[chévere]

I've wanted a 6309-7040 for about as long as I've been collecting Seikos, but I never saw the "right" auction or sale. The prices on the 6309s (particularly early Suwa-dialed models) seemed to spike in price and I frankly don't know enough on first sight to know what's original and what's aftermarket.

A few nights ago, an auction came up that seemed a little glitchy. The buttons didn't appear to make a bid or buy it now. I kept refreshing and after about ten minutes, the auction was working properly and I won! I'm particularly glad it's a bit of a project, but it's a good foundation nonetheless.

I'm not sure whether the hands will be salvageable, but I'll see what I can do.

 

[TheTigerUK]

Ramon ?

and congratulations

 

[chévere]

Ramon ?

and congratulations

Surprisingly, it actually wasn't Ramon this time! Many of my favorite projects have come from him.

 

[jringo8769]

well looks like you got that one..i was emailing the seller as you bought it...glad you got it...looks like a great watch...if you need anything ...let me know...

 

[jringo8769]

hey if you dont use the hands..let me know..i am interested

 

[chévere]

Sorry I missed that last message, but it's timely because I did end up using the hands and restoring them. As you can see in the photos above, they were in pretty poor shape. Thus, I didn't feel too badly trying a few new things to see if I could get them back in order. I used some acetone and dissolved the old lume and started trying to reapply some silver finish.

I used a product called Medallion Liquid Silver, which I had previously used on some hands for my Citizen 52-0110. I learned that the smoother the finish is before you apply the product, the shinier and smoother it looks when you've finished. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but I am very pleased with how they turned out, considering how they arrived.

Here, the minute hand had been test polished; that is, just given a quick once-over.

This is how the hand looked mid process. I used a manicurist's buffing file to lightly polish away any oxidation and then shine the bare metal.

The sponge that comes with the Medallion product is far too coarse to do any good on something as fine as watch hands. Instead, I raided my wife's makeup bin to find these makeup applicator sponges. They worked perfectly and I can see a lot of other places where they'll come in handy!

And the finished product. As you can see, there are still some imperfections in the hands, but they're really only that visible in the photo. In person, they just look like they've got a bit of age on them.

I try to wait until I've got a few projects to lume because it's a pain in the butt to mix, but I may have to do a small batch because I'm excited to see how they look all finished.

 

[jringo8769]

man...you are a real artist...great job..cant wait to see how it looks in the end...great job...

 

[jringo8769]

hey have you ever aged any parts to make them go with what you have?..

 

[SurfingSeiko]

Looking good, keep us posted.

Mark

 

[chévere]

hey have you ever aged any parts to make them go with what you have?..

Honestly, the majority of my parts have come "aged" as they were. :grin: It's funny you mention that though -- I've got a nice set of hands that came on a donor 7002 watch I bought. I wonder if I could apply the same principles here to age that factory finish.

I've tried to do some vintage lume before as well, trying different paints, pigments, and even cinnamon. It looked pretty terrible.

 

[Sir Alan]

Will the silver finish tarnish (oxidise)?

 

[chévere]

Will the silver finish tarnish (oxidise)?

Honestly, that will remain to be seen. According to the product info on Amazon, it's permanent because it does lay a new layer of silver on the base metal. I did treat some hands on another watch a few months ago and they still look the same.

 

[jringo8769]

well i thought it would be hard to age items...

 

[toxicavenger]

WOW great work!