Seiko Modding Gift Guide: What To Give This Holiday Season?
Do you have a friend, relative, or special someone who loves watches and deserves an unforgettable gift this holiday season? Consider giving them more than just a timepiece – give them the immersive experience of creating one. Our watchmaking kits contain all the parts, tools, and instructions needed to build a full watch from scratch. What’s more, these are compatible with our hundreds of Seiko mod parts so they can customize it further if they want to.
As with any gift, choosing which kit to get can be confusing because of the many options available. And while the focus of a kit is the experience, you’d still want your giftee to be able to build a watch they would want to wear. This short guide will help you decide which watchmaking kit is the best to give that special watch enthusiast in your life.
Are They Into Simple Watches?
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Watches can also be considered jewelry, and for most watch wearers, they want subtle looks that blend well with the rest of their wardrobe. If this sounds like the one you’re searching gifts for, we can recommend our Explorer Tool Watch Kit that’s inspired by the Rolex Explorer. The watch is a 38mm dress style with a polished black dial and brown leather straps, making it easy to pair with casual and office attire alike.
Another minimalist kit that we can suggest is the Stealth Skeleton Tool watch, which has an all-out black color scheme. The dial features hollow hour markers that perfectly match the skeleton hands, and in the dark they glow green from the luminous material. The case and bezel features a vertical brushed finish to give it a more discreet appearance.
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More kits that would fit under this category are “Milspec” watches, or those inspired by military style timepieces that also have that no-nonsense, functionality-first design language. Our Khaki Field and Tonneau Kit are great choices, both using simply-designed cases and highly legible dials and hands.
Are they Into Small but Flashy Watches?
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Smaller watches are on-trend among the watch community these days, with people mostly gravitating towards sub-40mm dimensions. This is mostly dress watch territory, and they are usually compensating for the smaller case with an attention catching dial to increase wrist presence. If your lucky recipient likes watches like this, we endorse our Gold GS Dress Watch Kit which uses a sleek, petite case, a matching cream dial with bar indices, and dauphine hands. Paired with a black leather strap, this kit makes a watch that’s perfect for any formal occasion.
One more kit that fits this criteria is our Great Wave White Kit, which puts the spotlight on the patterned dial inspired by the iconic Japanese wave. It’s a detailed dial encased in a minimalist case that only brings out more of its beauty, and complemented with Dauphine hands. A red seconds hand adds a touch of color to the watch.
Do They Like Classic Dive Watches?
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Among watch enthusiasts, the dive watch is one of the most favored kinds. They have a hefty look, great build quality, and have rotating bezels that add functionality to the watch aside from the usual timekeeping. Not to mention the 200m water resistance, a common feature since they’re built for scuba diving, which provides peace of mind whether you’re caught in the rain or simply washing your hands.
For a dive watch option, we urge you to take a look at the Fifty-Eight Kit, which most watch lovers would instantly recognize as being inspired by the Tudor BB58. The hallmark of the watch design is the sleek, no crown guard case, a dial with large hour markers and lume, and the iconic ‘Snowflake’ hands. The bezel insert with lume pip on the 12 o’clock is worth noting as well. You have two options under this kit - the more popular black and gold version, and the equally beautiful navy blue version.
Another kit we can vouch for is the GMT Dive Watch Kit that allows the user to track two time zones at once - very useful if the intended recipient travels a lot internationally. The watch is inspired by the Rolex Submariner, another classic piece that many watch fans would instantly recognize. It is a generous 40.5mm case with the crown at 3 o’clock, making the watch more symmetrical. The 24 hour bezel insert comes in 5 different colors, enhanced by the included black dial. ‘Mercedes’ style hands complete the look. While this kit results in an impressive watch, modding a GMT watch is a bit more challenging than our other kits due to the inclusion of the GMT hand. It won’t be a problem for the determined watch lover though!
Are They Into Sports (and Watches)?
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Sports watches are all about being tough enough to keep up with an active lifestyle while still looking good. We’ve already talked about Sports watches in length in this article if you want to familiarize with them more, but in a nutshell, these watches are built to take a beating, with a legible dial that can be easily read at a glance. They also incorporate integrated bracelets more often than other watch styles.
Our top pick for you would be our NRX Sports Watch Kit which is inspired by a vintage piece from Swiss brand Tissot. The 36mm case has sharp, angular lugs that seamlessly connect the bracelet, and the pilot style bezel conforms to the look. We paired it with an Oak dial with a waffle pattern along with Oak style hands - components for a different sports watch that looks perfect in this smaller case.
If you think they’d want a watch in a bigger size, you can’t go wrong with the Nautilus Sports Watch Kit which is based off of a very popular luxury sports watch. The case is much larger at 42.5mm, and has an iconic design inspired by a ship’s porthole of all things. The matching dial features a horizontal pattern with bars for indices. The bracelet, while not as seamless as an integrated one, still looks very coherent with the case design thanks to its polished middle links.
Wrap Up
If you’re giving one of these kits as a gift, know that you’re offering someone the chance to build something with their own hands, explore their creativity, and wear a timepiece that’s truly their own. You can bet it’s not a gift they would soon forget!
If your gift recipient is too busy with life, or just not into handling delicate, mechanical parts, you can also check out our collection of ready-to-wear watches. As anything in our store, these can be modified later so if they do get the urge to personalize the watch, they can do so easily. Still not sure what to get as a gift? Let them choose with a virtual gift card.
And if you have any questions or clarifications, please feel free to message us at support@namokimods.com