Resurrecting A RAN Certina Dive Watch From The Dead

[lambstew]

Just shy of a year ago I was shown the remains of what was once a Royal Australian Navy issue Certina dive watch after a chance conversation with a watch maker. "Ah yes, that ugly, bulky hunk of metal from the 1970's", he commented to me, while searching through trays of assorted watch parts in his workshop.

I'd had this watch on my brain for a little while at that point after seeing one for the first time earlier in the year on another web site, (http://www.scubawatch.org/DS3.html). The depth and size of of the DS 3 Super Ph1000m, with it's massive bezel and thick crystal reminded me of the Marathon SAR. The hands I found equally striking and very much like those found on the Royal Navy Omega Seamaster 300 or the RN Rolex Submariner.

The more I studied the Certina the more I grew to love it. I'm also very partial to the cushion shaped cases of the early 1970's, in particular those seen on Seiko 6105 divers. The Certina DS 3 seemed to have all the elements I liked in a vintage dive watch AND it was an issue piece. OK, I was sold! Now where do I find one?

At the time there seemed to none around that I could find or at a decent price. Then one weekend I happened to attend an antique show where I met a watchmaker who sold vintage watches. He had in his case a watch that interested me very much: a 1970's Australian Army issue contract Hamilton - very cool! And so begins my Certina story..

Several day later I found myself at his workshop and talking military watches. I asked him if he had ever heard of or seen a Certina RAN issued wrist watch. Yes, indeed he had and told me how about 20 years ago they were quite plentiful when the Government sold off much of their supply to disposal stores (military surplus stores), etc. It was around this time that the little Hamilton made army issue watches also appeared as Government surplus.

Well, that was 20 years ago and he personally hasn't had many through his hands for at least the past 10 years. Our conversation however sparked a memory of one last example from those days which was sitting somewhere in his parts trays, a watch which from memory has leaked during it's service life and was in bad shape.

Finally, I heard a "Ah ha!". Turning around back to face me he declared success and pulled out a tray containing the remains of a DS 3 Certina dive watch. He said it had been kept as a parts watch and that was the way he got it.

Not only had the watch leaked, but it was incomplete, the massive bezel completely missing, only the basic inner guts remaining..groan! Not only that, but the Certina (Kurth) caliber 919-1 25 jewel automatic movement was almost completely rusted and the very thick stepped crystal chipped and scratched. The dial was also a mess, the water damage extensive, leaving behind dried white salt residue and rust staining. In addition, all the luminous material on the rectangular markers were completely gone. The hands were luckily there and not looking too bad though.

The original unsigned crown was present but the stem had been broken off, leaving a little end of it sticking out. Aside from the bezel the watch was more or less all there The serial number found on the screw in back declared this watch as being number #18, so a very low number.

So there it was all laid out on the work bench in front of me. This watch had seen a lot of service and was used until the crown failed and filled with water. That's what I liked about it: it was a real tool watch and didn't sit on some supply shelf for years. You could even see the nylon pull through strap burn marks on the back. No rubber or metal bracelet was used on this one.

Despite the seemingly hopelessness of it all, a little voice inside me said to make him an offer since having what was there was better than nothing at all. Besides, I've always liked a good project and the fun and challenge of bringing back an old junk yard dog to bark once again. Having languished in his parts box for the past 15 years, he said the remains were better off with me and so we sealed a price which was dinner and drinks on me

Today then, after nearly a year of working on this, I'm pleased to raise the curtain and show the final result. Due to lack of time I can't get into all the other nitty gritty but will say that I got really, really lucky and found a used empty DS 3 case on ebay, thus solving the missing bezel problem. Parts for these watches are simply not around. I even tried Certina who told me they have absolutely nothing from that era.

After scoring the empty DS 3 I was officially in business and very soon after I also picked up a used plain-jane regular Certina dress watch which contained the correct caliber movement inside.

With parts in sweaty hand, I once again returned to my watchmaker friend who did a Spock when I produced the missing parts. Three days later the watch was once again complete but this was only going to be the rough version. What was still missing was a set of gaskets and as bad as it was I felt that the dial could be improved without having to resort to an outright refinishing.

The chips and scratches on the the original crystal also bothered me and figured out that the chunks missing out of the edges/sides was the result of improper removal and not from service handling.

As it turned out I found the right person to do the dial job and and he felt that it could be made to look much better. I didn't want the dial looking too perfect though since the water had permanently damaged some areas of the surface by lifting off and going under the paint lacquer. Some of the white squares were also partially or completely flaked off, including some of the seconds markers.

I basically wanted the re-luming to be hand done so that the imperfections of this method would match the character of the dial. I wanted it to appear that moisture had gotten in there at some point and affected things, but not to the extent that it had in real life.

When I got back home, my other watch maker worked on further cleaning the case and adjusting the fit of the complicated bezel (since I live in Canada), while the dial person in Australia worked on that. My guy here also had a new crystal professionally made which is identical to the original. He also cleaned much of the rust staining off the original movement date wheel which I wanted to re-use to again match the dial condition. Having a brand new white date wheel would have looked terrible.

Here are the pictures in chronological order. The first ones show the watch in pieces as I originally found it. Note all the various pieces required for the inner workings of the bezel - very complicated! The watch maker made a joke shot by laying out all the pieces like the Olympic rings You can also see how bad the dial was - YIKES!

The next shots show the watch after immediate reassembly, fully functional again aside from some bezel issues and no thorough case cleaning and and gaskets.

The last shots are of the final product: cleaned/re-lumed dial, new crystal, complete ultrasonic case cleaning, new gaskets, etc. I was amazed at how good the dial turned out. There is still visible damage and some spotting which showed up after the cleaning process, but almost all the salt water residue and rust staining is gone and other dirt.


The lume job was also like I wanted and matches in colour another example I've seen in which the lume had gone this shade or close to it. Anyhow my hat goes off to my dial guy - just incredible what he was able to accomplish.

I'll let you guys be the judge otherwise. I know how I feel!

Anyhow, sorry to ramble on, but I just thought it might be of interest to some to hear about how a dead and nearly buried Certina was eventually resurrected and brought back to life. With the right people to do the right job, almost anything is possble..

Cheers!

Konrad

[James Dowling]

Hi L;

Excellent work from your craftsmen, enjoy the results.

[Nalu]

Fantastic!

First off, thanks for rescuing this gem. The time and effort is as impressive as your good fortune.

Second, I think you made some excellent choices and I'd like to think I would have done the same. The outcome is superb.

Third, I'm interested in whether he got the push-turn-locking bezel mechanism working right, and if so, how? I've got a PH1000 on which the bezel is knackered and at this point is bi-directional and barely ratcheting. I'm sure it's simple fix, but I can't even figure out how to get the thing off because I'm afraid of damaging it.

Finally, if 'your man' is interested in making another PH1000m crystal or two, I'd be very interested in buying them. Please PM/email me his details if he can do one or two more, TIA.

Job well done, great post

[watchyouwant]

but the result is just worth it. glad, that you like the colour of the markers. this watch is worth every effort. enjoy it and kind regards from down under. achim

[shepcs]

I love stories like these.

[L.A.kevin]

Wonderful restoration. I really like restorations that leave some of the history and scars intact. Well done sir. Wear that beautiful watch in health.

[lambstew]

..just so you have an idea. I measured the original and it's about 6mm thick! It was made by gluing together layers of mineral glass crystals using a UV glue and then grinding and polishing the glass to size. This is exactly how the replacement was made as well by the specialty watch supplier for my watch maker.

As you can see the chips were pretty bad and judging by the spacing of the damage, likely caused by some kind of pliers or tool while possibly trying to improperly extract the crystal. There is no way the damage was caused to the side walls like that during the normal use of the watch.

At first I was a little hesitant to replace the original crystal because of it's uniqueness, but after seeing the replacement my hesitation vanished.










Thanks again to everyone for all their kind comments. The watch is sitting on my wrist as I write this and I also want to say that despite the big size (45mm diameter) and 233g of weight, I find wearing it extremely comfortable and well balanced even with my small 7 1/4 inch wrist. This was a very pleasant surprise and is now my fave dive watch for wear.

Cheers!

Konrad

[Bill]

Superb restraint in restoration! Thanks for sharing this with us!

[stanford]

A real labour of love, and a quite superb end product

[Snogge]

Very nice watch and restoration. These gems must be tresured and worn !

[Mark]

Konrad,

Wonderful job. You've brought this back with taste and panache. Thanks for sharing the process with us. It really pleases me to see an old veteran brought back like this, and to know that it is in good hands. We never really own watches like this (unless we are planning to be buried with them), but just have a responsibility to be their custodians. Clearly, you are doing this well.

Mark

[lambstew]

Originally Posted by Mark

Konrad,

Wonderful job. You've brought this back with taste and panache. Thanks for sharing the process with us. It really pleases me to see an old veteran brought back like this, and to know that it is in good hands. We never really own watches like this (unless we are planning to be buried with them), but just have a responsibility to be their custodians. Clearly, you are doing this well.

Mark

Good to hear that you are still alive. Like this watch, I'm back once again from the dead as well..

My pictures of the refurbished dial show the marker colour as a bit too yellow..must be my crappy camera..

Cheers!

Konrad