This was the last good photo of my Seiko SKX007, right before my first dip in the Pacific Ocean this summer ended it. You’ll hopefully never have the feeling of looking down at your ISO-certified 200 meter dive watch to see a fogged crystal.

Right now my favorite hunk of shiny stainless steel is sitting on the window sill, with the sun cooking out the moisture, hopefully from the movement into condensed drops of water on the on the inside of the glass, and then away altogether. It’s painful to look at. It involves a lot of wishful thinking.

I bought the watch from a re-seller on Reddit’s r/Watchexchange, so all the caveats apply. There is no warranty, but I got a great price. Obviously, in retrospect, that $50 difference meant I probably would have gotten a watch with no problems. And even if I had, Seiko would have fixed it since I’ve had the watch less than two years. (Feel free to learn from my mistakes.)

So, what do I do now?

My options are:

• Sell it on Reddit, with full disclosure of the fogged crystal, to someone who will either fix it or mod it. Then, use that money to help buy another SKX — new, with a warranty.
• Mod it myself and replace the seals along the way. If any corrosion occurs from the salt water intrusion, I’ll just have to deal with it as part of the mod (hopefully many years from now).
• Pay a watchmaker to service the watch. This might cost more than the watch is worth new, but I haven’t checked yet.

In our Ultimate Guide to Dive Watches, we note that we don’t like the idea of modding a perfectly good SKX — because it approaches blasphemy. Mod to your heart’s content on Russia’s Vostok Amphibia, often with cross-platform parts.

But should you find yourself with a less-than-perfect SKX, as I unfortunately have, modding becomes a real consideration. That said, I don’t want an imitation or replica of another watch. It would have to be original or theme-driven.

And yet, I say that while instantly picturing the simple 3, 6, 9, 12 of Panerai’s Radiomir in my mind. Hmmm . . . But I’ll never mod the crown up to the 3 o’clock position!

What do you think I should do with my SKX007 with a fogged crystal?

Please let me know in the comments.

Check out our top dive watch picks in Part 3 of Twisted Bezel’s Ultimate Dive Watch Guide.

Learn about the most significant watchmakers in the development of dive watches in Part 2.

Get a quick overview of dive history in Part 1 of the guide.