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Adventures in Seiko Modding

  1. NT931 Oct 7, 2017

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    So technically this is a franken, but since the practice of modding a Seiko is a well-established one, I thought what the heck, let's give it a shot.

    There's a huge range of mods available, and I went with a mod to totally change the look of the venerable SKX007. Ordered the parts through another person, brought it down to K2 watches, and the deed was done! I think I like it so far :) Kinda fun, overall


    F5BA3364-F539-4509-8710-656BD198F2FC.jpeg
    927A911A-66C9-4F5E-B4E2-EA5ACC643A58.jpeg
     
    Edited Oct 7, 2017
    nzshadow, ZIELSZIEK, Spruce and 9 others like this.
  2. Speedy_Gonzales Oct 7, 2017

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    I like it! If my 009 wasn't perfect the way it was I would seriously consider modding.
     
    NT931 likes this.
  3. Tubber Oct 7, 2017

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    I might have to buy a 007 to mod, that looks good :thumbsup:.
     
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  4. Tubber Oct 7, 2017

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    There is some really good, informative links in the Worn & Wound article in the OP.
     
  5. efauser I ♥ karma!!! Oct 7, 2017

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    I don't have the nerve or skill to do a mod myself. I just picked this Yobokies 55 Fathoms mod.
    Yobokies 55 Fathoms.jpg
     
    Foo2rama, CTS-V, NT931 and 1 other person like this.
  6. pascs Oct 7, 2017

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    I've been modding Seikos for several years, it can become addictive :D I then started modding Omega Speedmasters but now back to Seikos again :thumbsup:
     
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  7. ahsposo Most fun screen name at ΩF Oct 7, 2017

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    My mods are limited to getting rid of that awful non-hand winding, non hacking 7s26 and replacing it with a NH36a.

    Seiko NH36_091016 3646.jpg Seiko NH36_091016 3650.jpg Seiko SKX wNH36_091616 3706.jpg Seiko SKX wNH36_091616 3717.jpg
    Then I found a bezel with some color I liked:
    Seiko mod_020517 5286.jpg Seiko mod_020517 5293.jpg
     
  8. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Oct 9, 2017

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    This isn't my normal type of work, and usually I refuse to do these sort of mods, but I have a couple of good customers that occasionally ask me to do some of these mods. I recently finished this "Soxa" mod for one of them...

    [​IMG]

    Includes dial, hands, rehaut, sapphire crystal, and bezel insert...

    I've also done a number of Monster mods, swapping dials for different colours - I remember the blue Monster was quite a popular one back when I did more of this sort of work.
     
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  9. Jones in LA Isofrane hoarder. Oct 9, 2017

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    I realize this may seem silly to bring up, especially if those who wear these modded watches have no intention of using the watches as timing devices for SCUBA diving, but..."Safety First" I always say.

    The outer ring on the bezel mod shows no-deco stop limits based on U.S. Navy dive tables, which are aggressive compared to a modern, recreational no-deco stop standard like that advocated by PADI. At a depth of 90ft, for example, the U.S. Navy standard allows a full five additional minutes of bottom time (for the first dive of the day) compared to the PADI standard. In practice, even in cases where divers are 100% compliant with maximum bottom times recommended by PADI, there will be a small percentage of divers who experience problems with decompression sickness -- due to their own particular physiology and individual pre-dive activities. So there is a strong case for being conservative rather than aggressive. Yes, the bottom time limits on these bezel mods are exactly the same as those on Doxa bezels, but keep in mind that the first Doxa dive watches pre-date the development of the PADI no-deco stop standard by about 20 years.

    There, I've said my piece :) Now I can say how cool these mods look. Nice work!
     
  10. vitriol Oct 10, 2017

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    Love the liberty od modding and I grew up on Seiko, so was there quite some time.

    My last mod, was just a simple reinterpretation of SKX into a more modern spec, solid bracelet, sapphire, ceramic and lumed insert etc.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    After that I felt fullfiled and somehow lost the interest in this area :)

    Worn & Wound did a good job and has covered in that article almost all widely recognised sources. If you fancy to learn more - I put them all together here:
    http://forums.watchuseek.com/f21/seiko-modifications-101-how-where-2770002.html
     
    ZIELSZIEK, Dsloan, tomkenmag and 5 others like this.
  11. NT931 Oct 10, 2017

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    vitriol likes this.
  12. Paedipod Oct 10, 2017

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    Mickey monster mod...... 64B75005-EC9A-4E1E-8926-31C03880F25A.jpeg
     
  13. Dial & Bezel Oct 10, 2017

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    Had this california mod done last year and now it's my everyday beater. :D

    Screenshot_20171010-231347_01.png
     
    NGO1, Spruce, ahsposo and 1 other person like this.
  14. Foo2rama Keeps his worms in a ball instead of a can. Oct 10, 2017

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    So yobookie is still around? I checked his site about a year ago and it seemed dead.
     
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  15. vitriol Oct 10, 2017

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    No, Harold (Yobokies) is doing fine and keeps introducing the new parts.
    Afaik, Rob (Monsterwatches) is less and less active. Some time ago he posted heads-up about developing own watch/brand so perhaps this keeps him busy.
     
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  16. speedytoronto Jan 26, 2020

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    Sorry to revive an old thread. What dial is that and do you recall whose bezel insert you used? I have a stock skx and the one thing I wish it had was raised hour markers for a bit of extra bling. The ceramic bezel would help with that too but I want one that looks like the stock bezel and not a sub clone.
     
  17. vitriol Jan 26, 2020

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    The dial is Seiko stock dial, from SKX171 watch.
    If I remember correctly, this is LCBI bezel insert, years ago only them have had such inserts, pretty sure today there are many more sources to find inserts like that.
     
  18. watch3s Jan 26, 2020

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    are there good modders floating around? ive been looking to having an skx023 modded or upgraded
     
  19. RI Omega Fan Jan 26, 2020

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  20. Dr.K Jan 28, 2020

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    I know! I love my 009J. It’s pretty much my daily wearer for the work week!