An old watch with a new beginning
Happy Wednesday WC!
The other day, my mum put this watch down in front of me. Apparently it belonged to my great uncle and was his daily wearer for his later life. It’s a Seiko kinetic field watch with a 5m42 movement.
Sadly he passed away in 2006, this watch found its way onto my dads wrist - he’s a private pilot who flies for fun in his free time and used to wear this watch. Unfortunately, the movement stopped working properly and my dad, not having the slightest interest in watches, resigned it to the sock draw never to see kinetic energy again.
Now I’ve never really had an opportunity to work on watches at all but I thought now would be a good chance to have a go! So I did some research on the movement, bought a replacement capacitor and gasket and spent a very rainy Thursday evening splitting the watch open and replacing the knackered components and I’m pleased to say that after 2 days of consistent wear, the watch is at full power reserve and isn’t missing a beat!
I threw a low cost bracelet from Condor straps on it and it looks the business! It’s become one of my favourite pieces to wear to work as the sapphire crystal, quartz movement and tool watch case make it more than robust enough to survive anything a water treatment plant can chuck at it!
Anyway, just wanted to share this little story as it feels good to give my great uncle’s watch a new lease of life. It’s also inspired me to continue dabbling with watchmaking too.
Have an awesome rest of your week!
Living my life to the fullest and enjoying my timepieces! 😎
Fantastic! A lovely watch indeed to resurrect from its back-of-drawer coffin.
Brilliant, you've got some great family history in that watch. And it deserved getting back up n running for some more adventures and to make more history, so credit to you for your efforts (did the same with my 2 old kinetics last year, love em).
I absolutely love this story! Congratulations on resurrecting a watch with meaning and family ties. I too recently resurrected my Seiko Kinetic with a 5M42 movement. I’ve been meaning to get my first WC post created, and it will be featuring my journey with bringing mine back to life. Cheers 🥃🥃
Always a great feeling to resurrect something most people would have binned. Well done!
Like having your uncle a father with ya everyday 👊🏽
Brilliant, you've got some great family history in that watch. And it deserved getting back up n running for some more adventures and to make more history, so credit to you for your efforts (did the same with my 2 old kinetics last year, love em).
Thanks man! It’s seen 3 generations of wrists and hopefully more one day!
It seems like it’s quite common with the older kinetic movements. Just got to make sure you give it plenty of use!
I absolutely love this story! Congratulations on resurrecting a watch with meaning and family ties. I too recently resurrected my Seiko Kinetic with a 5M42 movement. I’ve been meaning to get my first WC post created, and it will be featuring my journey with bringing mine back to life. Cheers 🥃🥃
Cheers to you my friend! Look forward to reading your post 🥃