WS 7: Vintage Omega Seamaster Gasket Ring Replacement

In order to have a better access to the pictures (also for myself) I decided to invest the extra time to provide this update in tabular form. You can jump to the single pictures via the thumbnails in the table below, or you can click through the report.

I bought this lovely vintage Omega Seamaster in February 2003 in Bangkok. When opening the case back, I was very happy and yet I discovered a little detail that needed to be corrected. Happy to see a movement in good very condition. However the O-ring inside this watch was as dry as a Ritz cracker and proved to be quite tricky to remove.
Just lift out the old ring and pop in a new one, that is what I expected. When trying to remove the completely dried out and cracked ring, I felt that it was a lot safer to remove the strap and the movement.
Shortcuts never pay off, this is very true for working on watches. If I would have removed that O-ring while the movement was still in, the watch would have been clogged by chips of dried rubber.
I will walk you through the necessary steps of an O-ring replacement. It is not really difficult, but still might take some time. And not only shortcuts do not pay of when doing watch work, also please, never rush yourself. Stop if you can not finish and start again later. If you try to finish something quickly, you might end up damaging the watch. This is at least my personal experience. I often had to force myself to stop, even I would have loved to finished quicker. And I was always glad that I did not rush. It is not only that the risk is reduced, but also that you are able to start again with fresh energy. I also noticed that I do watch work a lot better in the morning, after a good nights rest. And not after a long day at the PC when hands and eyes are tired already.

Disclaimer: I am not a watchmaker, I am just a watch nut like many of you. I am trying however to provide as accurate information as possible.

The Face of the Beauty (3 Pictures)	The Beauty's Back (1 Picture)	The open Watch (2 Pictures)	Movement on Pad (3 Pictures)	Watch Silicon Grease and O-Rings (1 Pictures)
The Movement on Holder (2 Pictures)	Cleaning the Case (4 Pictures)	New O-Ring inserted (4 Pictures)	The Happy End (1 Picture)