About a year ago I sold my Orange Monster to help make ends meet.
This was a decision that I've regretted ever since, and seeing as prices have almost trebled I thought I'd never own one again...

However one badly written eBay add later I find myself in possession of a first edition black Monster.

For £42 I scored perhaps the worlds most unloved, filthy monster!









The bracelet was crusty, dull and scratched, the crystal has three deep scores, the case filthy but generally undamaged.
The crown was stuck solid.

The crown was persuaded to unscrew, however the action was very stiff and quite uncontrollable, it was pot luck to set the time or change the date.

First I removed the back then removed the bracelet, stem and movement.

The bracelet I buffed up on my polishing rig I have in the garage (which admittedly is more used to seeing motorcycle parts!)
This brought out all but the worst of the scratches.

Then I hand polished with an extremely fine metal polish before a buff with a finishing polish.







Now it's not absolutely perfect, but it has made the difference from almost binning the bracelet to almost perfect.

A spare link from Churchy of this parish completed the bracelet.

The case and bezel were given a clean in a mild detergent. I used a fine bottle brush I have to clean out the stem tube, which was full of all kinds of yuck 🤢.

The stem I used a fine oil on a polishing cloth. What looked like a rusty stem was brought back to a dull shine.

On reassembly the bracelet now gleams and it's links move freely, the bezel turns properly with that typical seiko feel you get with Monsters...and it lines up beautifully.

The stem now moves and operates faultlessly.





So I now have a very presentable black monster.
The results so far im very happy with....

But the crystal still has very noticeable scores, so to this end I've ordered a medium domed sapphire crystal to replace it with.

My other problem, I'm not really fond of the white hands or the very blobby lume on the dial, so a hand and dial change is next up.

Trouble is......I can't quite make up my mind what face to go for....

Feel free to offer some inspiration!