- 7/10/18
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A little different from the usual stuff you find here in the vintage section but I'd like to piece together a Seiko 6105-8110 (better known as the Captain Willard for its appearance in Apocalypse Now). Seiko's recent modern interpretations are cool, I plan on grabbing a green one at some point, but they aren't very faithful to the original. I'd like something a little closer to the one of the late 60s and early 70s. I've done a lot of Seiko building and modifying but some of this is beyond my scope, hence why I'm reaching out here.
I've purchased a newly released 6105-8110 homage by Rdunae/Rectangula which, despite the silly company name is by far the most faithful of the many Willard homages on the market. Despite its accuracy it does have some things that need to be done. Since this is quite different from the usual Subs, GMTs and Daytonas I'm posting an open call here rather than PMing anyone directly as some folks just might not be interested in doing it, detail can obviously be discussed in PMs. US based would be preferred but no problem doing international.
A few specific things that may differ from the usual Rolex builds:
I've purchased a newly released 6105-8110 homage by Rdunae/Rectangula which, despite the silly company name is by far the most faithful of the many Willard homages on the market. Despite its accuracy it does have some things that need to be done. Since this is quite different from the usual Subs, GMTs and Daytonas I'm posting an open call here rather than PMing anyone directly as some folks just might not be interested in doing it, detail can obviously be discussed in PMs. US based would be preferred but no problem doing international.
A few specific things that may differ from the usual Rolex builds:
- The need to, for lack of a better word, 'reshape' the caseback and engrave it with the correct markings. If you search up 6105-8110 caseback, you'll see that a vast majority have a sharp edge between the sloped and the flat parts of the back. The caseback that came on the watch has a smoother edge. I'm not sure if its even possible to give it a sharper edge without damaging it or taking off too much material. As far as engraving goes, its fairly simple and I have access to a laser engraver but laser engraving just looks incorrect on watches of this era so I'm hoping someone here may be able to do engravings that look more period correct.
- Second is the removal of the blue AR coating on the crystal. The crystal is sapphire, while the original was mineral, I don't really mind the discrepancy as it is virtually identical in every other aspect, but I do mind the blue AR, it drives me nuts so I'd like to have it polished off.
- Enlarging the lume pip on the bezel insert, and as a result, reluming it and creating an appropriately sized "lens" for it. Seiko bezel inserts tend to have the lume pips recessed, sitting behind a clear lens that is flush with the top/outer face of the bezel inserts. The lens might be as simple as using superglue and masking tape but I have no idea if superglue/cyanoacrylate would cloud up, haze, or yellow over time. The Seiko lenses stay clear while the lume underneath changes color/patinas. The entire bezel insert fiasco may be avoidable by using an aftermarket insert with the correct sized pip.
- Lastly is repositioning the dial feet. The dials available have the dial feet in positions meant for the old 6105 movement. I'll be using the NH35 that comes in the watch as it's a current, modern Seiko movement, the date position is the same and it operates at the same beat rate as the correct 6105.