Posted: 3/27/2026 8:43:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Teddydog][Edited]
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Thinking about my own watch collection, I remembered that my mom gave me several watches that were my dad's (they are both gone...5 years for mom and 18 for dad). The one I remember him wearing most often is the Omega (I think). I only have dim memories of the Seiko--I think he bought it well after I was out of the house as it is only probably 25-30 years old. I don't recall anything about the Wittnauer and maybe it wasn't even something he ever wore or maybe was even his father's. I'm surprised how small the cases are on the Omega nad Wittnauer. My dad was a big man and these must have looked pretty small on his wrist. For some reason he liked the expando bracelets.  WITTNAUER Gold tone body and back. No other markings on it, front or back. Approx. 31mm. The crown moves in and out and the watch can be set, but it does not appear to wind. Not running. The expanding bracelet is marked Speidel on the back of every link (with a PAT no.) and "Stainless back caps." The end links are marked "10 K.G.F. TOP CAPS 65". OMEGA Automatic Gold tone body and stainless back. Date model. "SWISS MADE" in very small lettering at the bottom of the dial. Back marked "10 K G F BEZ" over "STEEL BACK". No other markings visible. Approx. 34mm. Crown moves and movement functions. Winding feels "gummy" but did take a wind and continue running. Another Speidel expanding bracelet, this time not marked for gold filled top. SEIKO QUARTZ Sports 150 Alarm Chronograph. "MOV'T JAPAN H601-808M R 4" at bottom of dial. Back marked with a serial number "301463", "ST. STEEL BASE METAL BEZAL", "WATER RESISTANT 15 BAR H601-8089 A0 [boxed]". Approx. 42mm. Dead battery. Seiko clasp bracelet. I have a watch vise and back tool, so I'll take a crack at replacing the battery this weekend. I even have some generic back gaskets and grease. None of them are in great shape. All of the crystals and scrached, dinged and cracked. Bodies are well worn and scrachted. Dad was pretty hard on watches and likely didn't really take much care of them. Any comments are welcome! Might the Omega and Wittnauer be worth having refurbished? Or are these just the relics they appear to be today? Thanks! Rob |
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Originally Posted By ramairthree: Sweet. Nice connection. That H601 is likely just a battery away from using. Unfortunately, no. I opened it up and put in a fresh battery without any change (not running, no LCD display). I opened it again and looked at the battery socket and it looked like the lower contact wasn't, uh, contacting. I put a tiny screw driver under it to see if it could be bent up a little and instead it popped out and went flying. I found it, but could not tell if it broke off, or was just a slip fit under an isolating piece of plastic. Trying to refit it, it went flying again (we're talking about a piece of brass about 3mm long and 1mm wide) and is lost now. rob |
| That Wittnaur and Omega have plastic crystals. They can be polished easily or, if they are crazed (lots of little cracks in them) replaced. Most watchmakers I know have a ton of old domed crystals. Fix the crystals and put some leather on them and they'll look great. |
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Originally Posted By Teddydog: Unfortunately, no. I opened it up and put in a fresh battery without any change (not running, no LCD display). I opened it again and looked at the battery socket and it looked like the lower contact wasn't, uh, contacting. I put a tiny screw driver under it to see if it could be bent up a little and instead it popped out and went flying. I found it, but could not tell if it broke off, or was just a slip fit under an isolating piece of plastic. Trying to refit it, it went flying again (we're talking about a piece of brass about 3mm long and 1mm wide) and is lost now. rob Ok, so that takes you into around a $50 DIY fix. Look on eBay for H601s. You will likely find some dress watch versions at that price. Pick one with a nice, sharp LCD display. Swap in the movement. If you don’t DIY, that will likely add about 100 to have it done. Your model a minty one will be a lot more, but about 100 for rough cosmetics and you could just swap whole attached hands/dial/movement. https://www.ebay.com/itm/358377769799?_skw=seiko+h601&itmmeta=01KN2YG4DN7KMN7R1EGH207S4D&hash=item5370facb47:g: |
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Originally Posted By Lapidary: That Wittnaur and Omega have plastic crystals. They can be polished easily or, if they are crazed (lots of little cracks in them) replaced. Most watchmakers I know have a ton of old domed crystals. Fix the crystals and put some leather on them and they'll look great. Plastic? Really? Never knew plastic crystals were a thing on anything above a child's watch. rob |
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Originally Posted By ramairthree: Ok, so that takes you into around a $50 DIY fix. Look on eBay for H601s. You will likely find some dress watch versions at that price. Pick one with a nice, sharp LCD display. Swap in the movement. If you don’t DIY, that will likely add about 100 to have it done. Your model a minty one will be a lot more, but about 100 for rough cosmetics and you could just swap whole attached hands/dial/movement. https://www.ebay.com/itm/358377769799?_skw=seiko+h601&itmmeta=01KN2YG4DN7KMN7R1EGH207S4D&hash=item5370facb47:g: Thanks for the idea. Looking at those. With a different vesion of an H601, I would need to extract everything and then reset the face and hands onto the movement, then put into the case (in a very hight level summary). The H601 is used in a lot of different sizes and shapes. In the meantime, here's my latest (and last for a while, if I can keep the urges down) watch. Love the look and features--Atomic radio setting, Titanium case and bracelet, interesting features.  rob |