NSY-001

Custom Watch: “Mini Sam’”

I’ve always found silver hands and indices on watches quite distracting—they flicker between black and white and sometimes seem to vanish entirely. So, for this build, I aimed for a “tactical yet readable” design. The case is an aftermarket, 38mm version of Seiko’s Samurai case.

Finding parts that work together is tricky and expensive. Sometimes the lume doesn’t match, or the PVD finish isn’t right. I had to order a bunch of crowns before I got the perfect one—0.3mm made a big difference in the look. The process was slow since everything had to be mail-ordered, and there was a lot of guesswork involved.

The lack of options for SKX013 dials with inset indices is frustrating. I did buy an OEM dial, but I’m saving it for later. And even though this dial feels a bit large, I’m happy I found an “ultra-thin” chapter ring. It’s a small win in the ongoing search for SKX013 parts.

One issue with the current build is the lume on the seconds hand: It suffers from metamerism; it matches the other lume in daylight but looks different under warm incandescent light.

Case Material	Stainless Steel
Width	38 mm
Thickness	12.7 mm
Lug to Lug	42.5 mm
Weight (Watch Head)	68 grams
Strap Width	20 mm
Movement	NH36
Lume	C3 (Green)
Crystal	Sapphire with Clear AR
Bezel	Unidirectional Count-Up
Bezel Insert	Fully-lumed Ceramic
Crown	Screw-Down
Lowest Water Resistance	100 m (Due to the the slim caseback)

Gallery

Parts

Part	Description	Cost	Supplier	Notes	Alternate Part
Bezel	SKX013 MM300 Bezel: PVD Black Finish	$38	Namoki Mods		Crystaltimes
Bezel Insert	Black Ceramic Luminous Bezel Insert for Seiko SKX013 Watches #C08	$45	Long Island Watch	Best quality	Good quality
Case	RC1088 SKX013 Samurai Conversion Case - Sandblasted Black	$69	Watch & Style	No longer sold without bracelet; includes caseback, gasgets, spring bars, etc.; a great value
Caseback	SKX Slim Caseback – CT273 Black	$20	Crystaltimes		Caroline Mods Store
Chapter Ring	SKX013 Brushed Black Chapter Ring - White Markers [ULTRA THIN EDITION]	$19	Lucius Atelier
Crown	CN0260 SKX013 Crown with "S" - Matte Black	$17	Watch & Style
Crystal	G0350 SKX013 Flat Sapphire Crystal - Clear AR	$30	Watch & Style		I've used these
Dial	28.5mm Watch Dial Fit Seiko NH35…	$10	KARAJAN Watch Store
Hands	White SKX-Style Luminous Watch Hands For Seiko…Watches #H09	$30	Long Island Watch	Only used hour and minute hands
Hands	NH35 Hands Grey Watch Hands Pointer for NH36…	$4	KARAJAN Watch Store	No longer available. Only used seconds hand. There are many similar styles available, but this version had the largest lollipop, and the hands have was matte finish.
Movement	Seiko NH36; Engish-Kanji; 3 O'Clock Crown	$40	Various	Widely available component. If ordering from AliExpress or eBay, be aware that some sellers use day and date wheels that may not match. For example, I ordered an English-Kanji movement from AliExpress, and the day wheel was a slightly different shade of white, and the text a different weight, from the date wheel.
Strap	FKM Rubber Strap	$10	Various	Photos show a generic black silicone strap, which was a lint and dust magnet. 🧲 I replaced it with the FKM strap linked in the Alternate field, which is of excellent quality and available with black hardware.	These are good, generic FKM straps; 20mm
		$332

Notes

Links are provided as helpful suggestions only; I have no affiliate relationship with any vendor or supplier.
Gaskets, springs, adhesives, stems, and other "consumables" are included with each item unless noted otherwise.
Prices are in US dollars.
Listed prices do not factor in tax, shipping, and discounts.
Updated July, 2024