A few months ago my FIL gave me a Seiko 6139-6010 he bought in Vietnam. He is kind of touchy about talking about his time in the war; he has opened up to me a little about it before when the girls weren't around but I don't like to push the subject.

He said he bought it in Vietnam and he thinks Hanoi but couldn't remember exactly where or when. I asked him if it saw any combat and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "I'd assume so". I didn't ask any more questions.

According to what I have found searching around the SN seems to indicate have been produced in 1970. I'm guessing be purchased it sometime between 1970 and 1973 as he was one of the last troupes to be withdrawn.

The watch still keeps time and the chrono works but I'd still like to have it serviced sometime. Can anyone recommend someone in the Midwest area?



I don't think the bracelet is original but I'm not sure what the original would look like, I'm just assuming. It's never been serviced either.

This is a cool watch and I'm stoked he gave it to me. I'm not going to ask about value because it just doesn't matter to me. When someone gives me something I keep it forever.

 

Caseback says it was made April of 1970 (first digit=year, 2nd=month). Beautiful Seiko and a true workhorse!!
It will be relatively easy to find someone to work on it.
Congratulations

 

What an honor for your father in law to give you this watch. Spencer Klien is a vintage Seiko specialist. I have not used him, but if I needed a Seiko serviced I am pretty sure that is where I would go. Try Googling him, he has a good reputation. See: https://www.kleinvintagewatchrepair.com/

 

From his site:
Due to a high workload with turnarounds exceeding 14 months, we are holding off on accepting new jobs for the next six to nine months.

I'm not in any rush. Thanks for the info.

 

Spencer's website has said the same thing for at least 1.5 years now. So I don't know if he is planning to take work from the general public at any point. You could send him an email and ask.

I send my Seiko watches to Adrian at vintagetimeaustralia. And even then, it's good if you're not in a rush.

 

Good on you, those are very nice I was trying to deal with someone who has one listed locally but he is slow to reply, wear it in good health

 

Any recommendations for a Seiko-service in Southern California?

 

I think Bob's Watches will do them.

There's another guy in Encinitas, but can't remember any details...(helpful, I know).

 

I had a Seiko 6138 serviced by Eric Greenberg of clocksavant.com, he did a great job, recommended.

 

From their website, Bob's looks like they're principally an AD. I don't see anything there about service. They might also do this, but it's not clear from the site that they don't farm service out to someone else.

LA Watchworks has been recommended (not specifically for Seiko though) and I will probably try asking them.

 

where you located? here are 2. OC. https://www.jostmarjewelers.com/ Bellflower. http://www.montoyawatchservice.com/

 

Closer to Pasadena than Bellflower or OC.

But these all sound like reasonable options.
Thanks!

 

Nice watch- good luck with your hunt for a place to service it.

 

Jerry's Watch Repair in Seattle.

 

LA watch Work is in Pasadena. I just changed my Dome for my Rolex. They are the best in town I would say.

 

There IS a reason I mentioned 'Pasadena'. I'm a dozen or so miles away.

 

well, good luck!

 

Thanks for that. These guys are quite proud of themselves, "have 400.00 minimum to service your watch or don't even call us" and a 75.00 inspection fee.

 

I hear you and my wallet hears you, but he's good at what he does and not hurting for business. I live in NYC, I'm not exactly awash in cheap but excellent watchmakers. I'll be pretty surprised if watchmakers strongly recommended here (LAWW, Spencer Klein) are materially cheaper. And it may be a false economy to save a couple of hundred dollars on a watch service if it means a worse result, even for a vintage Seiko costing under $2K.

Horses for courses, I suppose. Best of luck, and if you find a good and cheap watchmaker who doesn't have a many-month backlog, I'd love to know about it, I have a couple of watches to send them.

 

Great story. Not sure about the bracelet, but most watchmakers have a box full of Seiko bracelets stashed away anyway. Lots of GI's came home with Seikos. A family friend gave me a Seiko World Time he picked up while in Vietnam but while on R&R in Japan. I've had it over 45 years. Had it serviced twice and it runs perfectly. I just took it out to find the model # and without even shaking it, it started running immediately. When my FIL moved he found an old Seiko Auto in a desk drawer. It didn't have a band and hadn't moved in like 20 years. I took it home, gave it a shot of Windex, put a band on it, and it runs perfectly. These old Seiko autos are incredible. Get yours serviced and wear it proudly. Don't worry too much about the cost. Get it done right and it will be good for many years, you can't put a value on an heirloom!!!