Got one incoming.. the last purchase of 2010, barring some miraculous COTD. Ricky Lee December 16, 2010 05:48PM

Registered: April 2005 Posts: 12,330 (2011-05)

And since it's not likely to be delivered before years end, it will probably also be the first acquisition of 2011. When you see it, many of you will probably say "What took you so long?! "

This one does fill what I've lately come to see as something of a hole in my collection. It's a diver, though that's not really where the shortage lies. My collection is not what you'd call heavy on divers, 'tis true, even if you include "desk divers" and/or "diver-styled" watches. But that's OK, as I'm not really a Diver Guy. I do respect their merits, and do enjoy the style. But not to the point where every watch I own's gonna be a diver! Guess you could say I enjoy divers in moderation. Nor do I feel the need for massive overkill in the WR department. A 200M or 300M rating seems a waste, for me, never mind 1000+ meters.

"So where's the hole?! " you ask. OK, OK! I'm getting to it! First, it's a Pepsi bezel, a style I really like. But, can you believe it?! Over 100 watches in the "keeper" category, and not a single Pepsi! I have owned several over the years, but for one reason or another they just don't seem to "stick". The last was this little Casio Frankenwatch. I liked it fine, but a co-worker liked it even more, and Made Me An Offer I Couldn't Refuse.

The other thing.. "main thing", perhaps, is that it's a vintage Seiko. So, in reality, it's a combination of all these factors: "vintage Seiko diver with Pepsi bezel".





A 6309-729A from January of 1985.

Yeah, I know it's not the most sought-after model in the family. And, no, it's not original. The dial, hands, and bezel are all aftermarket items. Originality is not an issue for me, however, at least not in this specific instance. More important, for me, is that the parts do blend together into a harmonious whole. So I'm pretty jazzed about this one! The factors that sealed the deal for me..





..are that the movement has been freshly serviced, the case hasn't been polished to death, the crown has 2 turns of engagement, and it comes from a well-respected seller with a liberal return policy.

Oh, and the price. At just over US $80 shipped, it's hard to see how I could go wrong...

Thanks for readin' y'all!



-Ricky

So I'm googlin' around a bit, researching what an original 6309-729A *should* look like.. Ricky Lee December 19, 2010 01:47PM

Registered: April 2005 Posts: 12,330 (2011-05)

..and looky here what I stumbled across over on WUS:




My immediate reaction was "Heey! I know that watch!"

Sure, it's Bro. Wycombe's "Beat up beauty", which ye've seen here on the PMWF a few times.

Another interesting tidbit...

Quote
Matthew Wild
Seiko 6105-8110 vs Seiko 6309-729A

The “holy trinity” of vintage Seiko divers is the 62MAS, 6105 and 6309-7040 – to which I’d like to add the Pepsi 6309-729A to make a gang of four. I guess I’m half way to owning the famous quartet, with a 6105 and 729A.

I’m adding the later, slimmed-case 6309 with square indices to the trinity because it proved so influential in subsequent Seiko design history. The case shape has altered little over the years, and the square indices live on in the form of the US-only SKX173.

Next on my grail list is the classic 6309-7040 (or ‘7049). A 62MAS might have to wait a little longer. .

Here you can see an all original 6105-8110 (from 1974) with a 6309-729A (Pepsi dial; from 1987). The 729A bezel is not original – it’s from a later Seiko, which can be observed from the smaller lume dot – and I have my doubts about the hands, but, hey, at least the dial is all-original.

My plan is to get the 6309-729A onto an all solid link Super Oyster II, and the 6105-8110 onto a waffle (even if it’s a lookalike waffle) – and then get a 6309-7040 on a straight-vent rubber strap.

These pics are nothing fancy. . . just taken to document my latest purchases. I like shots that illustrate the watch. (And, yes, if you aren’t a hardcore vintage Seiko lunatic, it is just a watch, with text that’s like reading alphabet soup.)

Alas, his watch is also non-original (modded 729A's seem to outnumber original versions 10-to-1! ). I got to agree with his sentiments, though. The 6309-729A does indeed appear every bit as iconic, to me, as the "Holy Trinity Of Vintage Seiko Divers" which he mentions.

Anyway, it would appear that my incoming example...


..actually mimics the overall look of an original OEM example quite closely, with the most notable differences being the round chapter markers and the under-sized bezel pip at 12. I can live with that. Indeed, I do believe that

I prefer the aftermarket 7040-style dial over the original.

Lastly.. Lord help me, I made this disturbing find, which indicates..






..that the William Jean Super Oyster II bracelet is an exact and perfect fit on the 6309-729A.

I'm a-skeered to check , me brothers.. how much do these things go for?

If it's more than I paid for the watch, I've got big problems. For, in that case, me Inner Scotsman will most certainly balk & refuse to open The Wallet.

Ah well. I can always sneak up behind the bastard and pole-axe him. I've done it before..



-Ricky

at Ricky Lee's Home For Wayward Wristwatches Ricky Lee December 23, 2010 06:18PM

Registered: April 2005 Posts: 12,330 (2011-05)

Sure, sure, unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past week, you know what it is.

I got to say, this was the most exciting ever:


But, sure enough, when I checked the side of the road, just down in the ditch, there it was!

Kind of a shame it went down this way, because I'd planned on doing a "striptease post", complete with a half-dozen photos of the packaging and all. But there was so much blood and gore on the box that I was a-feared I might offend me PMWF Brothers who have.. well, let's say less than a Cast Iron Stomach. So I just ripped into the box (after first sternly disciplining the Alpha Hound: "Bad hound dog! BAD Girl!!") and shot some photos:

Long story short, this one exceeded my expectations, and by a pretty darned wide margin!

I mean just look at it! I've bought BNiB modern watches that weren't this good, cosmetically. As a refurb, I figured there'd be a few minor flaws here 'n' there. But I've been over it stem-to-stern, with magnification up to 14X, and I can find not a flaw one.

O' course this would all be moot, if it didn't run good. But it runs very well indeed! Granted I've only been able to track it for ~ 3 hours, but it checks dead-on so far, to the very second. Mind you, it doesn't hack, so I synched a quartz watch (the Casio AMW320) to it. Good to go!

If there's one minor disappointment..

..it's the cosmetic condition of the movement. Specifically, the rotor is missing a bit of it's plating , giving it a somewhat "mottled" look. But all in all it's pretty darned clean! As well it should be, having just received a full COA service. And it is 25 years old, after all, so I can't really complain. Especially not considering the way-under-$100 price!

Another area that could be better is the lume. Frankly, the lume is just lame. I wish I could be more charitable (believe me I do! ), but there's just no other word for it. Well.. not strictly true. "Pitiful" would work, I reckon, or maybe "piss poor".

The hands are actually not all that bad.. on a par with the budget Chinese jobbies from Otto Frei, say. And they may be sourced from the same vendor, for all I know. But the dial lume is so weak as to be non-existent. When freshly charged you can tell that it is lumed, but the half-life is about 30 seconds, and within two minutes it's effectively dark. The bezel lume pip is somewhere between the two - it never "pops" as well as the hands, but it does hang in there longer than the dial (though not quite as long as the hands).

Not a deal-breaker for me, mind you. They're aftermarket parts, were advertised as such, and so I never expected OEM Seiko-level lume. Still, a bit of a disappointment...

On a brighter note ( ), the watch "wears" quite a bit larger than I expected. But then at 42mm X 45mm X 12.5mm thick, with 22mm lugs, it's not exactly a small watch. One very pleasant surprise..

..is that the strap is an XL, and fits me with three notches to spare! You coulda knocked me over wi' a feather!

And, while I'm not a big fan of resin straps in general, I find this one to be far less objectionable than most. Actually, it wears Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr8! Indeed, I'm digging the look enough that I feel no need to swap on a NATO straightaway, which is what I expected. The overall cosmetic condition is so good that I know I will have to eventually spring for a Super Oyster bracelet but, for now, I'm gonna enjoy it as is.

Merry Christmas, me Brothers, and may 2011 be your best year ever!



-Ricky