The Grand Seiko 6185-8020, like the majority of the Suwa-made VFA Grand Seikos, had a very distinctively shaped case. The crease that runs vertically through the case, combined with the wide flanks, make for a very striking impression. The 6185-8000 took this design to the extreme, with the crease running the full length of the integrated bracelet, including the clasp. It is, to my eye at least, the coolest looking watch ever made.
A few other Seiko models shared a similar creased design, for instance, the Grand Seiko 6145-8050 and 6146-8050 (though I think that the faceted crystal of these looked a bit incongruous) and the Lord Matic Special 5216-7080.
The Lord Matic 5606-7240 and 7270 had a case with somewhat similar wide flanks but no crease. It is a 7240 case that plays a key role in this particular job.
The 56-series King Seikos were eventually offered in myriad case styles aside from the classic 7000-series style. None of these though were similar to the 6185. The correction of this obvious oversight on the part of Seiko is the subject of this post.
The idea was to create a 56-series King Seiko-based "homage" to its upscale big brother, the 6185-8020. The ingredients included: a 5625 movement and dial (salvaged from a watch whose case was beyond reclamation), a LM 5606-7240 case (which would be heavily modified), a set of NOS 56KS hands, an NOS 300V crystal and, a one-off, custom-made KS logo crown.
No doubt, there are those Seiko collectors who will decry this as a "Frankenwatch" with no collector value and they would be correct, at least on the latter point. None of that troubles the owner though, and that's really all that matters.
Let's start with the 7240 case (which was in pretty pitiful condition) modifications. The convex areas between the flanks were hand filed into flats, creating the raised crease. Once that was done, all of the nicks and scratches were hand filed out, prior to hand polishing the flanks and vertically brushing the flats. The bezel was remachined (it was also in bad shape) and then polished in the lathe. The NOS crystal was installed in the reflector ring and the case parts were set aside while the movement was serviced and the dial cleaned. The dial has a few very light patina "freckles" and it was decided to leave it as-is.
The crown was not, and couldn't be, a modified factory part. This is because it was decided at the beginning that the crown had to look like that of the 6185 but, with the KS logo in place of the 6185's GS logo. Since 6185 crowns aren't something that one simply pulls from the parts bin, it had to be made from scratch. The crown was machined from 316L stainless to match the reference photos that I had on hand and the known dimensions. The KS logo was "liberated" from an old King Seiko crown (the logo is actually a separate piece, swaged in place) and installed in the new crown.
Now, it was time to assemble the watch (I didn't photograph the servicing of the movement because, it's a 5625, we've all seen them before) with NOS hands (the hands from the donor were scarred badly), seals and a new Seiko strap. I did remove, polish and gold plate the KS logo on the dial. Seiko's GS and LM "Specials" had their logos gold plated, so I thought it apropos.
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