A short history of my 41 year old Seiko 6309

[Deanusrjm]

Today would have been my dad’s 63rd birthday. He passed away last year. When clearing his house I found his old Seiko diver which I hadn’t seen for at least 10 years.

I remember him telling me that the watch had broken and that he had got a quote from a local jeweller to repair it and thought it was too expensive.

My dad was a diver and his social circle revolved around the local scuba diving club. Many of his old pals came to his funeral and most were wearing vintage diving watches.

He always told me the watch had a lot
of sentimental value.

I asked my Mum about it and she said a friend of his purchased on behalf of my dad when travelling abroad. He got it as a 23rd birthday present for my Mum. She wasn’t amused as her wrists are tiny!

So that was 1977 and the kind folks on here confirmed the watch’s age when I posted a couple of pics on here last year.

As I live in Berkshire and Duncan the Watch Bloke was close by and highly recommended I asked him to repair and service the watch. I wanted it in working order but with its dive worn patina kept as is.

Duncan confirmed that the service went well; dirt, degraded lubrication and a cracked transmission wheel jewel. The crown which was the original fault had snapped at the stem so had to replaced with a NOS crown.

Duncan also fitted a top quality frosted bevel crystal, a new (genuine) bezel gasket and a new caseback gasket. All the case and case components were ultrasonically cleaned and the watch passed a 10bar pressure test.

Finally the watch was treated to new DAL1P strap.

Here are some pics showing its transformation.






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[Wooster]

Excellent post, many thanks for sharing! A truly priceless watch :)

[Bodo]

Firstly, my condolences to you for your dad passing away. Clearly he had great taste and that's a lovely watch. Very early aswell a '77 6309! And Duncan has clearly done excellent work as usual. Lovely dial and hands and overall an excellent looking watch. Thanks for sharing and enjoy it.

[Griswold]

Your Dad would have been proud. Great work, it will be a joy wearing it in his memory.

[Bobbyf]

Always nice to see a post like this. Thanks for sharing.


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[chejay]

Great work :) Thank you for sharing this information.

[jameswrx]

Great, that’s what it’s all about. Sure he’d be very proud (I know I would)

I hope my son does the same with my Watch one day (makes me quite sad to think about though seeing how close we are). As a parent though you can only wish you leave this world before your children.


I bought a Seiko 6139 off eBay a couple of months back, was being sold on behalf of the deceased (original) owner’s family as it didn’t work. I was given provenance where it was bought and a whole story behind it by a friend of the widow. Kind of makes me a bit sad the family wouldn’t want it sorted and worn seeing as the guy bought it brand new (1969 Watch) and kept it his entire life even keeping the box, papers, spare links and tags! Must have meant a lot to him.

[gregory]

Wow!

A vintage timepiece that has been in the family since new.

Doesn't get much better.


Thanks for sharing this and the good feeling that comes with it. :)

[ollipekka]

Enjoyed your story. I love the Turtle and nothing better than one with such personal connection.

[Mainspring]

What a heart-warming story, and lovely to see the pictures of the restoration.

I’m sure you’ll continue to treasure that watch, and the memories that it will stir.

Thanks for sharing, and hope you enjoy it.

[Deanusrjm]

Thanks for all your words of support and glad you appreciate my watch and its story.

It’s getting a fair amount of wrist time at the moment as I’ve been thinning out my collection.


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[foselo]

I truly enjoyed reading Your post - thank You for sharing.
regards
Terje

[Montello]

Nice one

[tabascokid]

Lovely story and great work, as ever, by Duncan. Thanks for sharing.


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[gray]

One of the most valuable watches I've seen in a while. Lovely job

[degsey]

Great story and great watch. I hope my son sees the sentiment value of my little collection after I'm not around.

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[stefmcd]

Great to see such a restoration but even better when it has such a personal story. Without wishing to be too mawkish, wearing the watch your father wore for so long is a special thing.

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