longshot

I agree completely

I bought a 47mm 1950 from Josh and ordered a 26X24 strap from TC with a pre-V buckle in dark tan with gold/tan stitching. The day the Fiddy arrived I carefully mounted the strap and wiped it all doen and put it on my wrist and in about 30 seconds I took it off

It just looked foolish on me.

But I love the sandwich dial and the high domed crystal even more so the brushed case with polished bezel of the Fiddy. I have one more spot in the watch box I bought just for Pams and have been seriously considering a 'Base' but this one might just change my mind!

I have the same watch from Joshua and luckily one one link had a stuck screw so I could adjust around it. I did snug them all (very carefully) before wearing it, and 3 came loose the first day. But not enough to fall out like on my FM Conquistador rep :yucky:

I need to take time to fiddle with it some more as the half link is the one that stuck and it seems to be either too tight or too loose. But the temp here has jumped to the mid 90's and it was only 70's when I adjusted it.

Joshua is a great dealer and I'm sure he'll take care of you

oswald:

Martin Sheen wore a 6105 diver in the movie. That would be correct for the time period. Actually the thinner cased 6105-800X divers and the asymetrical case But6105-811X divers were pretty common in Viet Nam as they could be bought cheaply (under $150US) at PX's in Japan and the P.I. A few of the Seiko forum guys have gone thru and done screen captures from the movie and it's pretty clear, plus Kurtz/Brando wears a Sub too

But Ed Harris does wear a 6309 diver in The Abyss and there are some cool pics out there of Mick Jagger and Freddy Mercury wearing 6309 divers!

Lowballers are the worst. If you are asking $500 and someone offers $200 (and $500 is justified) it is very annoying.

I agree. You have a watch listed at $200 (that is $225 with our dealers) and they offer $100, shipped Express to another country

The other thing that is an irritation is the person who asks for 3-4 more specific pics. So you take the pics, and Photoshop them, and email them, and never hear another word from them.

This is a hobby for me and is supposed to be fun so I try and not let the lowballers and professional lookers get to me. But I have started just not responding to absurd lowball offers...

@ Longshot

thanks for the info...shame....i was hoping it would be 1977..... =(

It's a great watch! I've had 5-6 7290's and there is just something special about them. Plus I'm sure it's running great at almost 20 years old, with no service.

I actually like the 7290 dial with the square markers so much I committed the sin of making a franken by putting a 7290 dial in the big 7049 cushion case and then polishing the whole thing

A SuperOcean Steelfish in that beautiful blue dial would be awesome!

I agree Breitlings should be a little 'bling'. That's why I love my SS Seawolf...

I have 14 dive watches so I guess you could say they are my favorite!

But the only gen that I don't have that I've been lusting after is the new Sinn U1. I hated it when I first saw the pictures but after handling one and trying it on I'm in love

I think it would be fine in Europe

But in the US, no...

We Americans generally have zero fashion sense. But then what do I know, I wear my Utilikilts in public

thanks for the information longshot, but i've asked TIMEZONE SEIKO forum and was told that it was made in 1977. I even put the serial and model number in a neat little program which works out the date produced and was told 1977.

Seiko Production Date Calculator

Edited: URL added.

Nope it's 1987

That program was written by and is hosted by my friend John/Jayhawk (in fact the grey dial CR220 Sealion I posted the pic of is now in his collection!). The flaw in it is; if Seiko used a movement for over 10 years the only way to tell the decade the watch was made is by the case number, not the movement number, so the program defaults to the earlier decade. In 1977 the only 6309 divers made used the large cushion case (the 704X case). The newer slimmer case was not even designed until the late 1980's, and was first used for the 7548 series quartz divers then the 6309-7290 divers.

You could always post your pic here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/78440/

And ask, but everyone will tell you it's 1987

@ By-tor

My Seiko was made in 1977, the 6309 models were discontinued in 1987, but there are similar models e.g 7S26 Divers, they look very similar to the 6309s, some of the modern divers have the crown at 3'o clock.

@ Ubi

thats one fine collection! Not a big fan of Rolex, but wow!

The 6309-7290 would be from 1987 (if the first digit of the serial number is a 7, the second would be the month of production). The 7290's were made at the end of the 6309's run and used the same case as the next model, the date only 7002. These cases look very similar to the newer 007 style divers with the difference being the crown is at 4:00 instead of 3:40.

Here's a few of mine in rough chronological order (only the ones I've had since I bought a digicam)

Thank you for sharing that, it was great!

You VW looks very cool too. It's a model we don't get in the US

I agree completely.

I have waited as much as a year (actually a bit more) for a full restoration on a couple of my Seiko's by the Seiko Forum gurus so don't mind the wait. But Joe has had my Sub since April 8th and I've only had one communication in that time. The worst part is, he is supposed to contact me when he's ready to do the work so we can decide what all is to be done so I can't even be sure what the cost will be until then.

It appears Joe has not been active here or on TRC since May 3rd. It would be nice if he posted at least once a week to keep everyone updated

Hands down, the closest rep out of the box is the 2892 FM conquistador--the only "flaws" are the nearly dead on crown, and the slightly rough engraving on the back. Even the movement inside is almost exact.

I agree completely!

This is the only rep I own that I would wear in to any AD (except an FM AD)

Thanks, this is a really helpful post (but will probably cost me $$...).

I've stared at the pics a lot and can't seem to see the differences between, say, Joshua's newest blue SMP and the famous closed factory SMP?

Are the any obvious flaws I'm missing on Josh's newest?

I reported him to eBay a week or so ago for the rep FM and Omega Speedy

Funny that none of us could sell a rep on the 'Bay by listing it as a rep but of you list it as gen and rip people off that seems to be acceptable as long as eBay gets their fees!

The pics look awesome, but I still like my SS version better!

Once my Sub is done and back from Joe I will be sending my Seawolf in to have the bezel fixed. Overall the watch (from Joshua) is stunning and runs better than COSC spec, but the bezel is loose and feels crappy and I'm hoping that can be fixed

I guess mine is safe since I don't even swim or shower with my genuine 600m dive watches

I'm very tempted by Joshua's new blue dial Pam 120, but am a little worried about the 21j Asian auto that comes in them. If it had a center seconds it seems swapping out the movement for an ETA would be reasonably easy, but with the 9:00 subdial is there a better movement that can be fitted?

I like the look of the 120 a lot. I was going to say the crown looks way too thin, but looking at this pic of the gen (from TZ) the rep looks even better!

I've worn my silver dial into a Rolex, Breitling, IWC dealer here in town and the salespeople all fawned over it. If I ever send it to Joe for work I'll have him fix the sweep. Until then I agree it's an awesome rep as is. And it does wind smoother than any rep I own and runs between +3/4 seconds a day

I never got the Sub thing until I got a good rep and now I do

It would have to be the basic black Sub!

I just got an email from Joshua and:

The Santos has been re-work and a complete upgraded model is now avail... The leather strap is on its way in from strap sub-cons.. I will re-shoot the pics once the watch is install up...This new model, the case and clasp is completely new and the angles and finishing are enhanced...

Damn all of you anyway

My new VC Overseas was going to complete the dress watch portion of my collection....

what is the size of the band, 22mm?

The way the bracelet attaches it does not look like it's possible to use a strap. From the pictures I've seen it looks like the gen is the same way.

Hi Longshot, thanks for posting the photos. what is your impression of the bracelet? and overall impression? and just bothered are you by the cross? Thanks for the input.

The bracelet rocks after tightening ALL the screws and a clean and oil and polish, but every screw on the watch was loose. Honestly, even with my glasses on it's hard to see the details of the cross so it does not bother me at all! So far it's +2 seconds in 24 hours. There is also a lot of cool detail in the dial that's hard to see. The edges of the markers are polished but the arabics are a matte aluminum finish. All the printing is very crisp and clear, as good as my ETA 2893 FM Conquistador. It's also much less bling than I expected with a lot more brush finish and less high polish. I think it would benefit from taking the bezel off (if that's possible) and giving the front of the case a good re-brush and then some Flitz or Semichrome. I was kind of surprised when I looked at the pics as the fit and finish looks much, much better in person than it does at 5X life size

For me if I did it over again I would get the black dial. I'm a really casual guy and even though it's a dress/sport watch the white/silver dial is a maybe little too formal for me. I've actually emailed Josh to see if there is anyway I could get a black dial and chapter ring for it

Here's some quick pics

Hopefully I'll have some better tomorrwow