1958 Sea-Glo

The first "sea something" was the 1957 Seabrook.  Over the next 15 years there would be almost 50 models with Sea in the name somewhere.  I don't know what the origin story is for the theme, but there surely has to be a reason for it.  Perhaps it's because most of them were "waterproof"?

In 1958 the Sea-Glo was introduced.  It was listed in the 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961 catalogs and nothing changed from year to year, not even the price.  By 1961 the catalog showed "sold out", which sometimes occurred in the catalog.  Makes you wonder why you'd do that though... why list a watch and say it was unavailable?  Maybe all of the examples for that model year were already allocated, so you couldn't order it.

As you can tell from the artistic rendering, the Sea-Glo came in two dial options, white or black.  The dials were embossed with white (silver) numerals and markers and the dial has a really interesting scallop-shell pattern.  Perhaps that was keeping with the Sea-theme.

Tucked inside the case you'll find a 17 jewel Hamilton 671 movement, based on an ETA 1080 caliber.

My project watch has been patiently waiting it's turn at the spa for several years.  I've had it for a long time and it never came up in my queue, mainly because it looks like it had a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit and the white dial has a yellow-ish tan look to it.  The crystal is a bit beat up too, and that adds to it's "rode hard and put away wet" aesthetic.

Now this is interesting... the case back is my least favorite design... the old pie pan with a screw-on ring.  Actually, that's not entirely accurate... my least favorite design is the snap on case back that no longer snaps on firmly - and that can actually cover quite a few models.  However, this screw-on ring design can be a bugger to open if you don't a good case wrench.

Another reason that it's noteworthy is the Sea-Glo that I posted on back in 2013 (has it really been 13 years?) had a snap on case design.  That begs the question... in what year did the case change and which style came first?  Regardless - it would appear that the Sea-Glo came with two different case designs... go figure.

My Bergeon case wrench made short work of opening the case back... once the old grime and DNA broke free, it opened right up.  Apparently the gasket may not have been properly seated the last time it was closed - whenever that was.  It's been a while, based on the green funk inside the rim.  The movement looks fine though.  Once the stem is removed, the movement should drop out the back.

Now that the movement is outside the case, you can see the dial has an even coating of grime... notice the numerals and markers have no shine.  This is going be a judgment call... I can try to clean it but I might lose the Hamilton logo, or I can leave it as is and call it an "honest patina". Hmm....?

All the parts get disassembled and cleaned and while that's going on I decided to work on the dial with some Rodico putty.  That's basically like a cross between an eraser and silly putty.  I was able to remove a good portion of the grime and left the logo alone.

While the parts were in the cleaner, I also applied fresh luminous paint to the hands and dial so it will glow in the dark again.

The trickiest part of reassembling the movement is to get the train bridge to seat.  It's not the most difficult movement but the wheels all have long arbors and you have to get all three pivots to seat or the bridge won't go into place.  At this point, in the photo below, the wheels all spin freely - that means the power from the mainspring will flow smoothly to the pallet fork and onto the balance, once they're installed.

Next in place is the barrel and mainspring, along with the barrel bridge.  Then the pallet fork and it's bridge.  At this point I can wind the watch and once the balance is in place it should spring back to life.

My camera has captured the balance frozen in time, but it's actually ticking away with a good motion.  After over a thousand watch restorations, I've learned to judge how well a watch is running just by looking at it.  Well, that's not entirely true... I can't tell how well it's running but I can tell if it's not running well.  I still need a timer to tell how well a watch is running, and that's where the movement is headed now.

That's not too shabby...I'm going to leave it just as it is.

I have found that these old gaskets shrink if you heat them but will expand if you put them in cleaning rinse solution.  I was able to get it to soften up and take it's proper shape.  Now when I close it up, it should stay in place thanks to the compression of the threaded ring.

The last finishing touch is to replace the crystal with a fresh PHD-style.  28.5mm should do the trick.

My camera doesn't do the finished project justice.  The dial is an even honey color and the numerals and markers have a little shine to them now.  The new lume looks fine on the hands and, when charged with light, they will glow in the dark.  A fresh mocha-colored strap completes the restoration and this drawer-queen of a watch is finally ready for a little well deserved wrist time!