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Old 22 June 2018, 03:45 AM   #1
Earnyourturns
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Seiko modding

Hi,

I am looking for a bit of advice from the forum. My son has recently got his first mechanical watch, a srpa21. He has always been interested in my watch but now he is super keen and wants to start a modding project. His idea is pretty special. It is his mums 40 birthday coming up late summer and he wants to build her a unique watch as a special personal gift.

What would be a good mid sized watch that we could use as a base for modding? I am thinking maybe skx 013, or one of the Seiko 5 field watches.

How easy is it to get hold of new hands/dials/bezel inserts etc?

Is getting the correct size parts for the mid sized watches more of a problem?

We have been looking at a lot of YouTube tutorials but is there any you could recommend in particular, or websites. I know of dagaz for the parts.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Ps. I am aware that modding watches is a difficult, delicate and slow process and am ready for the real possibility of screwing the watch up.
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Old 22 June 2018, 03:56 AM   #2
Dan Pierce
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Repeat offender modder here. I love letting my imagination go wild.

First, I would get some decent, but not overly expensive tools. Then I would get a working but cheap watch to practice on. No harm, no foul if you bugger it up.

At the same time I'd check Dagaz, Yobokies, Motor City, and as many other sources to check parts availability. There are tons of threads on WatchUSeek in the Seiko forum. They also have tutorials, as well as Youtube.

I can't help with specific references as I use SKX and SRP models to mod. Never got into the smaller sizes.

Experiment, have fun, and keep us updated.
dP

Here are a few of mine:
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Old 22 June 2018, 10:43 PM   #3
Earnyourturns
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Thank you for the information. Intreged by the plain black dial watch. Is it an skx? Love the dial and hands of the 12,3,6,9 watch.
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Old 22 June 2018, 11:17 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Earnyourturns View Post
Thank you for the information. Intreged by the plain black dial watch. Is it an skx? Love the dial and hands of the 12,3,6,9 watch.
The sterile dial is an SKX. I sanded to original dial smooth and used textured paint I had in the garage. Took a couple times to get thin layers to work best. Did the same with the skeleton hands.

The 12-3-6-9 dial, and overall watch design, was the result of wanting to blend the best of a diver w/ a pilot watch.
dP
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Old 23 June 2018, 08:27 PM   #5
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Great mods Dan.
I don't think I have that level of adventure.
I've been waiting for the luminous bezel inserts to come back in stock so I can mod the bezel on my SKX.
But I've got 1 SKX in at Seiko getting a new dial and the other on the way from Amazon... So I can't do much now in any case.
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Old 23 June 2018, 09:07 PM   #6
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OK, admission here. While I am a purist with Rolex, really don’t believe in any kind of personal mod (but hey, it’s your watch and what you choose is not my business), anyway moving on... I am looking for a particular modded Seiko turtle; or diving watch. There was a company in the PI that took the divers models with the day-date, removed the day function and added a GMT/second time zone hand. I really would like to get one but have not been able to find them anymore. I see a company in Australia that does it, but they drop in a quartz movement, which I am not interested in. Don’t want to hijack the thread from the OP and beautiful pieces by the way Dan, but can anyone help me out?
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Old 23 June 2018, 10:20 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lol-x View Post
Great mods Dan.
I don't think I have that level of adventure.
I've been waiting for the luminous bezel inserts to come back in stock so I can mod the bezel on my SKX.
But I've got 1 SKX in at So getting a new dial and the other on the way from Amazon... So I can't do much now in any case.
Thanks, Stevo!

Once I learned how to remove a stem and then a movement, I was hooked. I have a lumed ceramic insert on the top blue Tuna mod. Nice addition and easy to do. Look forward to see yours evolve.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy View Post
OK, admission here. While I am a purist with Rolex, really don’t believe in any kind of personal mod (but hey, it’s your watch and what you choose is not my business), anyway moving on... I am looking for a particular modded Seiko turtle; or diving watch. There was a company in the PI that took the divers models with the day-date, removed the day function and added a GMT/second time zone hand. I really would like to get one but have not been able to find them anymore. I see a company in Australia that does it, but they drop in a quartz movement, which I am not interested in. Don’t want to hijack the thread from the OP and beautiful pieces by the way Dan, but can anyone help me out?
Paul, sorry can't help with the particular pursuit. But as you can see many of my mods include 12 hour bezel inserts which serve as a second time zone. Something I use daily for work. Could that work for you?
dP
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Old 24 June 2018, 02:13 AM   #8
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dp, your seiko collection is sweet.

nice work.
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Old 24 June 2018, 04:52 AM   #9
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dp, your seiko collection is sweet.

nice work.
Thanks, CJ!
dP
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Old 25 June 2018, 10:48 AM   #10
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That super-dome is crazy super dome ++

I haven't seen a dome as bubbled as that, how do you like it?
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Old 25 June 2018, 12:58 PM   #11
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That super-dome is crazy super dome ++

I haven't seen a dome as bubbled as that, how do you like it?
Thanks, Steve! They don’t call it “the mother of all domes” for nothing. Love it. It's not as noticeable as you would think, only at certain angles. Wearing it today, in fact. Brings a smile every time it's on my wrist. And that's what this hobby is all about.
dP
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Old 3 April 2020, 02:05 AM   #12
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I like aspects of the Dagaz LHD case, but want a different dial, hands, bezel, and crystal. Does anyone know where I can find just the case and whether it would fit a NH70?
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Old 3 April 2020, 09:20 AM   #13
schoolboy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Pierce View Post
The sterile dial is an SKX. I sanded to original dial smooth and used textured paint I had in the garage. Took a couple times to get thin layers to work best. Did the same with the skeleton hands.

The 12-3-6-9 dial, and overall watch design, was the result of wanting to blend the best of a diver w/ a pilot watch.
dP

The sterile dial is beautiful. Great idea and great work Dan.
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Old 3 April 2020, 12:16 PM   #14
Dan Pierce
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The sterile dial is beautiful. Great idea and great work Dan.
Thanks, Jesus! Took a few attempts to get an even coat of paint on the dial. It appears matte but at certain angles looks like wet asphalt.
dP
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Old 3 April 2020, 12:20 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Pierce View Post
Repeat offender modder here. I love letting my imagination go wild.

First, I would get some decent, but not overly expensive tools. Then I would get a working but cheap watch to practice on. No harm, no foul if you bugger it up.

At the same time I'd check Dagaz, Yobokies, Motor City, and as many other sources to check parts availability. There are tons of threads on WatchUSeek in the Seiko forum. They also have tutorials, as well as Youtube.

I can't help with specific references as I use SKX and SRP models to mod. Never got into the smaller sizes.

Experiment, have fun, and keep us updated.
dP

Here are a few of mine:
Dan, what you did with that SKX is amazing

I realize this is an old thread and I’m very glad it was resurrected.
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Old 3 April 2020, 12:30 PM   #16
Dan Pierce
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Dan, what you did with that SKX is amazing

I realize this is an old thread and I’m very glad it was resurrected.
Thanks, Brian! They're like M&M's, ya can't stop once you start.
dP
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Old 3 April 2020, 12:47 PM   #17
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The sterile dial is beautiful. Great idea and great work Dan.
Are you thinking of modding your a SKX Jesus?

I have to admit, Dan’s work is inspiring and with all this time on our hands, maybe worth looking into.
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Old 3 April 2020, 02:32 PM   #18
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Thanks, Jesus! Took a few attempts to get an even coat of paint on the dial. It appears matte but at certain angles looks like wet asphalt.
dP

Well great job


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Old 3 April 2020, 02:37 PM   #19
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Are you thinking of modding your a SKX Jesus?

I have to admit, Dan’s work is inspiring and with all this time on our hands, maybe worth looking into.

So the rehaut on my skx is a little off. So that might be first thing

But honestly, I would love to install a hacking movement. I saw a tutorial about it, but that one looks like an advanced mod lol

While I love seeing cool mods like Dans, currently I am also really enjoying the stock form of my watch.

We’ll see.

For now I need to order a 1.3mm screwdriver to mess with the sizing on my Datejust. Just having a bit of trouble finding the screwdriver.


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