Old School Seamaster 7 Jewel Replica Opened Up

[that_watch_guy]

I bought this thing on the streets of Hong Kong back when I was a 16 year old kid. The movement has been working flawlessly ever since with no servicing. Unfortunately the case and band have worn down so much that the brass core is visible. An old school piece of replica history, recently replaced by a Seamaster 007, GMT and PO. I noticed that the maker actually put their name on the inside of the watch caseback "Time Limited Made in Hong Kong". The movement actually says "ST CHINA Seven (7) jewels. I wonder why this movement sweeps so much smoother than so called "21j asian" movements. Seriously, the seconds hand sweeps just like an ETA, which is why I got curious and cracked the caseback open. Enjoy!

[ehtolcad]

hey how about some shots of the dial and bracelet

[KB]

Yeah I agree, from the back (at least) that HE valve looks pretty high up.

Ken

[ehtolcad]

what a waste it would be if they made an accurately laid out case & he release, but it was made of brass.

[that_watch_guy]

I have no doubt that pretty much everything is out of place on this watch, it's a super old replica. I recently combined it with a broken PAM024 to create a hybrid bastard watch:

Sorry I dont have better pics of it before scrapping it

hybrid:

[Willith]

Wow, 7 jeweled movement. What is the power reserve on that one? I guess if the movement sweeps like you say it does, then you could just use it in a new watch. The new one you've created looks weird to me, probably because I like Panerai.

[that_watch_guy]

Haha yeah, I wouldn't actually WEAR the Pamega bastard watch, I just threw it together because I was bored. The power reserve on the 7j movement is very good it goes at least 30+ hours. I haven't had any other watches with this 7j movement, but I'm sure it was pretty common in the 90's. It's pretty funny how the hour indications on the Omega dial seem to line up perfectly with the dots on the submersible bezel.

[pubus]

WOW!!! this is something new!!

I love this hybrid!!!

But how the SM dial fit PAM case????!!?!?

[that_watch_guy]

I fit the SM dial in the 024 case by cutting the plastic spacer that came with the 024 a little bit. This 024 had a cheap asian 21j movement in it, with very similar dimensions. I recently got the 7750/sapphire 024 so I decided to chop up the old one. I used a PAM crown and a modified PAM/Omega replica stem. The hybrid watch is functional, but it's just for kicks.

[infinitime]

Are you sure that's a seven jewel movement? Looks very similar to the standard 17/19 jewel movement from Tianjin Watch Factory.

[marrickvilleboy]

I have to admit, I have never seen an automatic with 7 jewels before. I'm thinking there must be a spelling mistake and its actually 17 jewels.

7 jewels would mean that the watch would be lacking a jewelled gear train - and that wouldn't function properly for an automatic.

[offshore]

I have to admit, I have never seen an automatic with 7 jewels before. I'm thinking there must be a spelling mistake and its actually 17 jewels.

7 jewels would mean that the watch would be lacking a jewelled gear train - and that wouldn't function properly for an automatic.

MB

Geeze you "trained" watchmakers shit me with your knowledge!!

Great catch! Would never have thought that through!

Although there may be another explanation.... but that escapes me as well.

Offshore

[marrickvilleboy]

@offshore

yeah, 4 jewels in the oscillator, 2 jewels on the pallet + 2 jewels for the pallet fork makes it already 8. So it must be 17 jewels, there is a spelling mistake on the rotor of this watch.

Hope this clears this issue up.

[ehtolcad]

pamega

lol