[31 Jewels]

Hey everyone, its 31. I am first to admit i am an ebay addict. Nowhere can you go to a place on the internet, and find so many cool watches to buy from all over the world, and in so many countries. I check Citizen searches daily, kinda like a stock broker checks stocks. As i'm scrolling down the pages, sometimes something really catches my eye. Pink dial vintage Citizen mans watch? Case, bracelet intact and what appears to be all the parts. Check. Had to have it. I could see from the pictures that this was something special. Citizen puts alot of effort into making some very beautifull and unique dials. The way they reflect light really draws me in. Plus, a facet glass crystal. I bet this thing would look good restored for my collection. Just hope i can get a crystal for it. Lets see what happens....31

 

[31 Jewels]

Facet glass watch number 2. Heres how this one was sold. You get 3 parts watches. Hopefully enough parts to make or repair one. I saw the purple dial, facet crystal and knew this one i had to have. I didnt know it was a Crystal 7. Bonus! This watch came with the Citizen 6500 caliber. The upper left watch (below pic) is an 8200. That only left me with 2 possible donors since this was a non runner. When i finally got it (pic1) i was very surprised it was in pretty good beat condition. The dial is neatly detailed/textured around the outside and it looks much better than i expected. Time to get it out of the case and really take a look. Lets see what happens, stay tuned 31

 

[31 Jewels]

Pink 71-0474 dial produced June 1977 with a low serial number. This one uses the 8200. I have not seen one where the rotor signature is in green letters. It was very filthy inside and suffered some moisture damage. This was said not to run. To my surprise it actually ran very good. So good that i decided to wear it as is for about 2 weeks as you see it. It stayed within a minute the entire time and after about 18 days it started to slow down alot. It gave its all and now its time to get a proper restoration and service. I'll give you a better view as i get them both apart. I would like to see that dial without the scoured crystal covering it. 31

 

[31 Jewels]

The Crystal 7 is something that's known in the vintage Citizen community. This is my first one and produced January 1974. I had to consult Stephen with some originality questions. While the case back shows 6500 as the base caliber, this particular example has a 6501. I'm pretty sure the caliber numbers change as complications are added. Say, day of the week may make it a 6501. I'm really not sure. I do believe the 6500 predates the 8200 and i felt these 2 watches done together could be compared. We also discussed the lack of a signed crown, which appears to be original, as well as the watch as a whole including the 5 sided facet crystal. This watch was completely seized up. I also noticed right away the hairspring was damaged. So its good to have the other 2 donors. Provided they are good too. Lets take a look at the dial next. 31

 

[Morris Minor]

I'm intrigued to see how this one turns out, especially the faceted glass. I remember the unusual Crystal 7, at first I was sceptical about it, but found another example and concluded that Citizen continued to use the name in the early 1970s, maybe for export models. The original Crystal 7's used the 52xx movement, but that ceased production in the late 1960s. The 6500 family was early 1970s, just before the 8200 was first made. The 6501 is the day and date version and is often found in these models with fancy / colourful dials.

Stephen

 

[31 Jewels]

This is the time to get a real close view. The pink dials surface has no scratches. Its dirty, and boy, does that reflect some nice pearl white light. Like lightning bolts shooting down the front. It shows another cool illusion, which i will show you later in the thread. The hands and hour markers have some pretty decent corrosion on them. The lume dots are shot, except the one at the 3 mark. This is going to present some restoration challenges. The Crystal 7. The dial has some cool rose engine turned work done to it from the factory. Very nice. The dial looks real good. Its faded, and reflects the purple foil color real nice. I see the hands will need to be cleaned and relumed. Looks like Citizen did not use lume on the hour markers. The Citizen logo looks perfect, other than being dirty, this dial is a winner. Lets see what unfolds here......31

 

[31 Jewels]

Usually, rusted screws can be a real challenge. Whats interesting is the Pinks 8200 had only one. This screw came right out, but its the other bridge screw that broke. (see pic) Its very rare for me to break screws, but it does happen. Usually when they are very rusty. In this case, the bridge screw was put in so tight that it already started to break, only to remove it and snap. There is nothing you can do. Fortunately, removing the winding bridge allows you to get to the left over threads, and removal is pretty straight forward. Plus, if you remember the Citizen 8200 divers I did awhile back allowed some parts to be used. In this case, just one screw. The rest of the 8200 was cleaning minor rust specs, and polishing the reverser wheel pivots.

 

[31 Jewels]

The C7's 6501 had different problems. The plastic day of the week calendar advance gear was broken completely off, and i found it jammed up. That looks like part of the reason why the watch would not run, other than the hairspring being ruined. Sometime luck works for you. The 6500 parts donor watches have what i needed. The 6500 is a slightly smaller caliber than the 8200 and a little trickier to work on. No parts are interchangeable between the 2, except maybe some of the screws. Other than the hairspring and a calendar advance, this 6501 is going to run like new again. See you soon with some more. 31

 

[31 Jewels]

After alot of time and patience. Pinks 8200 above. Its pretty safe to say that this little bugger ran for 10's of thousands of hours in its life so far. Now, after its tip top service, its set to run many many more. 6501 below. This took alot more time because of repairs. Worth it to have the original movement in the 7, and have the parts available. I had to make some fine adjustments to the hairspring, and wow, does it have excellent amplitude.

 

[31 Jewels]

Take a look at the Crystal 7's day of the week wheel. This is only the second Citizen watch that I've seen, with a one day of the week language wheel. Steven had mentioned export model. One thing that is really cool about the 7's day of the week wheel, is it can be universal for any country. Check out the numbers next to the day of the week. Very cool! You still would know what day it was, no matter what language you spoke. The 6501 is a non quick set day caliber, but... with the next gen workhorse.. the 8200, you now get the quick set option. This a good time to take a little intermission and show you a cool, vintage Citizen that led me to collecting, and restoring facet crystal glass Citizen watches. Take a look on page 11..........

 

[31 Jewels]

I got real lucky on ebay one night with this one. This is a brand new old stock Citizen 61-0615 facet glass with the 6501. Made in August 1974, it was never used in 40 years. Not only did i get the original box, it also came with the original warranty/instruction book, hang tag and caseback sticker. I have only ever seen 4 for sale in the last 5 years. 3 of them, were like you see in my resto/service threads like this one. If you have one of these watches, please post it up. It blows my mind how much time Citizen spent to make this watch. The dial glows like a real emerald. The gold hour markers and hands look like mirrors. Plus a very rare gold Citizen signed crown. The facet glass makes the watch look like a high end piece of jewelry. In the sunlight, it glitters and casts reflections, and with its case style in full stainless, its easy to see why people would have bought them. I wore this watch for about a month...carefully....and, it just seized up and stopped. The last time the caseback was open was 40 years ago, when a Citizen watchmaker was building it. It had the new car smell, not sea water and funk like those Citizen 8200 divers a did awhile back. (Visit my profile for that resto.) It was a joy to be the first watchmaker to service this watch. One, that was not in the hands of some butcher, with a dull set of screwdrivers. Nowadays, it just spends its time as an excellent reference tool to help me with my watch restorations. Now back to our regularly scheduled program 31

 

[31 Jewels]

Just cleaning Pinks dial made a huge difference right from the start. Cleaning the corrosion off gives a good idea to the condition of the hour markers. I decided, instead of reapplying small lume dots back on the hour markers, I would cover the entire surface of the hour marker facing away. Reason is, it covers more of the damage done by the corrosion. Now it leaves the facet facing in ward towards the dial, where the gold is the nicest. It makes for a really cool lume shot later in the thread. Here is Pinks dial(below pic) cleaned, spotless, relumed with a finished 8200 running movement. Note the hands. Cleaning and a new relume make a huge difference too. I am happy with the results. I'm getting a good sense now of what this watched looked like new, and its inspiring to see how good it will look when finished. Time for its case to go to the polish and restoration shop next. 31

 

[31 Jewels]

Not much drama to report with the 7's dial. This dial has faded from the years exposed to the sun. If you look right at the center of the dial, you can see where the hands didnt allow the light to hit it. I would have really liked to see this watch new. Up close, the hour markers looked at one time like the tops were black. There so faded, I needed an eye loup to see. I applied black to the top of one, and then decided not to because it darkened an already dark dial. I think it looks better, adds more sparkle, and is brighter with out the blacked out surface. (below pic) Here it is with relumed hands, cleaned, and ready with a smooth running 6501. You might be interested with what i find with the 7's case. It needed major, custom restoration repairs. Stay tuned, 31

 

[Morris Minor]

Great work as usual 31J |> The pink dial is quite something, even you don't like pink! And your NOS model is very cool, that was a great find. Always good to have the box and papers, especially in mint condition.

Stephen

 

[DJW GB]

I cannot believe i missed the start of the thread :roll: . Looks like it's going to be a good one again . Thanks 31J for sharing with us again :-!. DW.

 

[jaliya48]

you really are the Citizen magician! The pink dial is mind-blowing!
Also, I'm very envious of your NOS catch!

 

[31 Jewels]

I really wanted to use Pinks original bracelet, but there is nothing I could do to repair the dented links. I have collected a few different Citizen bracelets with different style links that will look better instead. Finding original stainless Citizen bracelets isn't easy. Especially with enough links for my wrist size. If i could find a used one with enough links someday, i may put it back on in the future. Whats cool is a lot of these old Citizen's use an 18 MM lug width. The case did not have any real big dents. It really looks good polished and i'm starting to see it come together now. Finding a NOS facet glass crystal is gonna be the deal breaker now. Here goes...

 

[31 Jewels]

The 7's case almost put a damper on my plans. I did not see this problem in the sale picture, as it was (a lot) smaller.(see page 1 thread #2) The engraving was so deep that there was no way polishing it out would have fixed it, other than ruin the case. Good thing my friends at the jewelry store have a Laser Welder. These guys showed me some really cool stuff. I didn't know that Laser Welders are used mostly in the medical field. They said that they have repaired vintage microscope light bulbs with it. So I gave them the 7's case. They welded the engraving with stainless steel and polished it. I was blown away after seeing this. Now, major dents and damage can be repaired with out the total loss of the case. Almost at the finish line. Getting a 5 sided facet glass NOS Citizen crystal may be beyond reach. We shall see....stay tuned. 31

 

[Morris Minor]

The laser welding to remove that engraving is a revelation - the finish looks to be entirely consistent with the rest of the case. Is it an expensive process?

Stephen

 

[jaliya48]

Wow, good job on that case!