Seiko reissue Turtle – Compare with vintage turtle 6309 and Dagaz Tsunami

Edit : 2 Jan 2015, added size dimension for all 3 watches.
Edit : 10 Mar 2015, added some mod info.

Sorry this may be a long article as i am trying not only to review the new Turtle Reissue but also compare it against the vintage Turtle 6309-7040/49 and the Dagaz Tsunami. If you prefers, just goes straight to the Turtle Reissue.

The vintage Turtle Seiko 6309-7040/49
The Seiko 6309-7040/49 is such a popular diver watch in the 80s that this vintage diver watch has become a much sought after Seiko Diver. There is also a JDM 6306-7000 which is almost identical to the 6309-7040/49, except that it has a 6306 hacking movement and it has a Kanji day wheel. The 6306 was made exclusively for the Japanese domestic market and according to some expert, its only in production for 6 months (Thats why its such a treasure to own one !).

The Seiko 6309-7040/49 has a large cushion shaped stainless steel case that measures 45mm wide by 48mm lug to lug and 13mm thick, lug width is 22mm. Its probably consider a large watch in the 80s. The cushion case shape makes wearing comfortably and has been a favorite among Seiko collectors. Its has been named as the “Turtle” due to its cushion shape design.

The cushion case features circular brushing on the top, with polished sides and straight brushing on the bottom. The crown is large and located at 4 o’clock, it screws down and offers superior water resistance during the 80s. This is in contrast to the prior 6105 models that is not screw down.

The bezel is bi-directional and has 60-click, the bezel insert is made of aluminium with painted matte black finish, and angled slightly downward towards the hardlex crystal from the outside edge. The outside of the bezel has two rows of deep knurled grooves. The crystal is made of Seiko’s proprietary Hardlex mineral glass, and is flat with a frosted edge. The hardless sit on a “L” shaped rubber gasket and is held securely in place by a metal retaining ring that is hidden under the bezel.

The 6309 actually denotes its 6309 movement. It is a 17 jewel automatic but does not hand wind or hack. It has a day/date and a quickset. Being a simple automatic movement,  it is a workhorse, in fact many owners have examples that are 30+ years old, never serviced and yet working perfectly.

Below the specification of the Turtle Seiko 6309-7040/49 (from Harry, Denmark).

I will not show much photo of the vintage 6309-7040/49 as there are plenty available on the internet. Do a search.

Here is my example : (it has relume dial, SKX hands and a non-original bracelet)

Dagaz Tsunami (6309 Remake)
The Tsunami is a 6309 Remake from my dear friend Mr Noah Fuller (who lost the war with cancer at young age), it was continued by also my friend Seiko expert modder Mr Jake Bourdeau. During that time it is what a modern interpretation of the vintage Seiko 6309-7040/49 Turtle diver should be. The Tsunami is designe around the newer Seiko movements (6R15) and share some parts with the ever popular Seiko SKX007/009 divers.

Some information on the prototype dated 24 July 2009 can be found at below link :
http://oceanictime.blogspot.sg/2009/07/fullerwatch-tsunami-prototype.html

The Dagaz Tsunami i got is the highly sought after UDT Timer “froggie”. It has the following features which is slightly different from the usual Tsunami :

-Classic finish (polished sides and back, brushed top)
-Triple grip bezel, 120 click
-Fuller-Tech crown with double sealed O-rings
-UDT Froggie dial
-Froggie back case (i was told its engraved inside too !)

Specification :
Case: 44mm 316L Stainless Steel
Lugs: 22mm (drilled thru)
Thickness: 14mm
Movement: SII NE15 (Seiko 6R15) hacking and hand winding, 21,6k BPH, 52 hrs power reserve
Lume: SuperLuminova C1
WR: 300M
Crystal: Domed AR Undercoated Sapphire, 5.05mm
Bracelet: Thick and double screw links with Divers extension

 

The Seiko 4R36-04Y0 (code name : Turtle Reissue)
Some time in this year (2015), i mentioned that Seiko is secretly listening to all its collector and producing some interesting, affordable and reissue collectible watches. (affordable Tuna, King Seiko reissue, High Beat 36000 Grand Seiko, Sardine, Monster Tuna…..just to name a few !).

Come 2015 December, Seiko launched the Seiko 4R36-04Y0 (aka Turtle Reissue). At the time of writing this, it appears to me that it was first launched in Malaysia, follows by Singapore and than the rest of the world.

The first few example started to appear on various watch forum and Facebook around 15 Dec 2015. By the 17 Dec, its almost impossible to secure one, as almost every piece were snap up quickly.

Here are some photos from the net. You can see the RRP for the bracelet model. The silicon rubber strap is some $34 cheaper. Recommended Retail Price (RRP) is SGD $649.50 on Bracelet and SGD $615.30 on rubber strap.

Seiko launched 4 colours of the Turtle Reissue.
SRP773 – Blue with stainless bracelet
SRP775 – Gold with stainless bracelet
SPR777 – Black with silicon rubber strap
SPR779 – Pepsi with silicon rubber strap

Here are Seiko’s own photo.

Specification
Movement : 4R36 automatic with hacking and hand winding, 21,6k BPH, 40 hrs power reserve
Case diameter : 44.3mm
Thickness : 13.2mm
WR : 200m
Lume : Seiko Lumibrite
Crystal: Hardlex
Bracelet: Stainless Bracelet with Diver extension or silicon rubber

Preliminary, it seems that the main difference are :
a) Second hand
b) crown position (3.45pm)
c) “X” logo on the dial
d) small bezel pip
e) drilled thru lug
f) slightly wider case
g) slightly thicker

The stainless steel bracelet is comfortable and heavy, quality is of course Seiko ! Good news is the end-lug is solid ! Some may not like the Diver extension as it somehow makes balancing the bracelet difficult. The trick is to shorten only the link on the 6pm side. Here is have some photo with the Dagaz Tsunami for comparison. (since i will be resizing the bracelet, i will do a separate post with some brief tutorial. Hope it helps.)

Here is the Seiko diver extension and how to release it.

The new type of silicon rubber strap is soft and nice to touch, but it attract quite a bit of dust and lint on the surface. The keeper is made of stainless steel and buckle is of new shape too.

The case back has less text than the vintage original, in the middle is the usual Tsunami logo.

The crown is slightly thicker than the vintage 6309 and not signed. Like the SKX it has a threaded tube for the crown, there is also no cut out at the back of the lug. The crown has a nice smooth screw down, my 4 pieces of Turtle Reissue has about 3-4 turns to full lock down. (Below are some photos with the original 6309 Turtle and the Dagaz Tsunami for idea.)

The Turtle Reissue has kept the dial and hands unchanged from the original vintage 6309-7040/49 Turtle. Only some modern updates, like the markers which are applied with a slightly raised with the lume applied. The dial still has the bevelled day/date windows. The dial now has a “X” logo. The hands looks similar to the SKX model with the second hands having the lollipop on the other end.

The 4R36 movement is an upgrade from the tradition 6309 or the 7S26 movement. The 4R36 has both hand winding, hacking and a 41-42 hour power reserve.

The 22mm case lug is now drilled thru. This is a very good feature as anyone owning the vintage 6309 Turtle will knows that the Seiko Fat springbar can be a challenge to remove. (i have done a removal demo as below.)

Below some more picture of the bunch of them with the older Turtle bro and the Dagaz Tsunami.

I am really happy to secure the 4 new Seiko Turtle Reissue. Thanks to Twinkle Electronic.

Twinkle Electronic
1 Park Road
#02-33 People’s Park Complex
Singapore 059108

Tel : +65 65385626

Operating hours
Mon- Sun: 11:30am- 9pm
Mon-Sun: 11.30am-9pm

Hope you guys enjoy the review.

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Brief size dimension comparison :

6309 – 42mm
Dagaz – 44mm
Reissue turtle – 44.3mm

Lug-to-lug: 6309 – 46mm, Reissue – 48mm;
Case thickness: 6309 – both 14mm;
Lug width: both 22mm.

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Turtle Reissue mod spec

Update on the crystal 10.3.2016

Crystal – The original hardlex crystal has been measured as dia 32mm and thickness of 2.8-2.85mm. Its similar to the traditional 6309 ones but slightly thicker.  So sourcing a sapphire one should be easy.  The crystal is the same as the solar chrono’s SSC019 etc (320PX6HN02).

Those who prefer a bevel edge can use the 6309 AM sapphire, while those who prefer original looking can use the Solar Chrono AM sapphire.

(photos from SCWF)

Dial swap – Dagaz has some plenty of dial format to suit the 4R movt for your liking.
Hand swap – plenty here to choose since size are similar to many other mechanical Seiko ones.
Bezel insert (Size 32,5 x 39,5) – not yet, as the size is different from the usual SKX one, probably closer to the FFF size.
Chapter ring – bigger than SKX ones

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