Further down the rabbit hole, seiko 5 content

The SNZH57 is one that I keep in my regular rotation.

Here it is apart after I put the bits back in place on the dial. I unintentionally popped the crystal out wiping it off. I’ve started looking at new parts. I need to trade it off before I spend more money on it. 

Thanks to the bad influences here I’ve just bought one from India for $23.00 shipped.  I have also started half looking for another Soviet watch after giving a coworker my railroad watch.  We were talking one day and he recognized it, his father was with the railroad before they were able to get out of the country.

As I said, I need to get rid of this thing before it becomes my most expensive watch. On the cheap end, I can get a Mickey Mouse kit for $20. On the nicer side, I found...

And a double AR Double Dome Sapphire crystal that together would set me back about $140 combined. 

The above is all Super Luminova BGW9

Or, I can gamble on another and do both. 

Here are the regular shots. 

I keep seeing this in it.

I have a non-5 Seiko en route. I'll post pics once it lands. 

Yup, just got around to ordering a better band for my thrift store non 5 Seiko because of this thread.

In reply to Brian :

Do it. That would be rad.

Any Seiko 5 models with better than 20 sec per day variation?

Crxpilot said:

Any Seiko 5 models with better than 20 sec per day variation?

My NH35/6 (4r35/6) movements tend to be in the 5 secs a day range, and they aren't even the highest end of the seiko autos.

I've ordered all the parts for a new build, and just waiting on the bezel insert now. I'll share pics here when I finish.

How are spares for these older Seiko's?  There are some really cool ones with nice shapes, but many need new glass/crystal or whatever it's called.  This discovery of sub $30 vintage automatic watches could be the best bad discovery in a long time.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

It varies. The easiest thing to do is browse through Esslinger before buying to get an idea of what it's going to cost on the high end or if parts are available. From there it usually gets cheaper from eBay or other sellers.

Esslinger generally has the best selection of parts and bits you'll need to get a watch going again. You can really run down the rabbit hole with Yobokies and Dagaz if you start modding them.

So I've taken the plunge.  I didn't get the one I was looking at the other week as I was concerned I couldn't see the correct crystal on Esslinger or elsewhere.  I went for this sort of art deco shaped one.  I know nothing about these watches other than I think they look cool.  It's advertised as 'SEIKO 5 21J 6309A JAPAN AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT GOLDEN DAY DATE DIAL WRIST WATCH BC' and as per the OP it's coming from India.  For $27 I can't go too far wrong and I'm not out much if it's bunk.  If it works out I can see a series of crappy watches making their way to me from India for different occasions and outfits.

So I have a Seiko Pepsi that was my dads.  Its been in storage, aside from being worn at my wedding, for 30 years. Whats the skinny on service on these things?   Im afraid to run it without a service (though it does run fine) and havent had it done because I was quoted well over $100 to have it done.

Is it DIY-able?  I also dont like that every place I find basically ships it out and I'm not comfortable putting it in the mail (it was my dads, he passed away when I was 12...)

Example photo of the watch (I'd have to dig into my lockup for it)

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

Nice. The 6309A part of the description is the movement of the watch. They're a workhorse, parts are pretty easy to get, and virtually indestructible.

You can polish crystal most of the time as well, both Hardlex and sapphire. Domed is a bit more difficult to get right without some distortion but the flat ones, by and large, are pretty easy if you're patient. Even with fairly deep scratches.

The big concern is generally replacement if it fails but you have to hit them pretty hard to achieve that.

Nice, thanks.  What kind of servicing do these need, by whom, how often and costs?

In reply to Apexcarver :

$100 doesn’t sound unreasonable.  My wife inherited a tiny watch I didn’t trust myself to touch and I paid about that to have it serviced.  I did not run when we got it and the jeweler got it running perfect.

In reply to Apexcarver :

That's also commonly called a Pogue Seiko after the astronaut that used one.  Check out prices on ebay, a service would be well worth it to keep it functional.

It's got a 6139 movement, when looking into watchmakers see if that's in their repertoire.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

For a $27 Seiko 5, I wouldn't worry about servicing, or at least that's the watch to learn to DIY.  I don't think new parts are available other than NOS, so most of these from India are cobbled together.

It's got a huge balance that can get out of whack, but it's easy to replace and that's the only thing I've had to do in mine.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

There's a bunch of different thoughts on that subject but I wouldn't really bother unless something seems out of wack. Maybe once every 10 years if you're not expecting it to be waterproof.

It ran $125 or so to have a Miyota 8215 movement serviced by the local jeweler. Seiko has a US based service center in NJ. No idea what their pricing matrix looks like though.

Mine came today.  $22.99 with free shipping from India.  The band is pleathery like I was expecting but the watch itself looks good, runs smooth and is keeping time.  

/so mine arrived yesterday as well.  $27.  Watch is in pretty good condition overall with a cheap leather band.  The crystal is perfect, I assume it's been replaced.  The bezel and case have a few scratches, but I'm happy.  

It's my first automatic watch, and it seems a bit tricky to adjust the date.  Google tells me for a three hand Seiko, to pull the adjuster out when the second hand is at 60 (or 0) then adjust.  The date works fine, the day ring is a bit odd, it seems to jerk around sometimes going the wrong way, sometimes you'll spin the adjust for ages and nothing happens.  Not sure if it's fat fingers or not.  The day ring is interesting, instead of just the seven days, it has 14 stations like this:

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

Is it the type where turning the crown one way changes the day and the opposite changes the date?

Does spinning the minute hand around change the day/date?

Since everybody else is showing off their stuff, I'll post a pic of mine. This thing has been beaten, used and abused and just keeps going after 35 years. I prefer this design to the round ones. Sorry for the lousy and too big pic.