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Official BFK Owner's Club: post yours here!

55K views 283 replies 115 participants last post by  Hardscrabbler 
#1 ·
Yes, it's been around for a while, but I get the feeling there's still love for the mighty BFK out there, otherwise known as the 'Big Friendly Kinetic' (or whichever F-word you prefer). Seiko, in their boring way, call it the SKA371.



Like most of us, I can't pass a mall jewellery store without casting a quick eye over the watches, though there's rarely anything of interest there (A whole wall of Michael Kors? Really?). Even in the Seiko section, it's rare to see a non-quartz watch, and, well, quartz watches, ho-hum.

However, over a few weeks, I noticed that one watch stood out for me, and every store I went past, it was in the window, and every store I stopped and pressed my nose against the glass like a schoolboy to look at it. It's a striking watch, partly because it's just bigger than anything else in the window.

Well, I like big watches, and I cannot lie. Eventually I popped in to try one on, just for the fun of it. The weight of the thing is palpable. It's like strapping a polished steel brick to your wrist, and the hefty rotor spins loudly like a roulette ball ("No more bets!").



The bezel action is extremely smooth and positive, with a discreet but efficient click like an expensive socket set. The tank-like case with its gently curved lugs and alternating brushed and polished surfaces recalls the Sumo, while the aggressively cut bezel edge and 3 o'clock crown have a little of the Shogun about them.



Wrist test completed, I handed it back to the majestically uninterested assistant and left the store. But if you've ever had a watch sneak up on you, you'll know what happened next. First you look around at a few new prices on the web, then you start browsing eBay ads for used models. "I'll just put this on my watch list so I can see what it sells for," you tell yourself. "I'm just keeping an eye on the market."

Before you know it, the watch is turning up at your door, and you're giving your wife a pleading look as if to say, "It followed me home, can I keep it?"



The lume is excellent, as you'd expect from a Seiko diver, though the skeleton hands are hard to read at night. I find the best thing is just to look at the big blob of the hour hand and see where it is; the minute hand gets mixed up with the hour indices. I'm not surprised that a popular mod for this watch is to either change the hands, or fill them with lume. However, it does have a certain unique, quirky charm, and that's why I love Seikos.



Overall, it's a solid and high-quality watch, which of course keeps impeccable time thanks to the little flake of silicon inside. It's an attractive, if slightly brutal diver, with plenty of character. Not just a pretty face, either, as forum torturers will attest. They sell in the UK for about two hundred pounds, and with the possible exception of the new Monsters I don't know many better watches for the price.





I've shown you mine, now show me yours! Bonus points for lived-in BFKs, especially if it looks like you use it to hit rocks on a regular basis.
 
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#222 · (Edited)
HI all. I've picked up an orange SBCZ011 and I'm very happy with it. I owned a Pepsi SKA and foolishly gave it away six months ago, regretted it ever since.



Having this one though made me notice a couple of differences between the two. Most important is overall bezel quality. The SKA had a precise bezel but the feeling when you turned it and the sound was a major letdown. Felt and sounded like a tin can. Not with this one. It has precisely the right feel and the sound has a wonderful springy quality . Also, the coin edges are better machined and deeper, make for a better grip.



Plus I have a feeling the crystal lies exactly flush with the bezel and not somewhat recessed inwards as in the SKA.



I'm also under the impression the polished line on the case edge is somewhat higher polished than in the SKA but to confirm this I'd need to have another one at hand to compare.
 
#230 ·


Had mine for around 6 months now. Just ordered a double dome sapphire and some tools so I can change out the hardlex which I chipped a couple days ago while whipper-snipping, hit a patch of sand and... [emoji19]

I'm still unsure how I will remove the movement, haven't found that posted anywhere yet.

Anyone know where I should look?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#231 ·
I found the info I wanted with a google search - after searching this forum with its own search tool for quite a while - google gave me the correct thread on this very forum! Even when I search the exact words in the subject line of this post, the search tool here doesn't give me it. Wat up wit dat?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#239 ·
Ok, I have a stupid question.... After removing the movement and prior to removing the hands for replacing or modding,, how do you you stop the movement on a kinetic? I have modded quartz and automatics (removing the battery / letting the automatic wind down)... But I'm not sure how to halt the movement on a kinetic.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
#240 ·
Ok, I have a stupid question.... After removing the movement and prior to removing the hands for replacing or modding,, how do you you stop the movement on a kinetic? I have modded quartz and automatics (removing the battery / letting the automatic wind down)... But I'm not sure how to halt the movement on a kinetic.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
The movement halts when the crown is pulled all the way out for setting the time. You should be able to reinsert the crown stem after removal and then pull it all the way out. AFAIK...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#248 · (Edited)


After 5 years of usage I managed to do the following on my beloved BFK:

Several deep scratches on the crystal
Severe scratches on the bracelet
Bezel insert scrubbed down and scratched
Bezel click spring broken
Bezel gasket ring broken
O ring lost

You can see the damages from the photo above. It looks better than it actually is. So decided to fix it.
I ordered a new rubber gasket (OZ3314B02) and a bezel click spring (
8133.2049) from Cousins UK for 12 pounds altogether (around $20 AUD) including postage.
I ordered a small tub of silicone grease, diamond paste compound, soft felt polishing kit and a new ceramic bezel insert from eBay for around $20 AUD altogether.

I fitted the polishing tip to my drill and applied the diamond paste on the crystal before power polishing it for about an hour.
I took out the bezel insert with a knife installed the new ceramic bezel insert.
Replaced the broken bezel click spring.
Greased up the gasket ring and replaced it.
I sanded away the scratches on the bracelet using fine sand paper.
I wasn't bothered with the o ring.

And now it looks like this. Pretty happy with it.

Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery
 
#250 ·
View attachment 12607109

After 5 years of usage I managed to do the following on my beloved BFK:

Several deep scratches on the crystal
Severe scratches on the bracelet
Bezel insert scrubbed down and scratched
Bezel click spring broken
Bezel gasket ring broken
O ring lost

You can see the damages from the photo above. It looks better than it actually is. So decided to fix it.
I ordered a new rubber gasket (OZ3314B02) and a bezel click spring (
8133.2049) from Cousins UK for 12 pounds altogether (around $20 AUD) including postage.
I ordered a small tub of silicone grease, diamond paste compound, soft felt polishing kit and a new ceramic bezel insert from eBay for around $20 AUD altogether.

I fitted the polishing tip to my drill and applied the diamond paste on the crystal before power polishing it for about an hour.
I took out the bezel insert with a knife installed the new ceramic bezel insert.
Replaced the broken bezel click spring.
Greased up the gasket ring and replaced it.
I sanded away the scratches on the bracelet using fine sand paper.
I wasn't bothered with the o ring.

And now it looks like this. Pretty happy with it.

View attachment 12607093
Very nice restoration, and economical too. Thanks for the specifics!
 
#252 ·
My SBCZ015 Scuba JDM on different bands, I bought this online from Japan about 4 yrs ago, gains about 2 secs a month.
What is the difference between the SBCZ011 and the 015?
 

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