# Modified Seiko Monster



## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

At the risk of being banned completely - & I don't want to start anything - but over on another forum there's a modified Monster for sale for Â£400!!!

It's actually a very nice looking watch (for a Monster - which I'm not a fan of anyway) & has been modded with Bill Yao parts. These parts are no longer available as Bill's concentrating on making/selling actual watches rather than custom parts. The modifications include a sapphire crystal, beadblasted case & bracelet, yellow dial & black outlined plongeur hands! The 7s26 movement is still used.

I've already said my piece over on the other forum. I shouldn't have posted these thoughts on a sales thread, so I've been deservedly shot down in flames & I've since withdrawn what I wrote & have apologised to the original poster. To me though this seems rather a lot (understatement) for even a modified Monster. You can pick up a Monster in decent standard condition for about Â£75, have it beadblasted for Â£30 - Â£40, get a new dial for Â£20(ish) & another set of hands for a similar amount - total outlay Â£150ish. It shouldn't cost that much for a watchmaker to fit the new dial & hands either so maybe Â£200 tops (or it may be that you can fit them yourself for free)? If you really needed one then a sapphire crystal would probably bump that up by another Â£40 or so.

Can someone please tell me where the extra Â£150 - Â£200 comes from? The seller says he's bought it from another forum member & is only asking what he paid for it.

Who the hell pays Â£400 for a Seiko Monster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????? Have I mised something in the world of basic Seiko divers????????

I'm confused :blink:


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## ollyhock (Feb 9, 2009)

pauluspaolo said:


> At the risk of being banned completely - & I don't want to start anything - but over on another forum there's a modified Monster for sale for Â£400!!!
> 
> It's actually a very nice looking watch (for a Monster - which I'm not a fan of anyway) & has been modded with Bill Yao parts. These parts are no longer available as Bill's concentrating on making/selling actual watches rather than custom parts. The modifications include a sapphire crystal, beadblasted case & bracelet, yellow dial & black outlined plongeur hands! The 7s26 movement is still used.
> 
> ...


Â£400 doesnt get you much these days, so id say its worth it


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

pauluspaolo said:


> At the risk of being banned completely - & *I don't want to start anything* ....


So he starts yet another Monster thread.  Nearly as bad as me with my 7A38 threads. :blush2:



pauluspaolo said:


> Who the hell pays Â£400 for a Seiko Monster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????? Have I missed something in the world of basic Seiko divers????????


More to the point, who, in their right mind pays *Â£100* for a basic Monster ? :fool: Damned ugly things ! :yucky: :bad:


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> pauluspaolo said:
> 
> 
> > At the risk of being banned completely - & *I don't want to start anything* ....
> ...


I know, I know, I shouldn't have started this thread really but I just want to know if Â£400 is a reasonable price to pay for a modified Seiko monster? I've tried the Monster thing & I have to say that I don't like them much either. It'd be a boring old world if we all liked the same things though wouldn't it? I've little/no room to talk really as I've a Reliant SS1 in my garage & that's just about the ugliest car in the known universe (I like it though)!


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

i read your original thread over there paul, and nearly commented myself....but it being a sales post and all that.....

i dunno mate y'know....i think that the fact that bill no longer supplies parts could be one of the reasons, but in my own vho, having compared a dial and a set of hands from yao and yobokies side by side, they both looked of equal quality...the lume was similar, and the fit and finish was also similar.....there is even a rumour that they come from the same factory, which wouldnt surprise me......the only difference that i could tell from the two was the price.....and the fact that i had to wait nearly 3 months for the yao parts to arrive 

would i pay that much for a monster? i might do for a red or blue....but not a modified one......although, saying that.........


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

i stupidly paid top whack to have my monster modded ,and yeah it looked awesome when finished but there is no way you will get your money back.

as much as i like monsters i wouldnt pay over the odds for one and 400 notes is too much.

clearly though someone will buy it there is always someone out there who will pay crazy money on a seiko ,look how much tunas and 6105's go for someone will get mugged off with it and best of luck to them.


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

jaslfc5 said:


> i stupidly paid top whack to have my monster modded ,and yeah it looked awesome when finished but there is no way you will get your money back.
> 
> as much as i like monsters i wouldnt pay over the odds for one and 400 notes is too much.
> 
> clearly though someone will buy it there is always someone out there who will pay crazy money on a seiko ,look how much tunas and 6105's go for someone will get mugged off with it and best of luck to them.


your not alone there though mate..we've all done that......


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

mrteatime said:


> jaslfc5 said:
> 
> 
> > i stupidly paid top whack to have my monster modded ,and yeah it looked awesome when finished but there is no way you will get your money back.
> ...


i will get another one one day ,but next time i wont get some lonely old **** who lives with his mum and thinks its funny to hold on to peoples watches forever and should really get a life and a rat to chew off that mole on his face to do the mods.


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

jaslfc5 said:


> mrteatime said:
> 
> 
> > jaslfc5 said:
> ...


it was a bit of a big 'un mate...

moley moley


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## clockworks (Apr 11, 2010)

I'm very new to the world of Seiko, so pardon me if this is a dumb or contentious question.

Apart from the mod parts and blasted case, what else is done to these Bill Yao Monsters? Do you get extra paperwork or anything to prove that it is, indeed, a Bill Yao-built watch, and not a DIY job done using his parts?

In the past 2 weeks, I've bought a new, standard, OM, plus a modded one from a member on "the other forum", plus a modded watch from one of the posters on this thread, plus a badly-modded cheapie from eBay for me to play around with, and I've spent just over 400 quid on the lot.

I don't want to upset anyone, I'm just trying to understand.


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

clockworks said:


> I'm very new to the world of Seiko, so pardon me if this is a dumb or contentious question.
> 
> Apart from the mod parts and blasted case, what else is done to these Bill Yao Monsters? Do you get extra paperwork or anything to prove that it is, indeed, a Bill Yao-built watch, and not a DIY job done using his parts?
> 
> ...


a modded watch is a sure fire way to lose money on a watch  you never get anywhere near your outlay, as peoples tastes change....

the ones that i had somebody else do would on average cost me around Â£60-Â£80 in labour and thats without parts....or the cost of the watch.

the last orange 6309 that i sold stood me somewhere in the region of Â£300, and your not gonna get anywhere near that....

mentioned before....a bead would cost Â£40-Â£50, the parts around Â£80 tops....even a new monster is around the what? Â£110 from japan? so thats Â£240.....

yao parts are good, but as i mentioned not Â£400 good......

so i guess your right....i don't understand this either....especially as some red and blue limited monsters have struggled to reach the amount asked for this "one off"


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## Guest (May 6, 2010)

I clocked this sales thread too Paul and kept saying 400 pounds for what ,but it all adds up .Fair comment.Then you ask yourself what can i get for 400 notes probably a second hand 600 plus watch .Save the 400 Paul put it on the scimmy. :thumbsup:


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

Timetraveller said:


> I clocked this sales thread too Paul and kept saying 400 pounds for what ,but it all adds up .Fair comment.Then you ask yourself what can i get for 400 notes probably a second hand 600 plus watch .Save the 400 Paul put it on the scimmy. :thumbsup:


There's no way I'm paying Â£400 for the watch - I haven't got Â£400 spare for a start! I like it but at the end of the day it's a Â£100 watch in a sharp suit. There are all sorts of excellent watches you can get for Â£400 - there was a Fortis 200m diver on the same forum for Â£400. Ocean 7 & many of the new German brands seem to go for around Â£400(ish) & I'd rather have one of those than a modded Monster. As has been pointed out a decent Seiko Tuna 300m can be had for around the Â£350 - Â£400 mark which is a lot more watch for the money.

Anything modified, be it a watch or a car, will only appeal to a few people - if I were to ever sell my much modified Reliant SS1 there's no way I'd expect to get back what I'd put into it.

I wish the owner all the best with the sale


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## clockworks (Apr 11, 2010)

Any pics of your modded Reliant?


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

clockworks said:


> Any pics of your modded Reliant?


its not really 'good form' to borrow pics from another forum member, especially from another forum 

heres a link here although im not sure if your able to view it if your not a member over at tz


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## owain (Mar 7, 2009)

mrteatime said:


> clockworks said:
> 
> 
> > Any pics of your modded Reliant?
> ...


I think he meant pics of his car, not the thread in question


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

clockworks said:


> Any pics of your modded Reliant?


There a link to my Ss1 build thread in the Non-Watch Interests & Hobbies section of this forum - http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=33356&hl=the%20reptile&st=15 - I'm not sure if the (many) pictures are showing up though. So in case they aren't here's a link to a similar build thread I've posted on Retro Rides http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=53471

The car's still in bits in my garage - I've not had much time (or money) to spend on it recently but I've just ordered some bits for it so there may be a bit more progress soon.


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## clockworks (Apr 11, 2010)

Yes, I meant pics of the car.

Thanks for the link - I didn't realise that there was so much metal (or rust!) in the SS1. My first "car" was a Robin, and that just had a perimeter frame and a G/F tub. I guess the SS1 is built like a scaled-down GTE? Nice to see such an "interesting" car being saved, and a much better way to spend your time than with a 7 kit car. I had an early Westfield, and it scared me on anything other than perfect road conditions.

mrteatime: I am a member on TZ - I bought a watch from you there last week :thumbsup:


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

clockworks said:


> Yes, I meant pics of the car.
> 
> Thanks for the link - I didn't realise that there was so much metal (or rust!) in the SS1. My first "car" was a Robin, and that just had a perimeter frame and a G/F tub. I guess the SS1 is built like a scaled-down GTE? Nice to see such an "interesting" car being saved, and a much better way to spend your time than with a 7 kit car. I had an early Westfield, and it scared me on anything other than perfect road conditions.
> 
> mrteatime: I am a member on TZ - I bought a watch from you there last week :thumbsup:


Many thanks for the encouragement - I did consider some sort of 7 before buying the Reliant, one of the reasons being that 7's are a bit uncompromising with no creature comforts & I'd like my better half to go in the car (though I doubt if she'll ever actually want to drive the thing). The SS1 has an Elan style backbone chassis onto which a glasfibre tub is bolted, the rest of the panels are a combination of glassfibre & plastic - these are hung from frames (called armatures) which in turn are bolted to the front & rear of the chassis. All the panels are removeable which make taking the car apart quite easy.


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

clockworks said:


> Yes, I meant pics of the car.
> 
> Thanks for the link - I didn't realise that there was so much metal (or rust!) in the SS1. My first "car" was a Robin, and that just had a perimeter frame and a G/F tub. I guess the SS1 is built like a scaled-down GTE? Nice to see such an "interesting" car being saved, and a much better way to spend your time than with a 7 kit car. I had an early Westfield, and it scared me on anything other than perfect road conditions.
> 
> mrteatime: I am a member on TZ - I bought a watch from you there last week :thumbsup:


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## Carlotwf (Nov 13, 2009)

I saw a similar post on WUS, the price of the watch will be what someone agrees to pay and not just what someone is asking. If noone buys it then the watch is worth nothing, no matter what the seller asks. There is a relation between sellers and buyers. If there are no buyers then there are really no sellers. I have not seen this monster being talked about that costs 400 but I know that one could spend that much in modding it. As to the worth, that is only in the eyes of the seller and the buyer.


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