Seiko 8306 Sealion.

[Bimroy]

Another penchant I have for old watches is the 8306 movements.

I'm not entirely sure how I got onto this type, but I've got three of them now. Maybe it's the motif on the case back.

The 8306 movement was a high end 30 jewel movement made in the 1960's. It is unique as a Seiko as it uses a gear/ratchet type of automation winding mechanism instead of the 'magic arm' system. This makes it slimmer and quieter. It's an 18k beat movement (once called hi beat) that purrs away with a very respectable accuracy.

They are a heck of a thing to work on, lots of little Springs and bits and pieces that are specifically designed to 'ping' off to all corners of the workshop and camouflage themselves with their surroundings. They are heavily jeweled, with even the main barrel Arbor running on a couple.

I have an original CR220 and another a couple that I've made up from bits and pieces. The dials and hands are hard to get and as I'm not yet capable of repairing dials, I have grafted Seiko 5 dials onto them turning out a fairly respectable custom job. This one in the picture is my wearer, I grafted a dial off a SNK805, hands from 10 watches and the bracelet is a black stainless steel mesh. Looks great, feels great and as a bonus, tells me the time, day and date.

[ramrod]

no pics.....i wanna see some.

[Bimroy]

Oh, I'll try again.

[ramrod]

very nice look. you'd never know that case was an oldie. i have the same dial in khaki and i've been looking for a place to use it. i should try an older style case like that.

[clockboy]

Very Nice love the dial.