reach out to Seiko and ask them?

 

Do you happen to know their contact email? We should start a petition !!!

 

Might be a long wait because of the existence of the 5KX which has the same case shape just shallower grooves to hold the rubber gasket for the caseback and push pull crown. There’s a stem tube in case the tube gets damaged but unlikely for non-screw down crowns.

Check out the 7548. It’s the predecessor to the SKX007/009 but with a 5-jewel quartz full metal movement built on the automatic 6309.

Image from this site:

A Seiko 7548-700B from June 1981

The second of my two palate cleansers conjures up memories of previously well-trodden paths and consequently offers a potential source of comfort in providing something with which to ground myself.…

adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.com

 

Might be a long wait because of the existence of the 5KX which has the same case shape just shallower grooves to hold the rubber gasket for the caseback and push pull crown. There’s a stem tube in case the tube gets damaged but unlikely for non-screw down crowns.

Check out the 7548. It’s the predecessor to the SKX007/009 but with a 5-jewel quartz full metal movement built on the automatic 6309.
View attachment 18222917
Image from this site:

A Seiko 7548-700B from June 1981

The second of my two palate cleansers conjures up memories of previously well-trodden paths and consequently offers a potential source of comfort in providing something with which to ground myself.…

adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.com

Yep. The SKX is barely discontinued, the case was slightly changed and the dial/bezel iterated on like crazy.

If it's just the SKX look that OP wants, mod a 5KX dial and bezel. If it's the crown and w/r then just wait for a decent used deal/negotiate one down. Or make your own franken

 

I believe the SKX was discontinued a few years later (2018).

Last year I also had the SKX itch. Bought a NOS 007K (came with Arabic datewheel which was a nice plus) for $360. Yes, I overpaid for what it could have been bought some years ago. But, no regrets so far.

 

How dead set on it being an original run SKX are you? If you're willing to go the modding route there are plenty of aftermarket cases, and a used SRPD is cheap.

 

this is what I found

Seiko Watch Corporation

Seiko er en af de få fuldt integrerede urproducenter. Vi designer og udvikler vores egne urværker ved hjælp af den nyeste teknologi.

www.seikowatches.com

Contact | Seiko Group Corporation

Contact information of Seiko Group Corporation and Affiliated Companies for inquiries.

www.seiko.co.jp

 

There are always a few for sale on eBay for around $300 if you pay attention (they sell fast). Also, check the marketplace, they come up cheap every few months.

 

Check Facebook marketplace. I bought an SKXA35 a couple years ago there with a broken day/date wheel and replaced the part.
I recall the SKX173 and 175 were selling for 415USD in shops 10-15 years ago so it’s not a huge price difference to buy one for 500USD if you absolutely must have a NOS watch. We got spoiled by the internet prices back before they were discontinued

 

They are still out there if you hunt a bit.

 

$300+ for these watches is just nuts. They aren't very good. They were only famous because they were cheap, and there weren't that many options. Now there's a ton of options, and the prices have gotten beyond stupid for hardlex and a movement that can't hack or hand wind.

6RMASes and MM200s are available used in the $400ish range.

The MM200 is so much better than the SKX that it's like comparing a racing bike to a penny farthing.

 

$300+ for these watches is just nuts. They aren't very good. They were only famous because they were cheap, and there weren't that many options. Now there's a ton of options, and the prices have gotten beyond stupid for hardlex and a movement that can't hack or hand wind.

6RMASes and MM200s are available used in the $400ish range.

The MM200 is so much better than the SKX that it's like comparing a racing bike to a penny farthing.

It's pretty obvious that people are not buying them for specs, but for their collectbility.

Why pay thousands for a Hesalite Moonwatch, since it has a plastic crystal?

 

My brother bought an skx009 back in about 2002. He still has it now.

Has had about 3 movement changes and new gaskets...less than a 100 bucks each time and I serviced them for him. I love that about these watches.

A 22 year old watch that can go anywhere, has old school styling, and can take the knocks is a pretty good watch in my books.

Nostalgia hit hard when they got axed and I made sure I got me a couple. I don't wear them often, but they make me smile when I do. That's easily worth 300 bucks.

 

I bought an SKX007 years ago, when they were cheap. On the Seiko plastic strap, I hated it. Fast forward to last year, and I got a minty SKX009J in trade. On a Strapcode jubilee bracelet, it's a totally different animal. I never thought I'd love this watch, but I do. One of the YouTube watch guys (not sure which one - maybe The Mad Watch Collector) said that you may hate the SKX and talk crap about it, but eventually, you'll realize that it was the one you wanted all along. Sounds like BS, but there's something to it.

**Also, from more than a few few feet away, the average person on the street can't tell the difference between my SKX009 and a Rolex GMT Master. We watch people are a funny little subset of humanity.

 

the number of people that just hate the skx00x is stunning. you'd think they were beaten up on the playground by a bully wearing an skx

have to swirl it to get it going...how upsetting, imagine, 10 second swirl, strap it one and off you go
tough bezel action...maybe do something to increase that girly grip-strength
wobbly crown...this one is surely just made up, maybe from too much akahaul
can't set the time accurately...really, a few seconds and you miss the rrendezvous with the sub. or was it the helo
and absolutely miserable to use...wait...what? you look at it and tell the time, how possibly difficult is that for a normal, functioning adult?

some people are just so precious

 

I've sold off various SPBs and MM200s they just don't wear well.

It's very tough to beat the great feel of an SKX007 on the wrist.

@OP get yourself an SKX and never look back !

 

I inherited this nonworking SKX about a year ago and got it working.

I totally loved the thing and instantly understood the SKX fever. Wore it all over the place. Then I gave it away to another family member. Was sad to do it, but it seemed right.
Afterwords I could NOT forget about that SKX!!! I have an Omega Seamaster too, but that just didn't do it for me (thinking of selling it.)
So for months and months I was looking on ebay and other places, lost two bids on nonworking models I could fix up, but finally paid $300 for a full set of box and papers, original rubber strap, two natos, and a strapcode oyster bracelet.

Absolutely love it, idiosyncracies and all such as the perfectly misaligned chapter ring, soon to be scratched up crystal, none too precise timekeeping, and starting with the Seiko Shake.

and the bezel action is awesome.

It gets a little less wrist time than my Rolex, but almost as much.

Who needs a Submariner when you got one of these???

 

I inherited this nonworking SKX about a year ago and got it working.
View attachment 18224073

View attachment 18224072

I totally loved the thing and instantly understood the SKX fever. Wore it all over the place. Then I gave it away to another family member. Was sad to do it, but it seemed right.
Afterwords I could NOT forget about that SKX!!! I have an Omega Seamaster too, but that just didn't do it for me (thinking of selling it.)
So for months and months I was looking on ebay and other places, lost two bids on nonworking models I could fix up, but finally paid $300 for a full set of box and papers, original rubber strap, two natos, and a strapcode oyster bracelet.

View attachment 18224076

Absolutely love it, idiosyncracies and all such as the perfectly misaligned chapter ring, soon to be scratched up crystal, none too precise timekeeping, and starting with the Seiko Shake.

and the bezel action is awesome.

It gets a little less wrist time than my Rolex, but almost as much.

Who needs a Submariner when you got one of these???

View attachment 18224080

You should have TOTALLY kept that beat-up (sorry, I mean, patinated) SKX. I think those tools at Theo and Harris would have listed it for around $2000.

 

I've had multiple SKX watches. They were pretty neat. I will never say any one was spectacular, amazing, particularly collectible, or anything of the sort. It was a nice cheap watch. After I got my first watch that would hack, I found them to be completely annoying. There is a huge following for them and I understand it. For the same price I bought them for new way back when, I would consider another one. But at current prices, there are so many better watches out there.

OP, the Turtle you bought is 1000 times the watch the SKX ever was.

 

The SKX was a watch where the proportions all over the watch are just right, the bezel and dial markings and hands just seem the perfect balance of blank space and detail. I never bought one as I went straight to a Tuna 600, but I have been tempted a few times. There are a few homage watches which replicate everything about the SKX watch but the brand name and were made to tap that market.

 

I used to buy SKX's when they were cheap ($125 or so) and loved them. I was feeling nostalgic a few months ago and wanted another one, but wasn't prepared to pay $500 for a mint one. I purchased a 300m Tuna for slightly more money and it scratches that retro itch and appears to be higher quality (which is should be considering the current MSRP of them).

 

There’s no accounting for taste…

 

I personally would pay a premium to get an SKX because it does not have the Propex and because it was not a reissue but the last of the line of Seiko divers.

 

I can’t imagine Seiko doing the deed any time soon because of the 5KX.

 

OP - I am a longtime Seiko diver fan, I've owned multiple SKX and SRPs over the years. Currently my go-to Seiko is a Willard.
The Turtle has filled the serious tool watch role of the SKX and it's actually far better than the old SKXs as has been mentioned here.
That said - I'll tell you what, the 5KX is actually a pretty nice watch. I bought one for my college age son, he wears the hell out of it, including in the field with his national guard drill. Minus a screw down crown, which of course we'd all prefer, for all practical purposes it is the new SKX.
Do most of us really need 200m of water resistance? Nah, not realistically.
I am just saying maybe you should consider a 5KX. I might get one myself as a travel watch for places I don't want to wear a high dollar piece.

 

The Turtle has filled the serious tool watch role of the SKX and it's actually far better than the old SKXs as has been mentioned here.

I’ve found this true in the abstract, and I’ve been wearing my Turtle often in large part because I wore my SKX for several days straight and it was off enough that I decided not to wear it until a service.

but

The SKX has a real je ne sais quois that the Turtle isn’t really able to replicate.

 

I don’t think they will reissue the SKX again since the 5skx model was released with the same exact specs and case. I would think they would want to canalbalize their models from other lines. But who knows they may opt for a reissue like the 62mas reinterpretation in the future.

 

The only time I went back to that spec was the oddball Shuriken Seiko diver which I missed out on when it originally came out, but picked up as NOS when a bunch of them were offered. I have never worn it. The dial loses real estate on the watch face to the bezel's big lugs or prongs and loses the balanced appearance of the SKX, plus opens the lug ends up to collision damage not having a stainless rim.

 

My SSK GMT gives me just enough SKX vibes with the case, hands, and bezel but without the diver rating hype or shake-shake-shake movement.

 

I’ve owned a 5kx and a mini turtle, but recently bought a NOS SKX013 (I have 6” wrists) and absolutely love it. Cost around $600, a lot yet, but I’ve yet to find a Seiko diver that fits me well and the dial isn’t nearly as cluttered. Can’t hack? I’ve never handwound an automatic and I own/have owned Rolex, IWC, Hamilton, and others. It’s easy to set the time and push the crown in as the second hand hits 12 and mine is currently running 12 seconds fast. The jubilee bracelet provides perfect balance on the wrist compared to the heavier bracelet of the mini turtle. Do I regret not buying one years ago for $150? Yes. Do I regret buying one in 2024 for $600? No, it’s been a great watch and met all of my needs for a Seiko diver. Seiko is not going to release a diver that exceeds the wearability of the skx013 for me. I’m happy with my purchase.

 

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