But it was fully working and functional and in a very good condition. I figured that finding the matching bracelet would be easy. But I was wrong.
When checking again I see them listed on Ebay for huuuuge prices (above € 200,-). I now suspect they are quite rare.
Luck was on my side as someone on the Dutch marketplace had a flaky one (poor display) for sale in combination with a complete torn apart spare and another spare module. Initially I only wanted the bracelet. But I had to haggle and ended up with the complete spare set.
On arrival the spare was not as good as anticipated and the display unit was stripped and toast. The idea was that I could use the spare stuff in the future if needed.
The bracelet was another small disaster. The push pins (A8) wouldn't come off. So I had it soaked in a WD40 bath but without any joy. The next day I made another cleaning attempt and with a lot of patience one side got off. The other side wouldn't even come off with a little hammering. So I got my dremel out and with the grinder I had cut it open and presto.
Then there was another issue, the push pin (A10) connected at the clasp had one side broken off (or stuck inside). Meaning it would not hold it. I managed to hammer this one out.
So here the end result of the push spring bars. The top one is the one that eventually came out after cleaning and forcing it. Comparing it with the second one I suspect it might have been replaced in the past (perhaps thats why it was in a better condition). The second one got grinded open and came out. Looks like its slighty bigger in diameter as well and a tiny bit shorter. The bottom one is the tail short end which was broken as well. Clearly they are all in a poor and corroded condition.
Next to that both bracelets had a few (3) with missing or broken bars. And some links were simply stuck, meaning unable to move/twist, even after it had soaked for a few hours in a WD40 bath and a bit of slight hammering afterwards.
Now I need to source those push bars, which I think is not difficult. But I'm unsure about the tail short end push bar as that needs to fit the bracelet hole and the outside needs to go into a micro hole.
This Youtube video came in quite handy for putting the spare unit together. But clearly it was not working. Oh well: https://youtu.be/3KoZ-VXDcSI
Oh, it was also missing one push button and it had a spot on the display as well.
By now I have received the wanted parts and I am adding it here for the records
I started first with the push bar connecting the clasp and the bracelet. This one was broke off on one side and still stuck. But with the tools from a starter kit I once bought it came out quite easily. You can see this bar is also quite corroded:
Putting the new one in was a more fiddly job as expected but eventually I got it connected. Whilst I was doing this, another pushbar for clasp itself broke off. DOH! Luckily I had to order these clasp push bars per two. So I had one spare which I could use and even this one required a bit of patience.
Lastly I now tried to have the bracelet actually fitted to the watch itself. This appeared almost impossible. I figured the ones I ordered were simply having the incorrect diameter 18 mm, meaning leaving almost no room to play and get it fitted in the hole. I tried the old working one which was slightly slimmer, 15 mm, and presto it fitted. So now I have to order two new ones with 15 mm diameter.
Whilst I had now had time left I looked into the stuck links, I think there were about 5 or so which would not move at all. I used a needle to get all the dirt removed from the covered spaces which simply blocked the movement of the links. I was surprised how much dirt came out and how much effort it took the get it all loosened up again. For now there is still one pair links of stuck and I can't reach the dirt with the needle. So I now finally ordered a small ultrasoon cleaner
And there is more. Some links has got split pens as I learned. One is broken and some of them has very small pens which are simply lost. Likely these need to be tailor made. As I ordered 2 split pens I'm going to attempt to make one and see if it fits and sticks.
Today the ultrasoon clean arrived. In the first attempt with only clean water not much happened. So on the next round I added a little cleaner concentrate and that did the trick. You can see a lot of black spots at the bottom:
Now the inside corners of the clasp and the inside of the stamped seiko name is mostly clean
Still losening up the one link that is still stuck had not much change after the bath. But by now is almost free. Whilst I was fiddling to get the bracelet put on the watch again one small bar fell out. That happened before and it's a very tiny part. This is one of those small bars I want to make using a long split pen.
Even putting the bracelet back on using the 1,5 mm diameter push bar was more difficult than anticipated. But it's on again. Then I had to redo the clasp mounting so it now fit my wrist.
It was a very good learning exercise and I'm happy with the end result. It has become a slighty more expensive watch but I still think it's good value. And I have some spare parts now as well. The watch is fully functional and clean.
Here you can see Roger Moore wearing the same watch:
Portrait of Roger Moore in 1976
Roger Moore sitting on the trunk of a 'Lotus Esprit' on September 8, 1976 in London
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