Hi - firstly I suppose I should say... purists may wish to look away:-)
Now I love the Seiko SKX007. In particular I love the perfectly sized and balanced case - well for my wrist anyhow, simple Divers 200m dial with its creamy white lume dots and the day date function.
I have always though not been a fan of the stock hands or crystal which many people upgrade. Also although the standard 7S26 movement is perfectly reliable for my needs I do like to have hand winding and to some extent the hacking facility offered by other movements up the Seiko food chain e.g. 6R15 in the Sumo and SARB059.
So my quest was to create my ultimate SKX007... This is how I did it.
1. Retained the case and Made in Japan Dial from my new donor.
2. Sourced a NE15B (same as 6R15) movement which is hand winding, hacking as explained above - which has date only.
3. Modified the movement to add a 'black' day dial next to the original white date dial - this is a whole separate post to cover how!
4. Sourced and fitted Dagaz Superdome sapphire crystal and new gasket.
5. Sourced and fitted Dave Murphy friction bezel - my favourite mod ever!
6. Fitted the Dagaz 12 hour GMT bezel insert from the Superdome kit.
7. Sourced and fitted Yobokies tri-colour plongeur handset - particularly selected for the floating appearance and good matching lume.
8. Cased the movement using original chapter ring/rehaut.
9. Sourced and fitted 'signed' SARB059 crown.
10. Finally sourced and fitted Wjean Super Oyster II bracelet - which matches the case better than my other favourite bracelet from Yobokies IMO.
And thats it... I'm particularly happy with the new movement and the black/white day date window as this gives a natural balance with the white lume dot at 9 on the dial.
The original unmolested SKX007 is still my favourite off the peg 200m divers watch, but now I also have my own updated version that screams out to me from my watch box!
Thanks to all suppliers of Seiko and aftermarket parts and to Seiko for a great watch in the first place and for the 6R15 which is a fantastic evolution of the 7S26. Also there are some great resources and people on this and other Seiko forums that provided me with inspiration and confidence to tackle the job.
Please let me know what you think. And if I can help you with any questions about the modifications made please post them here or PM me.
Pics as always tell the story better...
From this...
To this...
[As originally posted on SCWF]
Last edited by mrwozza70; 10th February 2014 at 21:21.
Very nice. Really like that. I've got a 007 away at a watch making at the moment. I'm having a few dagaz bist fitted including the same hands as yours, polished chapter ring and blue a/r super dome. It should be back next week.
Can ask were you got the crown from?
Did you do the work yourself and if so how hard was it. I only ask because I'm thinking about getting a cheapo donor seiko and taking it apart. And then seeing if I can get it back together again.
Thanks! Sounds like you have a cool 007 coming your way...
Crown was sourced from monsterwatches.nl (Rob). I did all the work myself and apart from the work on the movement to add day/date most of the work is achievable as a DIY - the hardest part probably being setting the hands onto the movement. You will of course need the appropriate tools, and usually the better the tool the easier the job.
Well worth getting a cheap donor watch and parts and seeing if you have a steady hand!!
Cheers for the info. I'll check monsterwatches website out. I've been looking at watchmaker tools on eBay, Amazon and few watchmaker websites. Think I'm going to take the plunge and get some tools and a cheap watch to practice on before I attempt something that I care about. Alway up for a challenge.Originally Posted by mrwozza70
Is the NE15 / 6R15 a straight swap for the 7S26? (aside from not having a day wheel)
Yes, and crown/stem...
Excellent work Sir! I'm contemplating fitting a 4R36 inside my 007 and I might also have to invest in the Dagaz superdome kit after seeing these pics.
Thank you kindly - I highly recommend it. Not sure it comes across in pics but Insert is a very nice matte finish which I like.
Good luck with your upgrades:-)
Just thought I'd share a new wrist shot today:-)
https://flic.kr/p/mtUBsk
Very nice!! Mine is going to look very similar to that if it ever comes back from the watchmaker that's doing the work for me. It's been away for what seems like ages now.
Great mods to the watch, really love the bezel. Will have to buy one of these to put onto my SKX007 which always has parts being swapped
^^once you've gone Murphy there is no turning back :-)
Well after a six week wait the 007 project is finished and is back on the wrist.
I used dagaz parts which included a hand set, polished chapter ring, blue ar double doom and a curved bezel insert.
I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, so much so that I feel it's to nice to have as an everyday beater and I'm thinking of selling it.
Anyway here are some picture. The blue ar is really difficult to captor but really makes the dial pop.
Looks real nice:-) Is that the Superdome crystal/insert kit like on mine? It looks kind of different and not because of the bezel... so I reckon the polished chapter ring reflecting more light?
I've just ordered up another kit the same to use for a SKXA35 project. This time using a triple grip bezel I've picked up. And a 6105 style black hand set.
I'm considering going back to a standard SKX hand set on my 007 but every time I pick it up I kind of fall for the plongeur again.
Yes it is. The chapter ring works really well with it. I'll have to get a lume photo up because when it's fully charged it bounces off it creating a double image affect.
Nice mods chaps
Mine has also got a domed crystal (from yobokies), but it's a bugger to photograph well. It does give a nice depth to the dial.
I wear watches fairly loose and I find that the crown guards are quite sharp (not so bad if the SKX is on a NATO). As I've not got a date, this was a fairly simple fix by reversing the case
That's one of the nicest snowflake mods I've seen - nice work!
Looks fantastic, if I hadn't recently bought a tuna, I would be PM-ing you to beg you to build one for me! Once the watch fund is back up I think I might need to start the begging.
The non hacking movement would be fine for me, so is only the bezel, insert, hands, crystal & signed crown. Out of interest is the signed crown a daft price?
Matt
All nice mods I do love my 007 it's standard well other than a WJean bracelet, the snowflake mod is very pleasing
No the crown is not too expensive... but that is relative to the cost of the modded watch. But it is about the third of the price of a new SKX007 from Creation Watches...
In the scheme of things quite pricey, but looks a great addition!
Very nice!
Not bored of it yet? ;-)
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