Seiko 6309 "Turtle" diver Written by Jack Asumus

Hello again, it's Jack (better known as @watches.md.de on Instagram) back on Timepiece Archaeology for a look at one of my favorite watches: the Seiko 6309 "Turtle" diver.

Seiko's 6309-7040 (JDM and rest of world) /7049 (North American market) was produced from 1976 to 1988 and followed the original "Turtle", the 6105 (this article will focus mainly on the 7049 variant, as it is what I have and is the most plentiful to US buyers). The eponymous 6309 movement could be seen as a predecessor of the current 7s26 movement in that it is non-hacking and non-handwinding. The 6309 is, however, a ridiculously robust day-date movement which was widely used in the Seiko lineup throughout the 1970s and 80s. It is rare to find a vintage watch with the reliability, durability, and timekeeping ability of a modern tool watch, but I would say that a Seiko 6309 is just about the closest you can come to a vintage tool watch which can still operate as a tool watch today.

Another attractive factor when considering the 6309 is the availability and price. It is no secret that many vintage stainless steel sports watches are trading at astronomical numbers in today's market. With a vintage 6309, however, you can readily find an iconic, reliable, badass vintage diver (with its own original and unique design language for what its worth) in good condition for under $600.

Many people are skeptical about these Turtles since they have a larger-than-average 44mm case diameter. They are certainly not a small watch, but on the wrist, I would argue that they do not wear much differently from a Seiko SKX or similarly sized diver due to their relatively small lug-to-lug distance. Included are wrist shots on my 7-inch wrist of the Turtle compared to my SXK and Alpinist for comparison.

All 6309s originally came from Seiko with the classic black Seiko accordion-fold rubber dive strap. While these straps are wonderful for diving, they are not necessarily the most practical or aesthetically pleasing for everyday wear. These divers wear incredibly well on any variety of NATO straps (shown on a Bond NATO), although my preference is to wear mine on a Beads Of Rice bracelet (purchased from Uncle Seiko; they also offer Jubilee, Oyster, Razorwire, and President bracelets along with various rubber straps optimized for 6309s). That said, finding a strap for your 6309 should be easy given its common 22mm lug width.

conditions, and the handset has been used extensively by Seiko over the years and is thus plentiful. It is worth noting that, unlike in later Seiko divers, the 6309's crown tube is integrated into the case. In the context of a vintage dive watch, this means that if the threading on the crown tube is stripped that the case of the watch is essentially a total loss. Therefore, it is important to find an example where the crown screws in and out easily and completely. For more details on the exact ins and outs of finding an original set of features, I would highly recommend this article from Worn and Wound (http://wornandwound.com/affordable-vintage-seiko-6309/).

As these watches were originally fitted with Seiko's proprietary Hardlex crystal (and because many of these were really heavily used in the field), it is not unusual to find an example with a scratched up crystal. As such, it is not undesirable to find an example with a replaced crystal, often in sapphire.

As with just about any Seiko you will encounter, the lume was clearly and judiciously applied from the factory. Perhaps as a result of my example being made in 1983 (and the gorgeous creamy patina on all of the lume), my 6309 glows at about half the strength of normal Seiko lume for a short period of time then fades away.

With today's market for vintage steel sports watches, it is exceedingly rare to find a watch that has as much going for it as the 6309 for the price. The 6309 has long been a darling of Seiko collectors but is beginning to gain more widespread appeal and as such, prices have been rising some. One other unique advantage of vintage 6309s is that they have their own unique design language. There is no other watch that has quite the same cushion-style case and 4 o'clock crown placement of the Turtle other than, of course, more modern Seiko Turtles. And hey, when you see someone wearing a modern SRP Turtle, you can feel secure in the knowledge that you own not only own their horological-significant ancestor but that your vintage watch is just about as robust and capable as theirs.