I recently bought this poor old 6309-729A. Listed as non-running and obviously in a bit of a state. I couldn't let the poor thing languish in such an unloved condition and therefore decided to adopt it. At £17 with shipping it represented a bargain (as even in such a state it could act as a parts watch) and a prime opportunity to try my hand at buggering about with a watch. It also had a very nice white on black day/date wheel combo.
On arrival it seemed to work with a couple of shakes, but it soon stopped - the hands were catching - I re-seated them and they worked seamlessly. Also kept pretty perfect time. Certainly better than my 7s26 SKX007. A huge testament to the durability of the 6309A movement which I would imagine had never been serviced in 26-odd years. Crystal retaining ring was OK. Two-part stem was intact although missing the little washer which apparently invariably gets lost. Soon fixed courtesy of Cousins.
Also had an issue with the calendar wheels - they wouldn't change over properly. Armed with a technical diagram of the 6309 movement and reckless abandon I disassembled the calendar mechanism and checked the damage. Turns out a couple of the date wheel teeth were slightly bent and were catching. Bent them back into shape and surprisingly it now works as advertised.
I've never seen such a filthy watch, so it was broken down into its constituent parts and given a darn good clean. I decided against refinishing the case as it had a nice lived-in wabied feel with surprisingly few gouges or dents which gave it an overall brushed sort of quality. I find the normal Seiko high polish a bit garish.
As I already have a few 6309-based divers in original condition I decided to mod this one. Hands were courtesy of Harold Ng and dial and chapter ring courtesy of Noah Fuller. I had a bezel insert lying around and put in a 6105 domed crystal and changed all the gaskets.
Here are the results. I didn't even lose any of the microscopic parts! Total outlay about £54 and a very satisfying thing to do yourself.
Great watches those 6309's for sure & for such a small outlay you've acquired (with some hard work) a great looking watch. Not normally a huge fan of moded Seiko's as I like the original handset, but as yours had seen better days, the new set look good on that sterile dial. The white on black day/date wheel is also a huge improvement ..
/vince ..
Nice Job. How did you take the bezel Off?
Mike C
Good job Sweeney 8) love it
karl
Beautiful work!Modding at its finest.
Very classy
That looks the business!
Paul
:)
I've often thought that the Seiko 6 series vintage divers are akin to the Ford Mark 3/ 4 series Escorts of the watch world.
-Still readily available
-Parts no prob
-Not expensive
-Robust engines
-Lend themselves superbly to modding and performance enhancement
-A whole ancillary modding industry and body of expertise has been built up around them eg MK2,Yobokies and Swedefreak
-Look the dog's b....cks when restored/modded
-Affordable and incredible VFM
-Huge and loyal following
-Owners love showing them off
-Have attained iconic status
6105 = Series 1 Turbo
6309 = XR3i
6306 = Series 2 Turbo
Superb job !
How easy is it to remove the crystals and change the gaskets on these watches?
regards
siggy
Thats a nice mod and good to see an honest watch saved from the bin.
Beautiful work, mate. Just compare 'before' and 'after'.... :drunken:
Sweeney,
That is quite a difference from when you bought it. I've heard that the original Seiko factory crystal retaining-rings for the 6309 and the 6105 150m Divers from the 1970s and '80s are no longer stocked by Seiko and I was wondering if you or anybody happen to know of a source for originals or high quality aftermarket crystal retaining-rings for these models?
Thanks and nice job of it again on your 6309.
I have one left.PM me.
Hi and thank you very much for the offer, however, I don't currently own a 6105 or 6309. I was checking, though, just what the current and future availability of the crystal retaining ring for these might be now as I was thinking about trying to find a nice 6309 sometime and wanted to know that I could keep it in good repair. If you or anybody else could explain about the general availability of original Seiko or high quality aftermarket 6105/6309 crystal retaining rings(the part I've specifically heard in the past was hardest to source for these) I'd sure appreciate knowing. Thanks again :DOriginally Posted by escyman
From that to that... nice work
Hell. Well done Sir. I don't much like the hands but the dial with the white on black day/date looks fantastic, so who cares what I think about the hands :lol:
Its great to see an old watch re-loved.
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