The world of watch mod-ing offers boundless possibilities, but should you take the plunge?

---

I don’t follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe religiously, but I do enjoy a good story and while the Scarlet Witch kind of went full out loco in the latest Dr Strange film, WandaVision was one of my personal favourites amongst the series.

Without spoiling too much (in case you haven’t watched it, which you should), the Vision mentions the Ship of Theseus which is actually an interesting thought experiment. The problem goes something like this:

1. Say there is a ship (and if it matters, belonging to a King Theseus).
2. As the parts of the ship break down, they are replaced until one day, none of the original parts remain.
3. Is it then still the same ship?

To complicate things further (thanks Hobbes), consider the following:

1. As each part of the ship is replaced, the old parts are kept.
2. Once all parts have been replaced, the old parts are restored and reassembled, resulting in two ships.
3. Which then is the ship of Theseus?

At this point, I’ve either lost you or caused you a splitting headache. But philosophy aside, the Ship of Theseus is actually incredibly relevant to watchmaking, and I’m sure you can see why. Every watch is effectively a “ship” which in turn, is a sum of its “parts”. Throw a bunch of Seiko parts together, and you get a Seiko. Right?

Well, not exactly. Enter the world of watch modifications.

---

The watch world is no stranger to modifications, and in a time where consumers demand increasing amounts of personalisation, it is not difficult to see the appeal. Brands typically offer some room for customisation – a different strap, a special dial colour, or maybe even a little engraving on the caseback. But if its hyper-personalisation you’re after, you’re going to have to hop into the rabbit hole that is watch modding, and boy is that rabbit hole deep.

While I’m not entirely interested in that domain, I wanted to dip my toes into the water, and that brings us to today’s article – say hello to the Seiko Rainbow Daytona “Clear” Mod.

The Case & Specifications

Before beginning, let’s address the elephant in the room: yes, it is evidently a homage to the Rolex Daytona; and you could argue about the distinction between a replica and a mod till the cows come home, but really that’s not for today. At a glance, you know this one isn’t actually a Daytona, and that’s mod enough for me.

Also, while the dial says “Seiko”, it doesn’t have any actual affiliation to Seiko, and is built from scratch by the modder.

Case size comes in at 39.5mm (44mm including the crown, 45mm including the pushers), with a lug width of 20mm and a lug to lug of 47mm. On wrist, the watch wears closer to 45mm, and sits on the wrist at 14mm thick, partially due to the caseback which bulges slightly.

A key feature of the mod is the usage of a clear plastic case, allowing one to see into the watch from all angles aside from the dial. Granted, there isn’t really that much to look at here in terms of the movement (which at best, can be described as industrial in terms of decoration), but its still pretty cool. Legibility of the tachymeter bezel isn’t too great with white fonts on the transparent surface, but they’re there more to spice up the looks than anything else anyway.

Prior to receiving the mod, I didn’t have high expectations for the pushers and crown, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they were indeed functional and not just there for show. Both pushers and crown are screw down, however, the process of screwing/unscrewing feels rough in the hand, which doesn’t offer the best of tactile experiences.

Flipping the mod around gives you a view of the movement through the screwdown caseback. I’m not sure if any of these screwdown elements contribute to water resistance, but I wouldn’t risk it; this one is not going near water any time soon.

Being largely plastic fantastic, the watch is really light and does well for all day wear.

The Dial

The defining feature of this mod is in its dial, which features rainbow indices, harking to the rainbow Daytona, which is pretty much unobtainable for the most part of the common man. From afar, the indices look well and good, but moving closer I find that the finishing is a bit “rough”, especially for the red spectrum of colours. That being said, you’re paying nowhere near rainbow Daytona prices, so this shouldn’t be much of a point for contention.

Subdials are found at the 3, 6, and 9 positions, with the running seconds at 6, 30 minute chronograph register at 9 and the love-it-or-hate-it 24 hour indicator at 3. The subdials feature a concentric ring pattern, and the shiny material adds a touch of contrast to the otherwise flat dial.

Baton hands have been chosen for the main handset, with an arrow tip hand for the chronograph hand. Here’s where it gets really weird for my mod in particular. Being a mecaquartz movement, the chronograph hand snaps back into position instantly upon reset, which is well and good. Somehow, it seems the chronograph hand here is too “soft”, and when the chronograph is reset, the chronograph hand will actually bend due to the force at which its moving back into position. I had to stop the chronograph hand at various positions and reset it multiple times, till the hand bent back into shape, which on top of being a strange experience, means I don’t use the chronograph’s functionality though it technically exists. I’m pretty sure watches aren’t supposed to do this.

The mod comes with lume on the indices and hands, but it feels like a marginal amount and doesn’t last long. It’s there, but don’t expect to count on it.

The Movement

The movement is probably the only actual part from Seiko, though arguably it is the most important part of the mod.

Powered by a VK63A mecaquartz movement, you can expect Japanese reliability and accuracy with this one. The mecaquartz movement allows for the chronograph to move in a smooth sweep, but with the aforementioned defect with the hand, I don’t use it. Nevertheless, the movement itself should be robust and fuss free, with accuracy rated to +/- 20 seconds per month.

The Strap

A fitted, curved end rubber strap came with the watch, together with accompanying clear hardware. It’s pretty much your generic rubber strap, and feels alright on wrist. Not much to shout about, but not much to complain either.

Styling

I tried switching out the strap, but found it challenging to fit other straps. In any case, I felt that the mod looked best on the black rubber, allowing the focus to be drawn towards the clear case and the rainbow dial.

The Price

Being a mod, there’s technically no RRP on these, but a Google search places prices for this between S$209 – S$260 (USD $155 – $193 at time of writing). That places the mod in a range that isn’t too costly and seems pretty reasonable, but I do find the mod a bit rough around the edges, and with quality control being a hit or miss, I’m not sure if I would pay that much for one. Of course, if its something you’re into, I’d say go for it and your pocket wouldn’t worry too much anyway.

If possible, I would recommend handling the watch in person prior to purchase if possible, or at least asking for videos (such as of the chronograph in operation) for added assurance.

Overall Thoughts

The whole point of modding watches is to create something unique and different; something you can’t get just by simply walking into an AD. This particular mod is a decent representation of that – I don’t think you’ve ever seen a transparent-case Daytona, and the rainbow dial adds some icing on top of the cake. That being said, there is some tradeoff in terms of reliability and quality, though that would depend very much on the watchmaker and parts selected for the mod.

Would this mod be a substitute for the Daytona – obviously, no. Personally, I don’t see it staying in my collection for long, but I can’t deny that it has been good fun wearing this out and seeing the looks of confusion on the faces of watch enthusiasts as they struggle to figure out what exactly this is. So maybe not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but a good pop of rainbow fun nonetheless.

---

Images