Advice on best Seiko for a challenge?

[Gattaca]

Hi everyone, could you recommend a good vintage Seiko model for me to work on that is a bit of a challenge but probably still has parts available?

thanks…

[Nucejoe]

A Seiko5 , others are a bit pricy.

[Paul80]

When I started I got a bunch of Seiko 5's of eBay, didn't pay more than £15 for any of them with most costing about £10, and that was often a complete watch.

Seiko have fitted many different movements to the 5 case so you get a few different versions to work on, I found the ones with 7009a or 6309 movements the easiest to learn on and the easiest to get parts for.

Talking of parts, I found it cheaper in the long run when a part is needed, because I found it broke or I broke it  just to buy another movement and strip it for parts as I found the second hand parts sellers are basing their prices on new parts prices which is often higher than a whole second hand movement, that should also gives you spares for the next one, as long as you don't always break the same part.

Good luck in your journey.

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Paul80

[anilv]

I would recommend a 6119 or 6309. Plenty around and cheap enough.

The reason I wouldn't recommend the 7009 and the 7s26 is that they are not as easy to get running right. The 6xxx series has a larger balance and I think that the hairspring is of better quality.  The 7s26 with its rectangular balance jewel spring is a challenge for a newby. I come across a lot of 6xxx and 7xxx watches and the 6xxx doesn't give much problems. Usually the only worn part is the automatic weight bearing and that happens on the 7xxx series as well.

 

Anilv