7A28 7029

[doing_time]

Got this very rough non running example on ebay for fifty dollars, my brother shipped it to me from out there. "Needs a battery" is always a huge risk but I rolled the dice.
All buttons appeared seized, corrosion, loss of plating and tons of dna abound. The reason I chanced it is so complete was the layer of wrist goo it was obvious the back hadn't been off, that and the dial and handset looked mint under the horror of the scratched glass, so maybe, just maybe all it needed was a battery. <---- optimism eh!


Really hard to remove caseback but was happy with that, I removed the old renata expecting leakage but none!
Freed up the buttons quick and dirty style and popped a new murata in and she ticked
The chrono seconds and elapsed minute counter was twitching so I gently warmed the movement on a rad for ten mins and gave them a gentle poke with pegwood and boom she lives. Fully functional.
Awesome movements these. If I can find someone in the EU who's good and charges reasonable money I will get him to service my growing 7A collection. Any recommendations?
In the mean time I wore this for a wk and it performed faultlessly gaining two seconds.


Dial and hands looked mint. You can see the the trail of detritus on the rhs

So I don't like gold, especially 0.1 micron thin gold that's hanging off...



You can guess where I'm going with this?
This was the plan all along and why I opted for the 7029. It's dial and chapter ring are a pale creamy gold which I guessed would work well with a silver case. That and I prefer a conventionally lugged watch.

I was going to blast it myself but my set up left pits on a scrap case I tried. I gave it to a fella for vapour blasting as I've seen this finish before and it's superior to sand.

[doing_time]

The blaster did a good job. It's entirely devoid of gold now with a silver sheen that vapour leaves instead off matt grey other media leaves. Under macro/close inspection you can make out a slight peening to the surface but it's way less invasive than sand blasting to the surface.



I couldn't remove the chapter ring as it's captive to the removalable bezel, which I read here is a tricky fecker to remove/reinstall so left well enough alone. Because of this I didn't keep it long in the ultrasonic cleaner and used tepid soapy water.




Blaster fella didn't go a great job on the crown and buttons. In fairness he was worried they might get lost in his sump. I clamped them in my dremel and spun them up with wet and dry/polish. Likewise the crown but I clamped it in a pin vise and gave it a rub of a scotbright wheel and then polished the top.


I clamped the case in my drill mounted three jaw chuck (best twenty quid I've spent on AliExpress), engaged safety squints and sanded/polished it up to mirror finish.
I grip the drill in a soft vise and zip tie the trigger down. Once it's spinning I use the dremel with a hard polishing attachment as its spinning. Took ten minutes. It's all very ropey looking but I've done it before and it works great. Likewise the caseback which I sanded the worst of the scratches off and regrained it with a stiff 400 grit wood sanding sponge. The slight give in the sanding block allows for an even finish.


Here is afterwards.

[doing_time]

I dove into my cousins seal kit and fit new ones all round.
I had another custom sapphire with clear ar made in 32x1.6mm and it went in with a new gasket I had left over from refinishing my 7A28 bishop.
Cousins generic flat section caseback seal and she was all buttoned up.

Really happy with the results, total strap slut this.








I won't bore 'yall with my strap fashion show but I've settled on the perlon above, great in the heat, or the first nato.