Every watch we list has been through the bench, and this is what that actually means. The subject today is a Seikomatic that arrived running, as most do, but running is a low bar. Oil from the Johnson administration had turned to varnish in the jewels, and the amplitude told the story before we opened the caseback: 190 degrees where a healthy movement swings past 270.
Disassembly to the last wheel, an ultrasonic bath in three solutions, and inspection under magnification found the usual suspects: a worn mainspring, a dried gasket, and a day-wheel jumper spring one previous owner had bent rather than replaced. Three parts, all correct-period Seiko stock from our drawer of donor movements. Nothing polished, nothing swapped that didn’t need to be.
Running is a low bar. A dry movement will run for years, wearing through its own pivots the whole time.
Reassembly, fresh synthetic oils in five grades, and the moment that justifies everything: the timing machine printing +6 seconds a day where the watch had been wandering by forty. That printout goes in the file, and the service date goes in the listing. When we say serviced, this is what we mean.