Yep they don't come up often. When they do it's hard to know what's legitimate and what's not. There doesn't seem to be a definite answer but it would be good to know what the earliest and latest dates of production are. Please do post guys!
Been doing some more digging and found one on this old thread (that mmounce owned) that looks like the serial number begins with a six so 1976! That's the earliest I have come across:
Here is the red2ndhand version that is generally believed to be original. It is a 91XXXX. Previous guesses from the community was that there were no more than two batches produced, one in the late 70s and one around 1983 (presumably to explain the 1983 watch coming up from time to time). I do not think that there was any consensus as to the size of these batches but at least the 1983 batch was not expected to be 1000. Also, if we are getting towards 10 different production months (we already have 6 in this tread), it seems very unlikely that they made 1000 each month or that the total amount would be in the 5-10000 range. I woudl also find it very unlikely that Seiko had casebacks from two different years (a few months could be likely) to produce a larger batch. It is also of some interest that the Seiko Museum has very little knowledge of these watches which woudl be likely if it was a 5-10000 watch production run over many years.
Thanks for the info chaps and do please keep gathering as much info as possible.
My worry is that some unscrupulous people may have swapped cases or casebacks with 'normal' 6306 7001 watches to improve their specimen, in which case we will never know what's original and what's not. It's a real shame no records appear to have been kept. :-(
If we can get some sort of table together with likely correct years and months it may help prevent people buying possible lemons.
Some time ago I "analysed"(enlarged the dial picture) a few of the what were considered 100% genuine Scubapro dial texts and I did find minor differences in the placing of the text, perhaps varied very very slightly between batches ?
Did Seiko apply the Scubapro text or was it a third party ?
I did some digging in the old SCWF archives and the best post there is an old mmounce post from 2003 (copied below). From this we can at least assume that Seiko did the production of the watch. With Mike being the expert of the Scubapro, there might not be more info available.
- martin
Seiko 6306 ScubaPro 450 Update.November 22 2003 at 9:34 AM
No score for this post Mike (Login mmounce)
Approved Users
from IP address 65.166.241.50
Trying to find as much information on the Scubapro as I could. I sent out a email to Scubapro USA. It came back "Hi Michael,The watch pictured in the attachment was manufactured by Seiko for Scubapro. That particular version may have been offered by Scubapro Japan. The automatic series of watches were offered in the US from 1978 through 1984."
Best Regards,Jules Ganier
Scubapro/Uwatec
Then another Email to ScubaPro Japan, It came back "Scubapro Japan asked several time to make the watch with Scubapro name on it(OEM).
The 1978 ones are also limited production version - Qty is not sure because the file is not here to check.
But it should be 1000pcs not more.
Hope this will help."
Regards
Scubapro Japan
Then a another email to our resident expert Mr. Tokunaga. It came back "Dear Mike-san,
Well, that watch is the one Scubapro had specially ordered to Seiko. Seiko printed the mark which Scubapro specified on the dial of 6306 150m diver's watch, did assembly and inspection, and supplied them it in the state of finished goods.
Unfortunately, I don't know when or how many pieces they were made, because there is no record...
Sincerely yours,
Ikuo Tokunaga
So there you have it. I'm tapped out on who else to ask.I tried,but like many of the vintage Seikos there's a air of mystery and no real solid answer.
So we still enjoy them without knowing all the details.
It was always my understanding that the 6306 was produced 1976-1981, so if the scuba pros were only 6306's, how does a 1983 make it to one of the batches?
It was always my understanding that the 6306 was produced 1976-1981, so if the scuba pros were only 6306's, how does a 1983 make it to one of the batches?
and a bit of a note - The photos above show a pretty messy dial - I was able to clean most of the dial-muck off with a cotton bud and a bit of water - so it looks 100% better.
and a bit of a note - The photos above show a pretty messy dial - I was able to clean most of the dial-muck off with a cotton bud and a bit of water - so it looks 100% better.
Many thanks to Leong for parting with one of his lovely Scubapro 450's and sending it to me in the UK!
It arrived today and is truly superb. Here I am wearing it this evening:
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