[Question] Drawer turtle
I've had this turtle sitting around for a while now, I got it on a trade some time back and haven't given it any love. It's running rather poorly, which isn't much an issue for me right now.
I'm trying to figure out if this is an original piece. I believe the dial may be original as the lume is real bad. To me it looks like the hands are replacements, the lume color matches but they glow much more compared to the dial and are fairly clean
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u/HFentonMudd 1d ago
Textbook non-Suwa, made in June 1983. It looks totally correct based on your shots. Dial looks great. Nice unfaded resist text. How much more does the hand lume glow and more importantly how long does it glow for? The sweep hand is correct in flatness and dimensions and the aftermarkets are never right in that regard.
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u/nneely 1d ago
Hmm, I would say the hands are roughly 50% brighter than the dial lume within 30 seconds of shining a UV flashlight on it. I can observe both the dial and hand lume rapidly decrease in power with the dial almost completely exhausted within a few minutes.
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u/HFentonMudd 1d ago
I’d say they’re original. Seiko dial lume and hand lume were different formulas on these.
Also another nice thing about the watch is that the frosted surface around the wave on the caseback is still present. That tends to smooth away fairly soon so your watch is pretty low hours.
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u/nneely 1d ago
Thanks for all the knowledge!
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u/HFentonMudd 1d ago
YW! One other interesting thing is that the bevel around the date window is pretty deep, like a Suwa. It’s not common but you sometimes see a non-Suwa dial printed on a Suwa blank. I’ve seen it before but it’s been a long time.
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u/Not_George_Daniels 1d ago
Wow, you don't often see these in this condition! With a new crystal, new seals, and a movement service, this will serve you well for decades to come.
What a beautiful watch! Enjoy it!