Okay. I posted this before and decided since I had a problem I'd remove those posts. I have since concluded business with Long Island Watch to my satisfaction. They say if you can work through a problem with a business then they are doing good. And, they did great. Highly recommend them. Here it is my new TSAR. Thrilled with this watch. Many have commented on the vanilla scent of the band and they are not wrong. Its a delight. This watch wears a little smaller than I was expecting and its lighter than my Citizen Pro Master Diver.

Marathonwatch by Kent Matthew, on Flickr

Great looking watch goose! How is the tritium? That stuff spoils you when you compare it to even the best lume paint from Seiko and the Swiss manufacturers. I’ve always liked the utilitarian look of a marathon watch. Congrats!

Thanks stickman428. I think the tritium is great. From what I've read many are disappointed with it, but its visible not just in the dark, but low light situations too. I was going for the GSAR but I didn't want to have to fiddle with it every time I put it on. I have to admit the artic version was tempting, but it wasn't offered in the TSAR.

Watch modding is fun!!

I built my son, who is now showing an interest in watches and often wearing a pimping gold plated Seiko 5 Sport, a pretty robust Seiko SKX variant for Christmas.

My goal was to build a sturdy/bomb proof, easy to read automatic watch so a flieger/ field watch dial made sense. The now discontinued and crazy affordable, sub $100 (until inventory runs out) Seiko SNK 807 was an obvious choice as a base for this build. This is where the movement, dial and hands were sourced. The rest was either left over parts or new parts from Crystal Times USA.

His is on the right. An SKXA35 clone aka” bumblebee” on the left is there is as a reference to show the change in appearance the SKX receives when you remove the crown guards and change the case proportions ever so slightly. This no crown guard SKX reminds me a bit of the extremely comfortable feel of a Seiko Stargate case. The case is milled a bit at the base so it has what I would call a a semi recessed /semi protected crown much like the MM300 & Baby MM200. I like the look and feel of the traditional SKX but I like this smooth side version with the sculpted crown guards absent it has a more symmetrical or balanced feel.



I added a full lume chapter ring to make the watch more fun. As luck would have it I had a spare blue crown from another project that fit perfectly with the unique oem bezel and insert I used on this project.

I love the lume and I think he will too.




The source of the blue crown for the previous Seiko project now has a signed, lumed crown stainless steel crown to match the bezel and break up a bit of the blue. It adds a good balancing contrast with the matching bits of silver seen on the dial.





Here you can see the lume they added on the crown. It matches the green of the minute hand and lume pip on the bezel and continues the theme of contrast against the more blue markers on the dial and the blue lume of the rest of the hands.

In the back you can get a sneak peek of my most recent project and probably the best looking watch I’ve ever built. It also provides a good comparison side by side between the oem Seiko blue lume and the more common green.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

For a while I was very seriously considering flipping my little Squale chronograph from 2006 but I finally found a strap that I like on it and it’s getting wrist time.

A small chronograph diver with a Valjoux 7750 and rotating bezel is such a versatile watch.

It went from almost leaving the collection to one of my favorites. It looks good on mesh too but what doesn’t look good on mesh? Hahah







I got a sweet dial. This is going to look amazing in my Willard homage. I wasn’t expecting it to have a Seiko logo it was removed in the listing pics. Interesting.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

HELM Watch waiting list is back up and running as of 9am today. I am now #1497

I wonder how many watches Helm makes in one batch?

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
HELM Watch waiting list is back up and running as of 9am today. I am now #1497

Ty for the heads up. I just checked and I am #1726. Back on page 334, on August the 12th, I was #2179.

Hence they made 453 Komodos over the past ~104 days so they averaged 129 Komodos per month.

If that is their normal pace my number will be up in ~13 months so that would be January 2023.

The SKX and 7S movement is just lovely. I’m gaining a newfound appreciation for the more basic Seiko 5 swapped into in an upgraded SKX case. This movement/dial didn’t look right in its previous turtle case, this works much better.

Crystal Times is a good company. I got a few SKX cases during a pre-black Friday sale and they messed up more than half the order. CT did fix it quickly and hassle free.

I'm beginning to like that 4-o'clock crown more and more.

Nice work (again), stickman!

This one is different. I got the blue and yellow Nato strap from Seiko’s online boutique on Black Friday.

I’m tempted to start building Seiko mods in college football colors and flipping them on the fleabay. I’ve unintentionally built a few watches sporting various college teams colors.

Here’s one for the University of Michigan Wolverines fans and alumni.

Stickman, have you toyed with the configurator on Crystal Times' web site?

Yes sir I have. It is a very neat tool but I have to warn you it can become QUITE expensive.

Really trying to wind things down a bit with purchases...buuuuutttttt if you keep wandering into classifieds, gosh dang it, sometimes a deal comes up, and...well...you know...

So the Bulova Lunar Pilot has been on my list for a bit...not to the point of going and paying full retail, but I was in the right place at the right time and snagged a decent deal on the bracelet version...

The main thing people seem to comment on is the size...I guess its relative...if you're used to little watches, say like 36-38mm, and/or have smaller wrists, it probably does seem large. I have average-ish wrists...about 7.25", and it fits me quite nicely IMHO. A more apparent druther for me would be the butterfly clasp...much harder to get closer to an ideal fit compared to a normal clasp w/ 3-5 micro adjusts. If you're ultra sensitive in this dept., get the version with strap(s). For me, the bracelet is probably about 5% snugger than perfect...so not bad, but could be ever so slightly looser...about 1 normal micro adjust would be perfect.

I will say most all the other commentary on the clean appearance and ease of legibility are spot on IMHO. It is very easy to read for a chrono with sub-dials/registers.

I also do very much like the backstory.

These also seem to have appreciated as of late...finding good examples in the low $300's or less TYD is getting tougher...

In any event, here's a solid more recent review.



Original vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDseCnn1sZc

Boss

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Boss1,

That watch was on my short list when I was thinking about buying a chronograph a few years ago. It’s a really good looking watch and can keep track of 1/10 of a second. I wanted one with the bracelet, but couldn’t find it at good price. Instead I bought a regular stopwatch that can do split times and such.

Enjoy it.

quote:

Originally posted by Boss1:
Bulova Lunar Pilot

Sweet.

Stick, what strap is this? I like the rough-ish look and texture.

My grandfather’s early 60’s Heuer Carrera 2547 hand wind. Just managed to ID it and, uh… wow. Needs service, it’s running four hours on a full wind and the reset pusher is a little ganked, but everything seems to work otherwise.



When I get home with it, the twist-o-flex is going bye-bye. This thing is screaming for some polywatch and some leather. Vintage would be nice. I’ve been wanting a chrono, and this is, by far, nicer than anything I could afford.

46and2,

It’s a Miltat canvas strap. I got mine as a bonus strap that came with a watch that is now long. It has a neat distressed or well worn look to it. It’s a strap that looks especially good on brass or bronze case watches because of the rusty brown stitching.

Link to the strap seen with the Squale

Hopefully this link works, similar Miltat straps

There is a tan canvas version similar to mine that is quite tempting.

Seiko SRPD09 on black mesh, thanks to a generous karma from stickman.



You were right, man. The mesh is ridiculously comfortable.