Project Hommage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS (Part 4)

Seated in front of my Mac as we inspected the finer details before the engineering team brought it to the next level, I was really thankful to be working with a dedicated team located at KL, JB, SG, and CH for bringing this to fruition. Along the way, there had been much learning curve as I found out that creating a dial was not as simple as I thought; and making minute improvements to a seemingly-similar case and parts, was not as easy a production task as I imagined.

I have been modding Seiko watches for years, and it seemed that it was easier to mod a single watch at any one point in time than to commission for the production of custom watches. And along the way, we also had to look for some ready-made parts.

For example, to design and produce a brand new caseback was rather costly, so looking at other micro brands' casebacks and just buying from them was the more cost efficient process; but the manufacturer had to then test on the improved case and see if it worked for the water resistance required. 

For parts that could be seen from the naked eye while STO63MAS was worn on the wrist, I did not want to compromise on the look and feel. This included the dial, sapphire crystal (upgrading to domed, baby!), lumed ceramic bezel insert, and crown. 

The ones underneath like the movement (leaving it stock- initially was thinking of a self-designed rotor) and caseback could be simpler as these were not immediately visible.

And because this was the first Andywristwatches' piece limited to a mere 30 pieces, I wanted it to be stylish yet affordable to my readers. Therefore, right from the start, the consensus was to set a USD300 benchmark for the price and then put in as much goodies as possible into the proposed case and design.

Some of the backers had started asking for a MM300-inspired piece in the next project, but let's not jump the gun. Let's see through the success of STO63MAS first.

It had been fun indeed, and there were lots of support from fellow readers and the Seikoholic community. These were some of the ones forwarded to me, and sorry if I did not pick yours to put on the blog. I have read 'em nonetheless and really appreciate the thoughts and kind words.

Of course there were brickbats too, and these were the only ones that were sent my way todate. Still, I appreciate you taking the time to comment although ain't too constructive for our production process at the interim period.

Still, it looked like almost everyone preferred the consensus design as discussed over our Andywristwatches' platform; so it's going in fast and it's going in hard. There're still a few empty slots so if you are keen, just send an e-mail to toyotaharrier240g@gmail.com to reserve your piece.

So look out for the production updates over time and sit tight with me over the next few weeks, fellow Seikoholics!

The journey so far :

Part 1 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas.html;

Part 2 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-2.html;

Part 3 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-3.html;

Part 4 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-4.html.

Project Hommage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS (Part 3)

Update : Please check your e-mail now :)

Further to my earlier entry @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-2.html, there had been lots of feedback from fellow readers here and Seiko collectors worldwide. Thanks for the overall overwhelming positive feedback, although there was also the occasional oddball whom were less than pleased with this project.

For starters, we would limit the production batch of our Save-The-Ocean 63MAS to 30 pieces for better quality control and easier arrangements. I have checked with the factory and we could have reduction in pricing if we were to commission 100 pieces at one go due to lower customisation and production fees; but that would definitely take more time to secure the orders compared to just 30 pieces. So after checking with some of you whom were in on this since day one, the consensus was to proceed with the initial arrangements.

We have managed to keep the price of the piece at USD300 as earlier planned.

After consultation with the manufacturer, we could accommodate shipping cost as per the following :
- Malaysia : Free delivery
- Other parts of Asia : USD10
- Worldwide : USD25

The final design as tweaked from the opinions and suggestions that came in resulted in the following :

Other details of the build would be as per the following :

• Case material : 316L stainless steel
• Case back : 316L stainless steel
• Case size : 44mm
• Lug to lug : 47mm
• Lug width : 20mm
• Strap : Calf leather / Tropical rubber
• Glass : Sapphire
• Bezel : Lumed ceramic bezel insert
• Movement : Seiko caliber NH35
• Crown : Screw-down

This design was truly reflective of us. The 30 of us loved Seiko watches, and what better way to identify ourselves as a fellow Seikoholic but to have the badge of honour proudly declared on the dial. We were essentially behaving like the knights of yonder past, wearing our hearts on our sleeves.

The Turtle brought forth our save-the-ocean message, and could be seen swimming in a carefree manner across the deep, blue sea as reflected on the sunburst dial.

And a befitting tribute was further paid to the original 6105 as worn by Captain Willard in the 1979 movie i.e. Apocalypse Now. If our generation do not take proper care on the eco-system of the world, it could well be apocalypse now. So let's start loving the sun, sea, and nature starting this very day!

There you have it, folks. The final design was simple yet suave; elegant yet sporty. And this work of art and work of love became a reality due to all your ideas and support. Andywristwatches acted as a medium where our creative juices could be put to work! 

I would henceforth be liaising with 29 lucky Seikoholics (one of the watch is mine!) for the further details of arrangement. If you would like to be a part of this lucky group, drop me an e-mail at toyotaharrier240g@gmail.com; and we would take it further from there.

Thanks for making this a reality for all of us!

(NB : Let's take another good look at this handsome piece!)

The journey so far :

Part 1 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas.html;

Part 2 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-2.html;

Part 3 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-3.html;

Part 4 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-4.html.

Isofrane : My Choice Of Premium Vulcanised Straps

A reader remarked that I seemed to have a lot of "nice rubber straps" for my Seiko watches as seen in the pictures in this blog.

Well, if you looked back at the photos throughout the blog, you would find that I seemed to revolve around a few key types for aftermarket rubber straps :

- Rolex : RubberB and OEM
- Tudor : Isofrane and CrafterBlue
- Bell & Ross : Isofrane
- Seiko : Isofrane, CrafterBlue, and OEM Panerai

I have been using Isofrane for many years now and constantly add new colours over time. I also tend to buy in bulk in order to save the shipping time and fees.

I did a write-up on this brand's straps some years back and it's basically an old brand from the 60s that utilised vulcanised rubber for its premium rubber straps. Italian-made and designed to be very comfortable, I have utilised them for both diver and non-diver watches; with satisfying results.

Of course, its design had been much-copied by many OEM makers and I have tried a few; but so far, the original ones continued to impress in usage. Price was not cheap though at USD139 (RM580) per strap (with the better RS buckle); but you get what you pay for.

I've probably purchased some 30+ Isofrane straps over the years, and I liked to flip my watches matched with the Isofrane straps so that the new owner could enjoy the same comfortable feel that I derived from wearing my watches.

And in today's picture, you could see the following :

- MM1000 x Isofrane Black and Isofrane Orange
- MM300 x Isofrane Black and Isofrane Orange
- Prospex200 x Isofrane Green and Isofrane Navy Blue

A match made for the best wrist feel indeed!

Project CuSn MM300 : Pictures Galore

CuSn meant Bronze, so this was really the bronze MM300 project as written @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/franken-mod-cusn-mm300.html. Pursuant to the blog entry, many readers had asked me for more pictures of the piece and fellow collectors requested that I bring this piece to our watch meets. It had proved to be a very popular piece indeed!

And nope, the Seiko box and warranty card above were used as accessories for the pictures only. You can't walk into a Seiko boutique and buy this Franken Mod.

Many modders had been playing with CuSn cases; but modding the genuine MM300 dial and handset  into the CuSn homage case proved to be a bit of a challenge- especially if you were to do so tastefully and in the process, a suitable chapter ring had to be engineered from scratch. I'm glad that we had overcame that obstacle.

Breakdown of the Project included the following :

Movement : Seiko Caliber NH35

Dial : Seiko MM300 SBDX017

Handset : Seiko MM300 SBDX017

Crystal : Sapphire

Bezel insert : Lumed ceramic
Case : CuSn monoblock
Caseback : Stainless steel

I had since matched this CuSn MM300 with an orange Isofrane strap, and hope readers would enjoy the rest of the eye-candy below :

And don't bother asking me to re-create this CuSn MM300 Franken Mod for you. I have asked and even the manufacturer of the case that took on this Project CuSn MM300 reverted that they would not take on this project anymore. It was that tedious to get the whole package working beautifully like this!

So this would simply be our one-of-a-kind for the interim period!

Reader's Mail : MM300 Homage

There had been quite a no. of e-mails on our Project Homage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS and I am trying to run through the orders and suggestions, so if you have yet to get your reply, please be patient for the interim period. This other e-mail caught my attention. Our reader (let's call him as "H") wanted in on Project Hommage too- that was not an issue. I'll just chalk him in for a piece too.

He was also interested in creating an MM300 homage and apparently, had second thoughts about overseas orders. He described about parcels being detained at KLIA and honestly, even I had such experiences before. 

Most of the time, one would just pay the tax for the watch or parts; but the  customs officers also previously shared that there were many items being under-declared so they would randomly select parcels to be opened up for inspection. The recipients of the parcels would have to be there then, unless they appoint an agent for the clearance.

As an example, say you have a new Seiko MM300 SBDX023 in the parcel and it was declared for RM3,000 value. If the parcel was selected for inspection, the customs would then check for the value of the said watch. RRP : RM15,050 x 5% = RM752.50. So you would need to pay a tax of RM752.50.

I normally order Seiko watches and parts direct from Japan so retail or street prices there could be lesser. I would then work out if the JP price + MY tax would be lower than MY retail or street price. If yes, then I would proceed with the online order. Watches would attract a 5% tax while parts at 10%.

MM300 is a great collectible's watch! 

When it was an SBDX001 and selling at RM5k, it was a great buy. Back then, it was a basic watch with aluminium bezel insert and Hardlex mineral crystal. 

When it became the SBDX017, it was upgraded with better lume and Diashield-coating to withstand scratches better. Price crept upwards to RM8k and it was a good buy still. 

When it was now upgraded to SBDX023 with great lume, ceramic bezel insert, sapphire crystal, and DiaShield-coated, it became the version of MM300 that collectors had been waiting for. However, the RM15k price tag was too much for most collectors to bare. At this price point, one could moved to Tudor pieces and there's the Swiss-made ego-booster for some collectors; although I was the exception to such marketing now.

So how would one have the best of the MM300 cake and eat it at the same time? Well, that would to build your own MM300 homage of course.

One approach was to select Seiko cases e.g. Sumo (above) or SKX007, and mod to incorporate MM300 dial and handset. I have done that on various occasions, which could be searched and read in this blog.

Another approach would be to select good Seiko MM300 homage cases and mod to incorporate MM300 dial and handset. And when I go on this angle, I would want to make my own modded piece be different or better than the original version. For instance, since MM300 SBDX023 had lumed indices from 0-10 mins, I would want to have a fully lumed bezel insert for my homage. Or I would want to have a bronze case that Seiko does not offer for its MM300. This way, Seikoholics could see from one look that my MM300 was different (read : improved version) from the actual article. Same-same but different.

The thing about playing with mods was that... once you went on this route, it's hard to be impressed with stock watches as easily. Commercially-made stock watches were all but the same, and everyone with cash could afford to buy the same piece. Modded watches had more soul in them, and no two pieces were the same as real handiwork had gone into their making for the build.

As one of the collectors of my Seiko mod watches learnt, he bought a piece and kept coming back as he "love it.... am falling in love with mods and special design watches". Resistance is simply futile ;p

Project Hommage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS (Part 2)

Further to my earlier entry @ Project Hommage : Save-The Ocean 63MAS (Part 1), I was pleasantly surprised by the e-mails that had came in for reservations and some that extended ideas for our Team's consideration. For all the interest, I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for your  kind support and passionate interest.

Many of you would have received an e-mail on your allocation as per the attached, and we were further consolidating the ideas given. We would continue to consolidate these until the 30 pieces' allocation were filled up; afterwhich the final rendition would be updated to all.

A couple of the ideas brought forth was to consider not just "hommage" as the brand, but also "Seikoholic", "Seikonista", or "SeikoMod". Put on your thinking caps and let us know which was your preference.

Project Hommage aims to be a constant reminder on one's wrist that... we do not inherit the Earth and Ocean from our ancestors; we merely borrow it from our children. So let's do our part to save the Ocean and the Earth we called Home.

The journey so far :

Part 1 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas.html;

Part 2 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-2.html;

Part 3 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-3.html;

Part 4 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-4.html.

Project Hommage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS (Part 1)

The Blancpain has Fifty Fathoms, and Seikoholics have Fifty-five Fathoms. Those of us whom were into modifications had long been using Seiko as a modification base for our works of art. I myself had documented a fair bit of Andywristwatches' Franken Mods in our blog here, using various cases from SKX007, Turtle, Monster, Sumo, etc.

During my mods over the years, I came to realise that I kept upgrading Seiko factory-stock parts with a few fave parts as per the following :

• Movement : Seiko caliber NH35/NH36
• Bezel : Lumed ceramic bezel inserts
• Lume : Swiss C3 Super-luminova (similar to LumiBrite's green)
• Glass : Sapphire

Over the years, readers have been asking to participate in a watch that we could called our own- and through exchanges between some of the active readers cum collectors here, ideas were bounced to and fro. There were ideas towards a Rolex homage case, Seiko bullhead homage case, Seiko SKX007 case, etc.

Seiko 62MAS was the brand's iconic diver during the 60s, before it was dethroned by its successor in the 6105-8110 in the 70s. Seiko had done a Reissue of both these iconic watches in current times, so it was finally decided that we would go with the 62MAS successor and further call a spade a spade. It would therefore be called 63MAS :)

A few micro-brands subsequently came out with their reiterations of the 62MAS and 6105, and we began buying a pair here and there between ourselves for comparison and research purposes. And we further got in touch with some watch case manufacturers, and discussed some finer details.

Well, after months of assessments and my latest trip to factories in China, we have more or less finalised the OEM design of the case as per the above. We won't own the rights to the case since ours would be just a small batch order limited to 30 readers here. In fact, the manufacturer had been most kind to even consider our small order in this case (all pun intended), and entertaining our requests and draft changes todate.

We give you the first design of Project Hommage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS.

The dial would be in Ocean Blue, with sunburst effect for an even more premium and handsome feel. Generous amount of Swiss C3 Super-luminova (green lume) would be applied to the indices on the bezel insert and dial.

Since the Reissue was good for 200m water resistance (I have no doubt that it could go for more actually), we have requested for the necessary case construction and gasket to withstand an improved water resistance of 300m. This would be shown vide a lumed Turtle situated above the 6 o'clock position. 

Other details of the build would be as per the following :

• Case material : 316L stainless steel
• Case back : 316L stainless steel
• Case size : 44mm
• Lug to lug : 47mm
• Lug width : 20mm
• Strap : Calf leather / Tropical rubber
• Glass : Sapphire
• Bezel : Lumed ceramic bezel insert
• Movement : Seiko caliber NH35
• Crown : Screw-down

This was the finalised draft from the input of active readers and collectors here at Andywristwatches, and we would still have some time to effect any further changes to the design if so required. I am now opening this design up to the rest of the readers. Please let us know your thoughts and any input could be placed in the Comment below, or e-mailed to toyotaharrier240g@gmail.com.

Production would commence thereafter, and we are targeting 30 pieces of Save-The-Ocean 63MAS. If you are interested to be part of this 30 owners of this Project Hommage watch, kindly e-mail your contact no. to us and we would notify you on further details of the watch.
 

The watch would be priced ridiculously low. We are still negotiating with the manufacturer but we are targeting below USD300 for the custom build, inclusive of free courier within Malaysia (international courier might need a slight top-up). That's even cheaper than the RRP for Seiko Samurai/Sumo/Monster. A bargain indeed, given the quality parts included in the build.

Note that the design of the watch could still have some changes pursuant to your input. Here's to the adventure ahead!

NB : Just for a general feel, these were pictures of one of the prototype cases during the earlier R&D testing stages. We were sampling OEM cases from various micro brands.

For this example, the dial, handset, and strap attached were from another after-market brand that I commonly utilised; while movement was Seiko Caliber NH35.

The above rendition of Save-The-Ocean 63MAS had since adopted additional improvements in lumed ceramic bezel insert and increased water resistance properties.

The journey so far :

Part 1 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas.html;

Part 2 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-2.html;

Part 3 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-3.html;

Part 4 @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/06/project-hommage-save-ocean-63mas-part-4.html.