Seiko 5 Automatic, 1976. Case swap project. |
The watch does not look like this anymore, make sure to scroll down to see final product. I have had this watch for at least three years, and never really wore it that much. I tried to, but never really was happy with it. I bought it because I really liked the dial: nice blue background, 0-20 track in reddish orange, 20-60 track in white (what's that for, does anyone know?) and an unusual 13-24 hour markers, but no 1-12 hours (sort of strange.) I also liked the white hands, and the speedometer style seconds hand. I also like the date window with the days of the week in French. Well, I guess I never did like the 1970s Space Age type case. Hidden lugs, bulbous look, I just didn't like it (continued.) |
I looked around for a good case to transplant the movement/dial into. This is a Seiko 5 with movement number 6309, an older movement. The modern Seiko 5 models have the crown at a slightly different location, and won't work. But most of the cases from that era looked just like the one it came with, or worse, looking like spaceships, beetles, etc. Finally I was able to get ahold of the case pictured above, right. It's a proper watch case, with proper lugs, good quality steel with not many scratches (continued.) |
I removed the caseback and easily removed the crown. The movement came out with a a little bit of pulling on a plastic movement holder with some forceps. I wasn't positive it would fit in the other case, but it did perfectly.and the crown went back in fine. Two pictures below, final result. I think it looks a lot better, and to me more wearable. It looks like a proper watch now. This was a most satisfying Frankenwatch project, basically turns this into a new watch. |
