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My first steps in the vintage Seiko universe...

  1. omegastar Jan 9, 2021

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    Yesterday I was offered this diver Seiko in a deal and I bought it without really knowing anything about it. I bought it for 170€.
    Well, first, I quite like it and I find it interesting. I suddenly discover a whole new unexplored universe.
    I made my homework and here are my findings (correct me if I am wrong).
    It is a 3rd generation Seiko diver 6309-7040, made in Japan in 1978.
    All original, except for the later service hands. The crown screws, but only half a turn.
    I phoned a friend who might have spare tritium hands and a crown...
    I welcome all comments from the experts and others, happy new year.

    Here are the pictures :
    4573004B-595B-4432-9F2E-A099AF462B80.jpeg 1305326D-F80B-4488-A9E9-60471A449DAB.jpeg AA1C662A-A014-4537-ACCD-47B6DF91497C.jpeg 7D8A9A0C-8992-4CAB-848C-3B9485508CB6.jpeg 1E29F312-ED52-4232-8B8E-44A497AD565A.jpeg C14B9DD6-14E6-4FA3-9951-5BA5206BE465.jpeg 1E4E9B65-74EB-4C40-9F4E-40D460BD9673.jpeg 74B68482-FBEF-43A6-A66E-D880060160DD.jpeg 6E749A36-C2ED-4ED4-993F-AFD67A0D403F.jpeg 33452AEE-D1A7-4510-95A5-792966C830E0.jpeg
     
  2. omegaswisst Jan 9, 2021

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    Welcome to the world of vintage Seiko.

    Looking at your watch I noted the following:

    1. Bezel insert looks to be correct but the lume pip at 12 appears to have been replaced.

    20210110_001325.jpg

    2. The crown should be a large spline crown on these earlier models. The crown on your watch appears to be a later replacement.

    20191202_132932.jpg

    3. The crown should screw down with around three turns. The problem with your watch may not be the threads in the crown but more likely on the crown tube. The crown tube can be drilled out and a new one inserted.

    4. The hour and minute hands look to be correct. The hour hand seems to have the correct slant in towards the lume. The seconds hand however looks to be from a 7548 Seiko diver. You could try shining a light on them and see if they glow a similar colour to line plots on dial.
    Correct seconds hand shown below:
    20210110_003518.jpg



    5. The dial looks to be correct with some fading to the 'water' and 'resist' writing which should normally be a dark red colour. Bevel around date window present. The hour lume plots have taken on a creamy colour which is common in the earlier versions.

    6. Case looks to be in good condition. It has the wider cut out around the crown found in the earlier models. It's hard to tell but the upper surface of lugs seems to still have some of the circular brushed finish.

    20191202_132716.jpg
     
    Edited Jan 9, 2021
    Knud, bardamu, kilian and 8 others like this.
  3. omegastar Jan 9, 2021

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    Thank you for your assessment !
     
  4. omegastar Jan 9, 2021

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  5. vibe Jan 9, 2021

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    I thought that the crown tube on these could not be repaired.
     
  6. Walrus Jan 9, 2021

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    Impressive. Very good eye there. I didn’t realize what a minefield vintage seikos were till I went about trying to buy a couple. Modding seikos is nothing new of course but I’m finding some of these modders use their skill to rebuild or fake the vintage stuff. Some sellers are very open about it fortunately but I am finding that is not always the case
     
  7. Dan S Jan 9, 2021

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    Well, you got it at a very good price, so another option would be just to enjoy it as is. Keep in mind that the 6309 could be a gateway drug into vintage Seiko.
     
    m84, bardamu, Emeister and 2 others like this.
  8. omegastar Jan 9, 2021

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    That’s why I said : « I suddenly discover a whole new unexplored universe. »
     
  9. Dan S Jan 9, 2021

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    m84, kilian, ZIELSZIEK and 5 others like this.
  10. Russ1965 Jan 9, 2021

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    Beware...................the vintage world of Seiko is a rabbit hole that I ventured into several years ago.

    AND have never looked back !!!

    Here's just a few examples of what my collection consists of............

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Foo2rama, omegaswisst and omegastar like this.
  11. omegastar Jan 9, 2021

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  12. pongster Jan 9, 2021

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    My vintage turtles say hi and welcome.
     
    E560889A-5AE1-4B6A-84E0-23C7D8538DC4.jpeg
    Robert M, omegastar, vibe and 3 others like this.
  13. bradurani Jan 9, 2021

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    Not bad! You got lucky that the dial is real. Most first time buyers who aren't careful end up with aftermarket dials. That looks like the original GL831 strap, which is rare. I would take that off and treat it with silicone lube to preserve it, and wear the watch on an Uncle Seiko reproduction: https://www.uncleseiko.com/collections/6309-diver-1/products/gl831-rubber-diver-20-22mm Vintage silicone has been known to fail, and you don't want that!
    Welcome to the vintage Seiko club. My adventure started with this one, and now I have 20+
    silver-6139.jpg
     
  14. omegaswisst Jan 9, 2021

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    You can now purchase replacement crown tubes. Great way to save the case. I recently had one done and it turned out fine.

    Here's a link to how it can be done.

    https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/6309-crown-tube-repair.4602561/

    Some inventive people have also worked out a way to replace the lume pip on the bezel with a pretty good results.

    https://www.thewatchsite.com/threads/bezel-insert-pip-lens-replacement.258378/
     
    Edited Jan 9, 2021
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  15. Russ1965 Jan 9, 2021

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    Helloooo Mr. P.

    Nice to see you here too.

    Russ.
     
  16. timjohn Jan 9, 2021

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    The vintage Seiko world has all the best attributes of watch collecting: it's fun, there is huge depth in the number of watches and styles, it's full of really enthusiastic people, and most of the time if you make a mistake you're a couple of hundred bucks out rather than a couple of thousand. It's addictive. Seiko 6159.JPG Seiko RAF Gen 1.JPG Seiko Pogue.JPG Seiko Vulcan.JPG Seiko Jumbo.JPG
     
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  17. Dan S Jan 9, 2021

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    Except for that 6159. :D
     
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  18. Professor Jan 9, 2021

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    Could they have gone to a different thread pattern on the crown and tube in later models?
    I've found when working on older Enfield rifles that the original threads were Enfield pattern and while screws with a metric thread or a standard thread seeming Identical to the eye will start easily enough they will not turn even a full turn before locking up.

    If that is the case and the threads of the tube are not already damaged just finding the correct crown may be all that is necessary.
    It would be very difficult to wear out or bugger the threads of the tube when finger pressure alone is all that is needed to turn it down.
    It requires the torque of using a screw driver or wrench to really mess up threading unless the metal is pot metal soft.
    Of course cross threading can change all that.
     
  19. timjohn Jan 9, 2021

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    You're right, but I did get it relatively cheap from a guy when I was visiting Manila a couple of years ago -- facilitated by @erpin9 -- and the vulcan was buried unnoticed in an auction lot in Australia. You're never going to get a bargain on a Rolex, but there are still undiscovered Seiko gems out there
     
  20. omegaswisst Jan 10, 2021

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    You bring up a good point.

    The crown looks like it comes from a later 6309 diver but should still work on the earlier model case as the thread on the crown tube and the crown is the same accross the 6309-704x diver range.

    The thread on the crown tube seems to strip before the thread in the crown so your comment about the metal been softer sounds valid.
     
    Edited Jan 10, 2021