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Zenith Respirator Kennedy 28 800 - Gasket/Crystal/Dial help

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Habitant 
#1 ·
Hi all, Just bought a 1971 Zenith Respirator Kennedy 28800 - square gold case around 28x28 - and the crystal gasket has melted. As you know, this model is unusual in that the gasket between the glass and dial is supposed to compress as the atmospheric pressure increases and make the watch water tight. But the material was 'rubbish' in the words of my friendly watch repair man. He doesn't want to risk taking it apart (movement comes out from from of case...) as he reckons he'll damage the dial. In the old days, he says, he'd have just got another dial and replaced it, not easy today.
So what to do? Find someone braver, I guess. But as to the dial, I am seriously loathe to refinish it. Anyone out there had a similar dilemma? The movement works beautifully, which doesn't mean it doesn't need to be stripped down...

Help!

Michael
 
#2 ·
From what I can gather reading between the lines, some of the crystal (however did you get it to liquify?!!) is "glued" to the dial. I would try to remove it very carefully and leave the rest of the dial as it is. Unless the crstal has spread, the affected areas will be covered by the new crystal so it should look OK when everything is in place. Or am I missing something?

Hartmut Richter
 
#4 ·
Sorry to be pedantic, but "I" certainly didn't do anything to liquify the gasket. It may be that the previous owner did something, but my watch repairman was of the opinion that the material used by Zenith and Omega alike in the period (c1970) was prone to perishing in this way. He won't touch it for fear of damaging the dial, and I'd like to find someone (too risky, too committed, too ?) who could gently try to ease it off, as you suggest in your reply.

Thanks, Michael
 
#3 · (Edited)
I got a Respirator 28800. Shortly after I got it (from the heirs of the first owner, the watch was never serviced) the date change got stuck. The problem appeared to be the gasket, which had melted and apparently got under the dial. My watchmaker managed to remove the remains of the gasket, but it must have been a tedious job. But hey, that's what he gets paid for, right?
That rubber sealing had desintegrated and went everywhere. It did leave some stains on the date ring. Fortunately with minimal damage to the dial.
So if your friendly watch repair man does not want to do the job, you should look for another one ;-) Of course each watch is different and possibly in your case there is more damage to the dial.
But what else can you do ? No choice, that melted rubber must be removed. If the damage to the dial afterwards appears extensive, you may still get lucky in finding a new old stock dial (that's what I would hope for, rather than refinishing it).



On this page you can see my Respirator with only a small rubber stain on the 'S' of Swiss made :
https://www.watchuseek.com/f27/what-you-wearing-today-whatever-current-day-date-615220-10.html

There was probably more damage near the edges of the dial, but this gets covered by the case anyway.

When I brought back the watch because it was still running slow, the watchmaker managed to remove that little stain on 'Swiss' as well.

On this page you can see my Respirator afterwards without the stain on the 'swiss' and you can see some of the damage to the date ring:

https://www.watchuseek.com/f27/what-you-wearing-today-whatever-current-day-date-615220-12.html

I guess I could look for another date ring, haven't been searching yet, it doesn't bother me that much.
 
#5 ·
Thanks, I can't see much rubber on my dial, so perhaps the job is just outside his skill set (but he is Zenith approved, according to his website)...

Thanks,

Michael

I got a Respirator 28800. Shortly after I got it (from the heirs of the first owner, the watch was never serviced) the date change got stuck. The problem appeared to be the gasket, which had melted and apparently got under the dial. My watchmaker managed to remove the remains of the gasket, but it must have been a tedious job. But hey, that's what he gets paid for, right?
That rubber sealing had desintegrated and went everywhere. It did leave some stains on the date ring. Fortunately with minimal damage to the dial.
So if your friendly watch repair man does not want to do the job, you should look for another one ;-) Of course each watch is different and possibly in your case there is more damage to the dial.
But what else can you do ? No choice, that melted rubber must be removed. If the damage to the dial afterwards appears extensive, you may still get lucky in finding a new old stock dial (that's what I would hope for, rather than refinishing it).



On this page you can see my Respirator with only a small rubber stain on the 'S' of Swiss made :
https://www.watchuseek.com/f27/what-you-wearing-today-whatever-current-day-date-615220-10.html

But when I brought back the watch because it was still running slow, the watchmaker managed to remove that little stain as well.

On this page you can see my Respirator afterwards without the stain on the dial, but with a stain on the date;

https://www.watchuseek.com/f27/what-you-wearing-today-whatever-current-day-date-615220-12.html

There was probably more paint damage near the edges of the dial, but this gets covered by the case anyway.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I agree that many of the rubber sealings used in the period are prone to that kind of deteriorating (1970's Seiko's are better in this respect: the rubber under the crystal is often still in good condition).
my watch repairman was of the opinion that the material used by Zenith and Omega alike in the period (c1970) was prone to perishing in this way.
 
#9 ·
Hi all

Well, the watch has been stripped down, the gunk removed. I'm on the back straight now, on the hunt for a new crystal and gasket. I sent it to Zenith and their estimate was £400 (USD$650) to service it. Whilst I'm sure they're very good, I thought it was too much. I sent it to Christian Dannemann, a watch repairman I highly rate. But it's not about price, it's about attention to detail, really. Here's a link to the strip down and a view of just how far inside the gunk had gotten:
Service: Zenith Respirator luxe calibre 2562PC | Watch Guy

With a bit of luck, someone on eBay has the right crystal; I'm waiting to hear back.
As to the nature of the gunk, Christian and I disagree; he feels it's sealant, I feel it's melted gasket, age-related. Sadly for me, I do like these TV shapes and for my sins, I've now been stung three times with similar disasters and Christian is now buying significant volumes of methylated spirits.
It's not always possible to see before you open it. But I have sworn off them for now, too risky, too expensive to sort out and too impossible to source crystals and particularly new gaskets.

Best wishes,
Michael


 
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