As I hit 45 im thinking about the whole birth year watch. I might do something properly special at 50, but for now I’m thinking of maybe an interim step and finding a Seiko panda / pogue / ufo etc.
I thought I could do some bits myself, but getting some parts of the case polished, a bracelet repaired, and bits that can’t be bought restored, will be beyond me.
I did some rudimentary searching, I should probably do more but was thinking one thread to keep all the info in would be really useful to me (and also involve less hard search and bookmark work!.... *ahem*)
Are there some people I should be talking to before I get on this, and some places I should definitely keep in mind, especially for things like parts?
All advice and ‘don’t be so fricken stupid’ statements welcome. :-D.
Last edited by tobetobes; 29th December 2018 at 00:02.
Watching with interest as I am interested in the Pogue.
There are Youtube vids by Austrailian watch company( I think that's correct) , he has a very in depth 3 part buying guide on these Pogues with links to other sites for more info on Sekios
Grab a drink and enjoy!
As there are no replies, is there a better forum I should post this in?
Buy a watch first, then you'll know what parts are needed and what work you want or needs to be done. Some watchmakers are very busy so if you send an email now along the lines of "Hi, I'm thinking of buying a...." you'll be lucky to get a reply, and eBay and Yahoo Japan are the two main sources for old Seiko parts.Originally Posted by tobetobes
You could start by asking more specific questions on here. There's plenty of Seiko knowledge around these parts. SCWF and Wrist Sushi are the two main Japanese watch forums worth checking out but many of the respected members over there are also on here.
Getting a Seiko for a birth year watch can seem like a great idea as you can easily and accurately date them by the serial on the caseback, but if I was hunting a birth year Seiko it would have to be to the month as well and that makes the search much harder. Not all have aged so well and a ton of them are filled with aftermarket dials etc so it could take a long time waiting for the right watch to pop up.
Good luck with the search!
You are right, i should’ve been more specific! :-D
Before I buy I wanted to know the kind of things I could be caught with, and end up massively spending on something not worth it. So this would make a better list for individual answers.
I’m probably looking to make a rough condition old watch look newer, otherwise I would get a lovely patina 70s watch and leave it au natural, so, let’s presume it’s a beaten up 613X variant:
1) If you had a stainless steel case with a whole bucket of scratches and wanted it dressed up, is there a good resource someone can recommend?
2) are external dials/ pushers for Seiko like the Pogue easy or hard to get hold of if the one I get needs some serious attention.
3) if the face metal/enamel needs a refurb is there a good resource people can recommend?
I hope those are less neutral questions that people can actually answer!
I do think your original post was slightly convoluted, so folks may not have known exactly what you were asking!
If your question is about recommendations for an independent watchmaker who could refurbish a 45-year-old watch if you were to buy one, then there are a number of first-rate independents who inhabit this forum. Brendan aka Webwatchmaker would be one obvious possibility, but there are others (Duncan? Rocco?).
I’ve only ever used Paul Walker who refurbished a 1972 Omega Geneve Dynamic for me and did a beautiful job.
As for doing some of the work yourself, who knows if this is a good idea or not?! Personally I know my limits...
Hope this is of some help.
Simon
I'll use the Pogue as an example -
1) Many Seiko's are easy enough to refinish with a brushed circular top and polished sides. A dremmel can be useful for the polishing and sandpaper wrapped around a lollipop stick for the brushed areas but it's also easy to make a mess so worth practising first.
2) There are loads of parts out there but over 90% are aftermarket. Some people can live with that but not me. YMMV.
3) The Pogue dial is silver plated and then a yellow clear coat is applied. Often the silver reacts with the brass dial and black spots appear on the dial and if this has happened there's not much you can do about it other than a replacement dial.
It always pays to find the best example possible, but if you are looking for a specific year and month some compromises will may have to be made. Other than looking at whats for sale on eBay and the forums, I'd also suggest putting a wtb up for a Seiko from your birth date and then seeing what gets offered.
That’s good info above, thank you both.
The upshot is that I’m pretty good at building stuff, and particularly delicate things, but polishing is not a strong points (as old motorbike tanks will attest)
I will keep those guys names on file, and if I can’t build it then it’s got somewhere to go!
Oh, and Dynam0, Seiko’s are a problem aren’t they! I thought a birth year one would be good enough, but the fact they are easy to date means that I am now looking at the month too!
By all means look for a watch that's from the era you were born, give or take a couple of years, but trying to get a 'birth year' watch always seems silly to me. Usually it's impossible to date a watch accurately to one year...are we talking about production year, year of sale, year the case was made?.......it's an inexact science to say the least.
I also find the concept of grown men getting excited about birthdays a tad childish, since I left childhood I`ve never been one for making a fuss over birthdays. I was 60 last year and treated it pretty much like any other day, it's my birthday this coming Friday and apart from getting a couple of cards I`ll treat it as just another day......it really doesn`t mean anything to me. Let's face it, none of us had any choice in our birthdays, it's our parents who should do the celebrating, not us, we are literally an accident of birth. On Friday I`ll think about my long-departed parents for a few minutes and that's it, apart from surviving for 61 years I can hardly take any credit for the event.
It's all too easy to swap parts around and 'tailor' a watch to the year the owner wants it to be. Without supporting documentation (original bill of sale quoting serial number) you can`t be certain about a watch, and aiming for a specific year narrows the search down too much. Priority should be to buy the best watch fro the money, if it happens to coincide with your birth year that's a nice coincidence (for some), but focussing on getting the best watch available makes far more sense. As for buying a rough one to restore.........I wouldn`t! Do your self a favour and buy a good example that needs minimal work.
Obviously an accidental find of a perfect 6138 Panda is the goal! I have the quartz recent homage SNDF87, but the original was always my goal!
It's Seiko we're talking about here Paul and you can date them to the year and month with a quick look at the six digit serial stamped on the caseback. There's also a date stamp on the back of the dial if you need extra confirmation but you'll rarely see that in an eBay listing.
I'm not one for the birth year thing either but it's just watches ffs and a bit of fun. Some people have a desire to own something from a certain time regardless of what the hobby is and I see nothing wrong with that. I certainly wouldn't call it childish or silly.
Happy new year!
What month/year are you looking for? If it's a May 74 Pogue for example but has a Resist dial then we'd know it's a wrong'un as the Resist dials were phased out late 72. Panda's are different in that they never had proof or resist dials so can be impossible to spot a franken, plus some of the fake dials are very good and can be hard to spot.
What’s a Resist dial?
Short for Water resistant
Years ago watch manufacturers could get away with writing “proof” (waterproof) on dials and case backs.
Obviously that’s a misleading description.
Things changed and they could only write “resist” for water resistant. You can even find proof dials and resist case backs on certain Seiko’s in the change over period.
Okay so this is a proper minefield then :-D
I’m going to choose a single variant I think, and go hunting after that and only stray if something amazing floats across my vision (cue a pub full of laughing men in the background)
If there are the resources to do it here, and I choose the right watch, then price (within reason) won’t be a problem for me.
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