Without an SKX in the collection, I thought it’d be nice to build one. 42mm case, with a sapphire crystal and display caseback, Seiko NH36 movement with day and date, a nice dial with “Seiko” written on it, and semi-skeletonized hands, in bright orange. Below are the very basic steps to assemble the required parts, without detailed photos or explanations of the tools needed or how exactly to use them. (Useful, right? Some day I’ll start taking & posting videos.)
- SKX-style 42mm case, 316L stainless steel
- Seiko NH36 movement
- “S”-logo dial
- double-domed sapphire crystal
- display caseback
- unique handset
- ceramic bezel insert
1: Install the dial onto the movement. This only requires nipping off two of the four “dial feet” from the back of the dial, and placing it onto the movement. I use a pair of nail clippers, then a small file to remove anything that’s remaining on the dial.
2: Install the hands onto the movement. This requires advancing the time on the movement (using the temporary crown & stem) to the exact point where the day changes over. At that exact point, you can install the hour hand to be pointing at the 12 o’clock position, by careful placement and pressing it down. Check the alignment by turning the hour hand through all the hours, ensuring it is level and not interfering with the dial. Next is the minute hand, do the same thing, line it up at 12 o’clock (with the hour hand also at 12), checking the alignment in the same way, ensuring it doesn’t interfere with the hour hand. Finally, add the seconds hand – by far the hardest thing to do, it is quite small – and press it down, checking the alignment in the same way, but by letting it tick over while moving the hour and minute hands.
3: Measure and cut the stem for the crown. The movement comes with a new stem, which screws into the crown that comes with the case. It is much longer than necessary, because you need to cut it down for your specific case. Insert the new stem with the case’s crown, into the movement, while the movement is in the case; measure the amount to cut; cut it, file it, check it all works. The crown needs to screw in, unscrew and “pop” out to wind the movement, and be pulled out to set the day, date, and time.
Things I dislike about this watch: the case itself is the greatest shortcoming. The crown guards aren’t nice, in that it is not easy to unscrew and screw in the crown, as the guards are too prominent and the edges aren’t smooth enough. The display caseback is nice at least. The bezel action is too loose and feels cheap. The water resistance is only 3 ATM. Finally, the chapter ring is badly misaligned, that couldn’t be aligned worse! (Update: I just opened it back up again and was able to shift the chapter ring to be pretty close to straight – yay me!) I might actually consider finding another case.
Things I like about this watch: the strength of the Seiko NH36 movement. They work so well; but if it ever failed, I can easily replace it. I also really like the hands, they’re bright orange and easy to see, they’re not a common “sword”, “syringe”, or “arrow” shape normally seen on a Seiko SKX/Samurai/Tuna/Turtle/Monster, and much more interesting than a simple “fencepost” style. The lume on the dial and hands matches well, and is quite good. The domed sapphire crystal is nicer than I expected, and slopes perfectly into the ceramic bezel insert. The whole package looks shit hot, which is by far the most important thing!