Benthos 500, AS2162 modified movement, help required.

Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to read my thread.
I have a Benthos 500 which has the AS2162 movement inside.
I bought the watch from a seller in Venezuela, but he was not honest regarding the watch movement.
When I saw the pictures of the watch I noticed the red "dive" hand was missing and asked why and was it likely to be added to the watch as the seller is a watchmaker.
The reply was that it was missing and not included but easily available on Ebay, and sure enough I managed to find one, which I subsequently bought.
I bought the watch, but when it arrived I took the caseback off and I am no watchmaker but it was obvious there were parts missing.
I checked back over the pictures of the watch and each picture of the movement the counter weight was obscuring the missing section.
The issue I have, other than with the seller who won't accept a return, is that the movement for the Benthos is modified for the "dive" timer hand.
Do any of you know if there is another manufacturer that would be able to supply the parts or another movement with the same alteration?
Or, does anyone have these parts sitting around in a drawer?
Any help and advice would be appreciated, I know I should have requested more detailed pictures but I have bought from the seller many times before and he is normally ok.

That's a cool watch. Sorry to hear you got scammed.


Found these nice pics of the minute counter mechanism and the balance

on
http://thewatchspotblog.com/?p=581




Looks like the pusher lever/screw could be missing in your pic? Which other parts are missing?

Hi, thank you for your replies, especially about the Venezuelan experience.

I think it has been good, over the last couple of years I have bought quite a few watches and parts from the seller. I have lent him money so he could open his own shop, but prior to the purchase of this watch he wanted to borrow some more money, but I couldn't do that at this point, and instead bought the Benthos.

Unfortunately it hasn't worked out with this watch, it's tough over there at the moment, so as "cheesed off" and disappointed as I am, he is only young and just starting out.

Hopefully I can get it sorted, the watch runs really well, but I want it complete!

Next time, I will be asking for a lot more pictures and asking a lot more questions, rather than just trusting that as we have "history" therefore just accept what is being said.

Buying from Venezuela is difficult, it takes ages for the parts to arrive but they do have some hard to find parts and watches.

Thanks River Rat, I love old watches, I just wish I had the skills to fix one!
But, with the sausage fingers I have its a bit difficult, I did murder an old auto 6139 Seiko trying.... good fun though, better than any jigsaw puzzle.

Redpcar, just checked and I paid a total of $1167 for the watch, which includes an orange second hand that was missing and a movement ring to replace the broken one in the Benthos, I also had to allow for a local watchmaker to do the fitting (which was a further $130) final total $1297, I could have bought a working example on Ebay for $1580.
Now for me to buy the parts, if I can source the parts and then pay to get them fitted will take me over the cost of simply buying one on Ebay.

Redpcar, I understand what you were getting at, but that's not my style, I have been trying to support the guy.

The other thing that I did not mention, just in case anyone is thinking of buying from Venezuela is that the last 2 purchases were very badly broken, this was due to the fact that the courier had opened the packets and just threw the contents back in the bag without repacking them.
So, I ended up will a load of smashed up parts/watches, when I told the seller he said there was nothing he could do as the Courier only insures for lose not damage, when I said about the missing parts on the Benthos he simply said he was unaware and could not take it back as if I sent it it would not arrive due to crime in Venezuela.

The thing is as I am writing this is I now have come to the conclusion that I won't be buying from him again, it's not worth the hassle which is a real shame.

I'm in the same boat!
The parts are impossible to find and my watchmaker makes it worse every time he open its up lol

Fine example and a great watch. The Benthos 500 will have its day soon!

Back fully operational. Loving it.