# Case Repair To Grand Seiko Sbgr029



## carl0s (Feb 11, 2012)

I have been trying to sell my Grand Seiko SBGR029 to scratch (no pun intended) a synthesizer itch, but so far the two interested buyers have been put off by a ding at the 4'o'clock position on the case. I don't think they're too bothered about the general scratches.

It's a very small ding that looks worse in the photos (don't they always?!), but all the same, it's a ding.

Do any of you have any advice regarding having it repaired or at least improved?

This is what it should look like










This is what mine looks like:














































(more to follow.. too many pictures)


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## carl0s (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm not sure the price is an issue - I have advertised an "eBay price", but made it pretty clear that I'd like to sell out of eBay/PayPal, for less.. (a couple of hundred less, although I haven't said that).

While we're on the subject of repairs, here's my daily beater.. The acrylic 'glass' sure does scratch easily. Can it be replaced with sapphire, or is it easiest/cheapest to just have the acrylic replaced, frequently? Funnily enough it doesn't look too different to an SBGW033 GS.. just old and tired


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Tricky, it looks like a deep ding, so polishing it out will take off too much metal, you could look into 'laser welding' , this works wonders for deep scratches and chunks missing, alternatively try Seiko themselves , I dont know if it is but the bezel might be a separate part of the case and be replaceable .......The Seiko route wont be cheap, I expect they will want to service it too...

As for the Omega, just spend a few minutes polishing the acrylic with Polywatch or brasso , the acrylic is half the charm and look with vintage watches and there are few things you can do to a watch as satisfying as bringing a acrylic crystal back to new by using a bit of elbow grease...


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

you have a grand seiko but no camera to show your own ?  , that you have bought one shows you know something about watches so should know where to get it fixed should you require it, this just looks like a 'ive got one for sale post to me ' 

*well after looking at your watch on fleabay ,any competant watchmaker should be able to remove the bezel and refinish it to make that dink almost invisible , its not that bad.


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## carl0s (Feb 11, 2012)

jasonm said:


> Tricky, it looks like a deep ding, so polishing it out will take off too much metal, you could look into 'laser welding' , this works wonders for deep scratches and chunks missing, alternatively try Seiko themselves , I dont know if it is but the bezel might be a separate part of the case and be replaceable .......The Seiko route wont be cheap, I expect they will want to service it too...
> 
> As for the Omega, just spend a few minutes polishing the acrylic with Polywatch or brasso , the acrylic is half the charm and look with vintage watches and there are few things you can do to a watch as satisfying as bringing a acrylic crystal back to new by using a bit of elbow grease...


Funnily enough, just after posting last night I did order some Polywatch! I knew I'd heard of something, just never tried it before.

Thanks 

I do have a buyer interested in the GS and as he's only about 50 miles away I'm going to let him see it first-hand, hopefully. He said it was too far gone for him but I think now he knows there's negotation in the price, he is still a bit interested.


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## carl0s (Feb 11, 2012)

pugster said:


> you have a grand seiko but no camera to show your own ?  , that you have bought one shows you know something about watches so should know where to get it fixed should you require it, this just looks like a 'ive got one for sale post to me '
> 
> *well after looking at your watch on fleabay ,any competant watchmaker should be able to remove the bezel and refinish it to make that dink almost invisible , its not that bad.


What do you mean about the camera? Apart from the first pic up there, the rest are all my own pictures.

All I know about watches is that Seiko make some of the best and are one of the few, if not only, truly ingenious manufacturers. I'm quite taken by the fact that they're all in-house movements, rather than simply ETA-cases. I'm entranced by the spring drive movements. Not entirely taken with the "high-street" watches with SD movements though. I'd sooner have a SARB023 with a spring drive, than one of those big weird looking things, and of course I'd love my existing watch, with a spring drive movmt (that'd be the SBGA025 then), although since I lost some weight that size of all-metal watch is a bit heavy, and also I inevitibly always end up doing things I shouldn't (learning TIG welding, fixing my cars), with the watch still on my wrist, so a cheap thing like this old Omega is fine. I think I paid about $400 US + vat/duty for it... I think.

Part of the difficulty of having it fixed is that it's a JDM-only watch, and of course I don't want to get into cost-prohibitive prices since I just want to fund another toy.

Hamilton seem to have a straightforward procedure: http://www.hamiltonw...e/watch-repair/

I bought the GS used, from a chap in Switzerland. I have considerd contacting Higuchi but thought best to ask for opinions here first. There's no point me spending upwards of Â£300 on repairs as I don't think I'll get that money back.


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