Reply With QuoteLooks fantastic, 😃 John does excellent work.
The last few months has seen me smitten by Tuna's, amongst the five in my collection was an as new SBBN035 "Ninja" Tuna. Within a few days of receiving it it went on to a black Strapcode Super Engineer II bracelet. It looked good but did it really wow me a week later? No it didn't, it was just too black and it didn't help when several friends had commented on how ugly it looked...poor old Tuna!
It lived for the next six weeks in it's box unloved and unworn while a few more of its ilk joined the collection.
While the search continued for more Tuna; it's getting daft and costly too, I came across a SBBN029...too big as a 600m watch and at over four figures more than I wanted to pay. The 029 looked just like my Ninja, all black bezel with a polished shroud. All Ninja needed was a new shroud and I'd pretty much have the essence of the 029 without too much cost.
I'd previously come across an article describing how damaged Tuna shroud screws were removed. This led me to John from The Tiger UK (www.thetigeruk.com)who actually did damaged screw removal work. I also discovered he made replacement Tuna shrouds which he use's to make his own versions of Tuna's, the TST.
A few emails were exchanged which led to the Ninja being sent to John for a change of "clothes"...well, just the shroud in an attempt to lift some of the darkness.
I'm really pleased with the work. Sent on a Wednesday and back with me in 48 hours.
The shroud is indistinguishable from an original; this has a brushed effect with a high polish on the edges. Instead of using the allen screws, John use's T8 torx screws...much easier to remove in future should the watch be needed to revert to original.
All in all, a lovely bit of machining with John being a lovely fellow to deal with :)
A few before and after pictures...not the greatest but I hope you'll get the idea!
A pair of before the little mod...too dark for me
New shroud with black Strapcode Super Engineer II bracelet - that's a lot nicer!
New shroud with Strapcode Super Engineer I bracelet - perfect and just the look I was hoping to achieve. Now safe from re-homing!
David
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Last edited by jacinabox; 18th December 2018 at 13:19. Reason: posting from phone and it's a pain!
Looks fantastic, 😃 John does excellent work.
Well thanks for your reply Pete, saved it from being a zero reply thread! <sniff> :)Originally Posted by Zephyr
And yes, John does do great work. First on my last for anything else Seiko'ish related.
David
Thanks for sharing. I have to agree a vast improvement
Well I have to go against opinions here but that shroud looks odd on that watch get it back to be as it should be a Ninja I love it like that :)
Not many opinions to go against Andy! I like it, I like it a lot more than all black. Easily sorted in a minute or two should it need to go all black again.
Another Tuna arriving tomorrow for your appraisal :)
David
All makes sense now David, very different to those Steinhart's. How thick is the case on these, they do look rather deep in the images and I'm guessing that's were the name comes from.
I know what you mean David it is easily sorted, I don't dislike it though :)
Another Tuna arriving :))))
you have done really well finding all the models you have found in such a short time.
Aye, different to the Steinharts Ken. But these have really grabbed my attention like no other watch, they're about 15.5mm thick and close to 50mm diameter. Those dimensions really suggest they shouldn't be an easy watch to wear - but they are. I think the lug to lug size is 48mm which is shorter than many other watches which really helps.
"Tuna can"? You're right...if you really squint they look like a can of that fish...seems to be a tradition for Seiko's to pick up a nick name; Samurai, Sumo etc:)
David
I have Andy; picked up some smashing pieces and in the grand scheme of this watch collecting business, for relatively small money, I'm getting bags more enjoyment than I did sinking large sums into other watches.
SBBN015 tomorrow and perhaps a PADI in the New Year :)
David
Nice one can you tell me what model number the blue one is as I love that watch :)
All in here Andy https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...una-just-right!
Haven't seen one for sale in UK, all seem to be hiding in Japan at rather high prices. I was fortunate that my seller was willing to negotiate - others weren't, in fact some were quite rude that I had the audacity to ask, in excellent English too!
David
Thanks for that :)
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