Reply To: Orient King Diver automatic wrist watch crown issue.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Jimmy,
Thanks for the pics. They tell me what I need to know now.
Sorry, yes you are correct…it would be a button and not a crown. The reason I asked is that would help me to determine what movement you had. Orient later came out with a time and day date setting that could all be accomplished with one crown. The cal 469 and others had the separate quick set day “button”. Your picture says it all though. The movement is the earlier cal 1942 which I believe was the predecessor of the cal 469. Also I think it was based on the Seiko 6000 series whereas the cal 469 was based on Seiko’s 7000 series. Both are great durable movements. You are correct about the screws securing the dial. After loosening the screws enough to remove the dial it’s a good idea to turn them back in a few turns so they don’t work their way out and play hide and seek with you. Not having worked with these or Seiko movements in the past I would advise against going too far with its dis assembly. After removing the dial you won’t really be able to see much as the calendar mechanism will obscure most of your view of the setting assembly. You’ll be able to see a little but not everything without removing part of the calendar mechanism. These calendar mechs. can be a little difficult to work with at first and some practice with your own movements would be highly advised! They are simple mechanisms but there are some tiny springs that can go flying into outer space if you are not familiar with them. So if you do need to go further and don’t have anything to practice on then my advise would be to pass the job on to someone that knows Seiko’s and not risk damage to your friends watch.
There are a few more things that you can check though. It’s possible that the stem isn’t installed correctly. If you haven’t already, try inserting the stem again…just in case. When you remove the stem check under the crown and make sure there isn’t dirt build up under the crown and in the crown gasket groove. This can keep the crown from seating all the way down on the tube lessening it’s intended travel which may prevent the watch from moving out of the setting position. This is a common problem with waterproof crowns. If that doesn’t do the trick then try removing the movement from the case again and then test the setting mechanism. This will remove the case tube and case from the testing phase and will tell you if there is a problem between the case tube or case itself and the movement. If it works well out of the case then you can easily find the cause of your problem. Casing a movement can be tricky too. It’s possible that the movement isn’t tight or is tilted or twisted a little in the case. If the movement is able to move or shift even the slightest bit in the case it’s very possible you won’t be able to disengage it from of setting mode.

Please let us know what you find out Jimmy,
Bob