😉) and certainly I like seeing people fix issues they got.
Thank you! I have no tolerance for misaligned hands, bezel inserts, and dust or debris on the dial or under the crystal. If a watch has these issues, I correct them. Working on watches is therapeutic to me. I wanted to become a certified watchmaker, but decided not to pursue that career because the average pay isn't enough.
Is everything aligned on yours?
Yes. Got lucky, it appears 😏