It's been a busy few weeks for Seiko on the photo shoot schedule. In the last month, I posted pictures of my revamped custom Sea Monster, the classy SARB065 Cocktail Time, and the sharp Direct Drive Kinetic Moonphase. Today, I've got a few shots of the fruits of my Samurai customization project.
I've always liked the Samurai. It's the one modern dive watch where Seiko just really cut all ties with its long history of excellent dive watches and made something completely different. The bold, angular lines of the case, the knurling, the notched markers on the bezel insert all contribute to a distinct, yet impressively harmonious design. Plus, unlike at least a number of people, I really liked the waffle dials. But as impressive as the designs were, the standard lineup was too monotone whereas the limited edition models were a bit too unobtainable. A little creativity was clearly necessary.
Unlike the Monsters and the ubiquitous SKX007, Samurai parts are a bit hard to come by. In fact, Samurais are a bit hard to come by too. To realize the one "perfect" Samurai mod, I ended up buying three of them. I hadn't really intended to go down this route, but it kind of just happened that I bought one after another after another. I have a history of somehow coming to own things in pairs (2 Speedmaster Pros and 2 Seamaster Pros), but three is ridiculous even for me. But, I think this one turned out well enough to justify at least some of that energy:
I think I'm going to dub it the Seiko Samurai "Black Tie". Here's the parts list:
Base: SDBA005 Titanium Samurai
7S25 movement
SNM009 dial and chapter ring
SNM033 bezel insert
Noah Fuller domed sapphire crystal
Taikonaut "Tank" LE NATO strap
The bead-blasting was done by Jay at Motor City Watch Works (he did a fantastic job). All the Samurai bezel inserts have this recessed lume pip that I didn't care for; I filled in all of them with some Noctiluminova and now they're all more or less flush (and a bit brighter too). Hands are the original Ti-Samurai ones.
The other thing that always bothered me about the Samurai is the fact that the bezel insert sits high above the crystal - there's a lip on the inner edge. This is the reason you can find alot of used Samurais with dents and chipping along this edge; it's a clear case where aesthetics won over functionality, I think. I even complained about this a few months back. I ended up buying two sapphire crystals to compare them: Noah's and Yobokies's. Noah's is a bit pricier, but it's also a much higher dome than Yobokies's. It extends in the center to a height of 5.1mm, above the bezel insert, whereas Yobokies's is barely domed at all at right around 4mm (the flat OEM crystal is 3.3mm thick). All these crystals are the same height at the edges though, so the lip is still present. But since Noah's crystal juts just a little above the insert in the center, it does help alleviate the problem.
I realize that the market for custom parts for a discontinued model might be a bit slim, but it'd sure be great if someone paid a domed sapphire crystal that was thick enough so that the edges were at the same height as the bezel insert. And while I'm wishing for things, maybe some aftermarket bezels too?
The Taikonaut strap is a very good match to the watch, I think. Jay bead-blasted the OEM bracelet at the same time, but I never was very fond of titanium bracelets' low density. It always felt a little weird. I don't know if I'll be wearing it much. The steel bracelets on the other hand, like the steel cases, are seriously heavy. I ended up polishing all the links on those; the center polished links never fit the look of the watch. Those will probably see more wrist time.
Here's the whole trio in their present forms:
The other two aren't really finished. I had a little trouble with Yobokies's S-hands in my last order and so the black-dialed one still has an OEM minute hand. That'll be rectified when the new order gets in. I may also swap in black Plongeur hands for the orange-dial one instead of silver. I'm sure I'll get around to eventually posting more pictures of those when I finish them up. In the meantime, here are two shots that I believe I actually posted a few months ago, but are relevant to the topic on hand.
Black-dial, silver-bezel Sammy with the anemic OEM hands:
Steel Samurai parts laid out:
And of course, to close the post off: the obligatory Seiko forum lume shot (of the "Black Tie" again).
This is where that white dial really shines (forgive the pun).
. Great job!
