I usually don't ask these type questions, but this one has got me baffled to say the least....so I'll need to tap into the "collective" for some vintage guidance
During a recent conversation with one of my engineering collegues, the topic of vintage Seiko divers came up....He stated that he noticed that I appeared to always be wearing some variation of a 6309 cushion diver. He tells me that he has one just like mine sitting in his drawer at home, hasn't worn it for years and offers to sell it to me...cheap!
The transaction took place this morning and while I wasn't expecting much out of the norm there was one element that appeared out of place......a Chinese day wheel...this in itself isn't really spectacular as I know they exist, but what sets this apart is the fact that both the day and date wheels were black??
Now, the chap that sold me the watch has owned it since 1989 and further explains that he and a fellow Engineer had swapped watches while working at our facility in China all those years ago. Makes sense I guess..
Over the past 9 months or so I've either restored or modded in excess of (30) 6309-704x divers...In general and depending on the initial market of origin, the day wheels are usually English/Spanish or English/Roman with a smattering of others which may have been added/modded by the previous owner...
The watch is in a nice unrestored condition...... Manufacture date of January '85,....The Case has never been touched and shows minor wear, Crystal is original and unscratched, original dial is very nice, Hands show evidence of slight corrosion, and the movement sounds nice and strong. I opened the case to find a very clean 6309a movement that according to the previous owner had never been serviced.....I believe him as there were no indications that a screw had ever been touched.
Everything about this watch seems correct except the black day/date wheels...
So my question is basically, Did Seiko offer the 6309-704x with black Chinese day/date wheels or was this something that the original owner had done between buying it in '85 and swapping with my guy in '89?
What exactly do I have here? I've hit a brick wall in sourcing info from the web and here on SCWF.....if you have any information on this variation I would be most appreciative.
My gutt instinct is leave this one intact and to just do a basic clean up for daily wear (new gaskets and quickie case cleaning)
I know, I know.....Pics or it didn't happen....right?
I'm at work at the moment but promise to post a photo this evening.
Shawn
During a recent conversation with one of my engineering collegues, the topic of vintage Seiko divers came up....He stated that he noticed that I appeared to always be wearing some variation of a 6309 cushion diver. He tells me that he has one just like mine sitting in his drawer at home, hasn't worn it for years and offers to sell it to me...cheap!
The transaction took place this morning and while I wasn't expecting much out of the norm there was one element that appeared out of place......a Chinese day wheel...this in itself isn't really spectacular as I know they exist, but what sets this apart is the fact that both the day and date wheels were black??
Now, the chap that sold me the watch has owned it since 1989 and further explains that he and a fellow Engineer had swapped watches while working at our facility in China all those years ago. Makes sense I guess..
Over the past 9 months or so I've either restored or modded in excess of (30) 6309-704x divers...In general and depending on the initial market of origin, the day wheels are usually English/Spanish or English/Roman with a smattering of others which may have been added/modded by the previous owner...
The watch is in a nice unrestored condition...... Manufacture date of January '85,....The Case has never been touched and shows minor wear, Crystal is original and unscratched, original dial is very nice, Hands show evidence of slight corrosion, and the movement sounds nice and strong. I opened the case to find a very clean 6309a movement that according to the previous owner had never been serviced.....I believe him as there were no indications that a screw had ever been touched.
Everything about this watch seems correct except the black day/date wheels...
So my question is basically, Did Seiko offer the 6309-704x with black Chinese day/date wheels or was this something that the original owner had done between buying it in '85 and swapping with my guy in '89?
What exactly do I have here? I've hit a brick wall in sourcing info from the web and here on SCWF.....if you have any information on this variation I would be most appreciative.
My gutt instinct is leave this one intact and to just do a basic clean up for daily wear (new gaskets and quickie case cleaning)
I know, I know.....Pics or it didn't happen....right?
I'm at work at the moment but promise to post a photo this evening.
Shawn