WATCH POP

I just picked up a 6138-0030 to go with a 6139 I also recently bought. The watch is in very good external condition, but the chrono intermittently causes the watch to stop. When it does, it can be after a few minutes or over an hour, but the chrono hand is always at :59 on the dial. I hand wound the watch 25 turns hoping that would provide adequate main spring power.

Hand winding is not smooth but can be accomplished. The pushers work and the hands reset to zero every time, but it takes more force to actuate the chrono than on the 6139. This may be normal due to additionally complexity of the hour accumulator.

Without the chrono running, the watch appears to keep accurate time and even changes day and date properly.

Any thoughts or comments?

- Arthur
A properly serviced and adjusted 6138 would hand wind smoothly, and the force needed to operate the pushers should be similar to a properly serviced 6139. The fact that yours does not, indicates that it probably wasn't serviced correctly.

A well cared for vintage Seiko Chrono will run just like a similar Swiss chrono from the same period. Seems like you are having bad luck with your Seiko Chronos. Make sure you buy them from reputable people! :-)

Here are a couple of my favorite 6138's.

Pete - Your advice is well taken although there's a limit to the amount of diligence when can do when buying vintage watches over the internet. That said, the 6138 and 6139 I bought were delivered more or less as advertised. Making matters more difficult to track, the seller sends his watches out for service so he is beholden to what someone else tells him.

In the case of the 6138, after some analysis, all signs lead me to suspect a lubrication issue i.e. stiff winding, sticky pushers, resistance in the movement at the greatest point of tension while updating the subdial counters. Nevertheless, time-of-day seems accurate, so in general, the movement is functioning and shows signs of delivering the performance you suggested.

I am going to address the issue from the standpoint of lubrication and then get back to the forum with an update.