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Madison Motorsports
Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - Printable Version

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RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-03-2017

Honestly, it's easier and probably cheaper to just take it to a competent watchmaker. I had a similar issue with an old Kinetic movement and my watch maker fixed it and polished the entire watch for I think like $75

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-06-2017

SUCCESS!

I was bummed when I lost an auction at the last second for a birth year Seiko diver recently. It wasn't worth what it went for (and probably would have gone for if I pushed the last second bid) but I found that it is not easy to find original, unmolested (not modded abominations) versions of the 6309 diver.

After browsing multiple eBay sellers and saved searches I came across another version of the 6309 that was manufactured in the same year that I was born, the 6309-7040 or 6309-7049:

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This is the true predecessor of the modern "Turtle" SRP series and has some stylistic features that differ from the 7290. After finding a few with some awesome patina I was hooked, but also dismayed because it had been hard enough to find a birth year 7290 (which seem to be more plentiful) and now I got to chase after a tougher, more sought-after model.

It's no secret I am not a huge Reddit fan but after pouring through WUS, eBay and WatchRecon, I happened to find a month old post from Reddit where a guy was selling his all-original 6309-7040 from not only my birth year but also my birth month!! Of all of the 6309s I've looked at, I've found maybe 5 or 6 from my birth year and 0 with birth year and month. Messaged the guy, it was still available, he didn't seem like a scammer so I jumped on it knowing I would be really hard pressed to find another one like this!!

It should be on its way soon, I'll get some more wrist shots when it gets here but....pics!!:

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It will come on this NATO but I will probably end up with an Uncle Seiko bracelet for it
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Case back is pretty shredded up from some indiscriminate hands in the past, but it's part of the patina and you won't see it anyway!
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I will assess it when it gets here but it will for sure get a full service / gasket replacement since it is running but service history is unknown. Dagaz is having a sale on sapphire crystals specifically made for this watch (which is the only thing I would touch so that you can see that awesome aged dial and hands better) but I will most likely live with the current OEM crystal or replace it with a NOS OEM hardlex crystal.

I said I wouldn't add any more to the collection until my grail is secured, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to own a perfectly unmolested and patina'd example of a classic diver from my birth month AND year! These are only going up in value right now too, so maybe I can call it an investment? Smile

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - SlimKlim - 10-09-2017

Beefy. It'd look great on a vintage style/distressed leather strap. 

My birthday activity this year was just to go watch shopping. There are 4 or 5 places in Vienna that come up on Google Maps when you search "antique" watches, but I've never taken the time to just go check them out.

I pretty much expected to get skunked, and we mostly did, but at least I know now which shops are worth going back to. As a result, I also feel like I can put together a pretty comprehensive guide to NOVA watch shops for anyone else living up here who is unlucky enough to develop this "hobby."

First of all, don't waste your time going to GCA LA / Charly's / Cameo Coins & Collectibles if you're shopping for watches. The first two are repair-only shops, the last is sort of a collectibles trading-house and he said they have wholesale buyers picking up watches as fast as they come in.

John Alabaster Watch & Clock - Vienna - My first recommendation if you need to have something serviced. In my experience they offer lower prices than some of the other shops in the area, and are able to turn stuff around in 2-3 weeks, whereas a lot of the other shops you're looking at several months turnaround time.

As far as inventory they don't stock much new stuff, primarily just their own house brand Rolex homages with quartz movements. They do have a small case of antiques that range from reasonably priced ($150 or so) vintage Oris/Wittnauer manual winds up to some mid-market vintage Omegas and occasionally higher end stuff as well.

Kim's Watches & Jewelry - Herndon - A super authentic, family owned, old-school shop that mostly does repairs but does carry some Seikos and Pulsars. Seems to be a really trustworthy place to have something serviced, based only on the fact that he has a 2-3 month turnaround time, and takes 2+ weeks to even get a price quote to you.

Herndon Watch & Clock - Herndon - Another family owned place that carries a lot of new Tissots and Citizens. Great little shop and a good place to go if you need a quick service, but his prices on full movement services are double what Alabaster charges.

M&H Watch & Jewelry - Sterling - A newer jewelry store that just opened last year, mostly jewelry but has a small case of watches. They probably had ~20 lower-end vintage watch heads (Elgin, Wittnauer, etc) and a couple other pieces, including a gorgeous newer Longines manual wind small-seconds they were asking $750 for.

Vienna Jewelry - Vienna - Although it's not specifically a watch store they do have a pretty large selection of used higher end watches. I had to tear myself away from a somewhat older Omega Speedmaster Pro 40mm that they weren't asking too much for. I also tried on a heartbreakingly gorgeous IWC Portugueser.

Tysons Watch & Jewelry - Tysons - If you're in the market for a pre-owned Rolex/Omega/Tag you should probably just go here. Amazing selection and most of it was barely used, several of the pieces I looked at had been purchased new earlier that year only to end up on consignment here. The sales rep was really friendly and let me drool all over the merchandise, and everything that I got my greasy paws on seemed to be priced pretty fairly. 



So anyway, we spent the day on Saturday going to check out the places I hadn't been to yet and seeing what's what. Alabaster was closed for Columbus Day weekend (what?) and most of the other places we looked didn't have anything or was way, way, way above our price point. The place in Sterling ended up having the most vintage inventory but nothing that really knocked my socks off.

After many hours of retail cockteasing I wanted a goddamn watch and Lauren wanted to buy me a birthday gift. So we gave up and headed over to the mall, figuring as a last-ditch effort I could find a new Seiko or Citizen that I liked. 

We did a quick lap to see what all the places in the mall had in stock, and were just about to give up entirely when I spotted a Seiko SSC in the case at Fashion Time of all places. The SSC (Seiko Solar Chronograph) is a "flight" style chronograph with a slide rule feature, so if you squint and use your imagination enough, it's basically a Navitimer.

If I had been buying online I would've gone for the '013' variation which has a silver case and white face, but when I saw this obnoxiously gold '008' sitting in the case I fell in love with it. Cause

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It's a solar-powered quartz movement, similar to Citizen's Eco-Drive. It has a small seconds sub-dial which somewhat hides the fact that it's just a quartz movement. It's got a 60-minute 1/5th second chrono feature and an alarm sub-dial I am currently using to display a second time zone. Some might say a 43mm x 13mm bright gold watch is a little ostentatious, and they would be correct, that's the point. Smile

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I also figured it was time for a SOTC ("Shot of the Collection")

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Full Album

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-09-2017

We have already drooled together over the new purchase on FB messenger but I will say again that is a great look with the black face and gold!! I do like how you toned down the bling with teh leather strap, I think it fits it better.

Speaking of Navitimer homages, I'm thinking about selling my Air Blue Navigator if anyone is interested. It isn't getting much wrist time and it gets me one step closer to the grail:

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RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - Ryan T - 10-09-2017

(10-09-2017, 11:23 AM)WRXtranceformed Wrote: We have already drooled together over the new purchase on FB messenger but I will say again that is a great look with the black face and gold!!  I do like how you toned down the bling with teh leather strap, I think it fits it better.

Speaking of Navitimer homages, I'm thinking about selling my Air Blue Navigator if anyone is interested.  It isn't getting much wrist time and it gets me one step closer to the grail:

[Image: 20160820_174418_zpsg0gd0nq0.jpg~original]

How much?

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-09-2017

I'm still debating on selling it because when I wear it I LOVE it.  But if I do I will probably put it up for $250 shipped and paypalled on WUS and for friends I would just want to net $200 out of it, so about $215 shipped and gift paypalled!  These retailed for $500 and sold for $299 new on Jomashop but are now sold out.

This exact model with the all blue dial, stainless steel finish and particular orientation of subdials (left, right and bottom) is so difficult to find now because Stan hasn't been making any of them for some reason.  He made an initial run and then never made any more even though the Air Blue brand still exists.  I have a feeling it may have been a design copyright infringement and Breitling may have thrown a quiet lawsuit on them.  This one in particular sold out super quick because of its near identical styling to the Navitimer Blue Sky and the fact that they were made with such high quality components.  No joke this has been the most accurate watch I have owned outside of my atomic Protrek that syncs up every night, and that huge sapphire crystal is beautiful!

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - Jake - 10-10-2017

Lee is a wizard and deserves a lot of thanks for finding Jonathan's old watch within an hour or so of my sending him two crappy, blurry photos that were nearly useless. He found one - new, even - example on eBay and I should have it by Friday. Stoked, and not sure I can hold off til Christmas to give it to him. I'll post pics when it arrives.

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-10-2017

(10-10-2017, 11:52 AM)Jake Wrote: Lee is a wizard and deserves a lot of thanks for finding Jonathan's old watch within an hour or so of my sending him two crappy, blurry photos that were nearly useless. He found one - new, even - example on eBay and I should have it by Friday. Stoked, and not sure I can hold off til Christmas to give it to him. I'll post pics when it arrives.

No problem at all buddy!!  Big Grin  Man that was a tricky search!  I'm really glad you pulled the trigger on that one on eBay because that might literally be the only one for sale anywhere out there right now.  I don't know that we would even find another one for a couple of months, if ever. Fingers crossed it looks good when it gets there but I'm 99% sure we dialed that in  Smile

The birth year / month Seiko diver should show up today!  Hopefully it made the trip in good shape and looks good!  I'll post up some pics when it gets here

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-10-2017

For you guys that got in on the Undone watch customization, here is another upstart that offers full visual customization of an automatic watch. It looks like they are going after a more premium end product, especially at that price point ($650-700 from what I could tell).

http://www.watchuseek.com/objest-introduces-hach-fully-customizable-automatic-watch/

http://objest.com/

They have quartz too if you prefer to go that route

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - SlimKlim - 10-10-2017

Pass, looks like a Swatch.

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - Apoc - 10-10-2017

Despite looking on and off for a few months, I impulse bought a new nightstand organizer a few days ago. I'm in a tough spot because my only dedicated surface is my nightstand and the current watch case is an inscribed gift from the wife, given to me like a decade ago. This means I either had to find some odd way to keep what she gave me or stash things elsewhere. I'm not 100% sold on this design because it's a bit monolithic to have them stacked, but it did give me a bunch more storage. Not only did I get all the crap off my watch case, I also moved a bunch of things that were in random other drawers (e.g. bands, cuff links) to here. Top right image was the before.



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RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-10-2017

(10-10-2017, 03:58 PM)Apoc Wrote: Despite looking on and off for a few months, I impulse bought a new nightstand organizer a few days ago. I'm in a tough spot because my only dedicated surface is my nightstand and the current watch case is an inscribed gift from the wife, given to me like a decade ago. This means I either had to find some odd way to keep what she gave me or stash things elsewhere. I'm not 100% sold on this design because it's a bit monolithic to have them stacked, but it did give me a bunch more storage. Not only did I get all the crap off my watch case, I also moved a bunch of things that were in random other drawers (e.g. bands, cuff links) to here. Top right image was the before.



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SO ORGANIZED!  I love it

So the 6309-7040 arrived today.  And I am smitten.  It is a real gamble sometimes buying used watches because pictures don't always do pieces justice (for better or for worse).  I would have bought it anyway even if it was a junker because it's so hard to find an original example of these with the right serial number.  But this one exceeded my expectations!  

Pics:

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35 year old lume, a little dull but still going strong!

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So I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and the PO had included a $60 Hirsch Liberty leather strap for free!  It’s super high quality and the nato it came on is a really nice one too.  I will havev no problem rocking these until Uncle Seiko’s 6309 oyster bracelet is back in stock and I can scoop one. The watch wears really well, much better than its modern SRP counterpart in my opinion.  With a few shakes the movement ticked right up and is running really smoothly.  Date switches over crisply at midnight.

The crystal is not as badly scratched as I originally thought from the PO’s pictures; you can see the micro swirls in the one harsh light picture I took.  But under normal light they really are not that noticeable and I think add to the character, so I may not end up replacing the crystal and just have it cleaned (there is a spec of something on the underside of the crystal just above the date window that bugs me, as well as some small dust particals).  The bezel insert is in great condition, overall the case has a lot of love swirls but no massive dings or dents.  The caseback is scratched like crazy but the only thing I’m worried about on that is the serial number so no care here.

The watch does need some attention though.  The bezel is completely locked up and the crown is not grabbing real well at full lock, so I really need to be careful with it around water.  I’ve got a gasket kit in the mail to prepare for a full service and I’d imagine it needs at minimum a new stem or crown (depending on which one is stripped) and bezel balls.  But again the movement seems to be running great, I’m timing it right now so will report back tomorrow how well it’s doing, and cosmetically I don’t think at this point I want to change a thing!  Just a very cool thing to own a watch that’s exactly as old as I am and still running so well with an obviously well-used but mostly loved life!

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-13-2017

Per the recommendation of my local watchmaker to seek out a Seiko specialist, I tracked down one of the top in the world who happens to be in Cary just a few hours north of here.  Jack @ International Watch Works is super comfortable with addressing all of the things I want taken care of during a service, the only downside is that the turnaround is currently 16 weeks.  That's better than the 11 months that the other top shop is currently at though!  

Anyway, I made a note about figuring out how to address the scratched crystal in my email chain and he assured me that swapping out the OEM hardlex crystal to a NOS OEM or high quality aftermarket Hardlex or sapphire really doesn't affect the value of the watch at all.  I would just hold on to the stock crystal for the future.  Since that is the case, I had a few options:

  1. NOS OEM Hardlex:  Super hard to find but when you find it it's absurdly expensive (like almost what I paid for the watch itself) since Seiko doesn't support parts for old models
  2. Aftermarket mineral crystal:  Super cheap, made in Thailand or China, fit is questionable though and not worth the headache
  3. High quality aftermarket Hardlex:  There's one company that sells these, and it's the one that has the 11 month lead time for service work.  Delivery time to actually buy one of these is reasonable and so is the price, and the fit and style is supposedly absolutely dead on compared to OEM
  4. Sapphire:  I'm familiar with this route and the good companies out there doing this, and there are several styles to choose from that are made for the 6309
 Joey doesn't mind it but I am not a fan of Hardlex.  I am much easier on watches than most and I still managed to pick up some dings and scratches on the Hardlex on my SKX before the sapphire swap.  Sapphire is much more scratch resistant than Hardlex (Sapphire is a 9 on the Mohs scale and the absolute best high end Hardlex is a 7).  The price difference is nominal, so I opted to own a third sapphire-swapped watch (5 in total I would own now)

Now the shape.  Here are the options from my top two vendors:
  • Bubble boy (Yobokies) - Very high domed

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  • High domed (Dagaz) - Heavy inner dome, flat top, chamfered edge.  This gives it a very raised edge effect similar to the first generation of Seiko divers
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  • Flat (Yobokies) 
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Yobokies got my money again.  Although the high domed and domed sapphires have an interesting effect and definitely have their place, I wanted this to look as authentic as possible while having the added strength and inner anti-reflective coating benefits of a sapphire.  I decided on option 3 and it's on the way by slow boat from HK.  This is not a bad thing though, it gives me a few weeks to enjoy it before it goes off to go under the knife Smile

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - Apoc - 10-15-2017

I impulse bought two new bands for my fitbit because I wanted a case of tissues for next day shipping. Yeah, I know that's how they suck money out of you... but these bands were lightning deals on Amazon at like 65% off. I'd been considering a black one for awhile and I also got rose gold to get me to the minimum for one day. Well, also because I have a rose gold case on my phone. You haven't lived until you rock the rose gold every day. Anyway, the back looks really nice for $5 and the wife actually said "oh, I like that one!" when she saw it. I wear this thing pretty much every day... to my watches' chagrin... so it's nice to have options. The rose gold? Not so much. This brand isn't as thick as my silver, both in band width and link heft. I prefer the beefier version, but the lighter weight on the black is a nice change. I really, really like having my texts on my wrist, so it's hard to give this thing up.

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RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-16-2017

The good news: my Navigator is up for sale
The bad news: I can't find the extra links, so it will only fit you if you have small wrists like me (6 3/4" to 7" if you want it to fit loosely) or buy another 24mm strap or bracelet for it

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-air-blue-deep-blue-navigator-blue-dial-4553729.html

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - davej - 10-17-2017

That watch is pretty cool! Do you need any old busted BMW parts? I have a few I'd let go for it. Wink

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-23-2017

(10-17-2017, 07:40 PM)davej Wrote: That watch is pretty cool! Do you need any old busted BMW parts? I have a few I'd let go for it. Wink

Oh man no BMWs here to use them on, I've had enough expensive hobbies over the years...I don't need to add old BMWs to the list  Big Grin

I ordered a nice dark blue quick release leather strap with white stitching (similar to the OEM Breitling option for the Navitimer, just not made of alligator leather) to go with this, so it should open it up to anyone who was interested to actually be able to wear it (Ryan?)

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RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-25-2017

The dark blue strap matches the darkness from the sunburst on the dial perfectly Smile

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RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 10-26-2017

New band did the trick! Sold it 24 hour later for asking price Smile

Finally balance is returning to my collection and this one helped pay for the birth year diver, along with the Destiny CE's selling on eBay covering the cost of its "renovation". Now it's full steam ahead toward GMT Master timmeee

RE: Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste - WRXtranceformed - 11-02-2017

Still waiting on my sapphire to arrive on the slow boat from Hong Kong, but Uncle Seiko did get his oyster bracelets for the 6309 back in stock! Scooped one up fast, should look like this:

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He and I exchanged PMs on the WUS board about the bracelet and I talked to him briefly about my growing desire to pick up a Seiko 6105 diver at some point. He has sold several mint examples of them recently so I was curious to get his feedback because the prices I have seen on eBay even for trashed, case-only examples are like $1000-1200+. He agreed that prices were crazy right now. I originally wanted to buy one to flip and make a little dough, now I may just add it to the future purchase list after the Rolex because I don't think I could make money on one unless I got lucky with a buy.

The 6105-8110:
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The 6105-800x/81xx was the second generation of the original Seiko dive watch that was made famous by Martin Sheen who wore one as "Captain Willard" in Apocalypse Now. These were famously sold at military trading posts / Base Exchanges during the Vietnam War:

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The 6105-8000 series had a slightly different shaped case than the later 81xx and fewer of them were made. However even though they are older and more rare, the older versions are less desirable by collectors... most likely because they do not have a screw down crown like the 81xx (more likely to be less waterproof). The newer 81xx series did not have a screw down crown but a "twist-lock" crown that had better water resistance and was less likely to get pulled or bumped open while underwater.

Either way, really nice examples of the 81xx series are going for $1500-2200+ and like I said trashed examples are in the $1000-1200 range. Knowing what I know about full service and crystal replacement costs on these, I'd have to be a buyer well under $1k to make any money and that's just not gonna happen for a watch that doesn't need a lot of cosmetic love. Oh well, I love the style and look and might pick one up to compliment my 6309 in the future Smile