SOLD: SEIKO Automatic Diver 6309-7040 Orange SOXA

Watch is SOLD.

Last weekend I spent my whole Saturday doing a long overdue project: the Orange SOXA. SOXA stands for SEIKO-DOXA, a SEIKO diver, usually based on the cushion case 6309-704x, modified to follow the design and style of DOXA dive watch.

DOXA is a swiss watch company known for making dive watches. They are often referred to as "the inventor of orange" because they are the first to introduce the iconic orange-faced dive watch in 1967. The watch I used as reference is DOXA SUB 600T Professional pictured below (picture taken from: scubawatch.org)

Here is our watch for the project. It is a badly abused 6309-7040 from 1981. Dial, hands, and bezel insert are useless. Movement and movement spacer ring are eaten away by rust. Crystal retainer ring is broken and goes directly to the trash bin. But the cushion case is still in good shape with some minor defect on the bezel interface. 

First, I completely dismantled it to pieces. Every parts were cleaned and checked thoroughly. Parts with excessive corrosion were trashed and replaced with parts taken from donor, which is also a 6309 diver.

The crown-stem assembly was also dismantled and cleaned. Crown thread is worn out and damaged, but the crown stem is still good. Another crown from donor was thrown in to replace the damaged crown.

The original 6309A movement was badly corroded. It was replaced with a newer movement from donor.

Now it is time for the new SOXA parts to enter. A new orange SOXA dial and new black SOXA hands were installed. The installation process took a long time to make sure the dial sits perfectly in the center and hands perfectly aligned. Hands must be installed on the first effort, no second or third chance. If you remove and reinstall the hands, they will not be perfectly press-fit anymore. Date changes only a few minutes after midnight.

Case and other parts were assembled together. A new crystal retainer ring, new crystal gasket, and new caseback gasket were thrown in. A new SOXA silver chapter ring replaced the old 6309-704x chapter ring.

The tired bezel insert was replaced with a fresh stainless steel insert made for SEIKO diver.

Movement and crown-stem assembly were slotted in. Case back was closed and bezel snapped in. 6309A movement run with a shake. The orange face looks so fresh and full of energy. The old 6309-7040 has come back into life, reborn as Orange SOXA.

Anvil bracelet was put on to complete the work. Orange SOXA is ready for action now. It is adorable and visually stands out among the crowd. The reliable 6309A power train inside the cushion case will serve for another decades to come. One of the most beautiful modified SEIKO I have ever seen.

The project does not end here. I plan to replace the original crystal with a domed sapphire crystal with AR coating and replace the straight end links on the bracelet with curved end links made for 6309-704x. Update will come soon.

▲ Update: Courtesy shot from the new proud owner of the Orange SOXA.