Explorer Watch Case - 36mm [ULTRA THIN DLC BLACK EDITION] - Solid - Coin Edge 6mm - Sterile - Lucius Atelier - Swiss Quality Seiko Watch Mod Parts

Explorer Watch Case - 36mm [ULTRA THIN DLC BLACK EDITION] - Solid - Coin Edge 7mm - Sterile - Lucius Atelier - Swiss Quality Seiko Watch Mod Parts

Explorer Watch Case - 36mm [ULTRA THIN DLC BLACK EDITION] - Solid - Knurled 6mm - Sterile - Lucius Atelier - Swiss Quality Seiko Watch Mod Parts

Explorer Watch Case - 36mm [ULTRA THIN DLC BLACK EDITION] - Solid - Knurled 7mm - Sterile - Lucius Atelier - Swiss Quality Seiko Watch Mod Parts

Explorer 36mm DLC Black — Ultra Thin Watch Case

Name: Explorer 36mm DLC Black — Ultra Thin Watch Case
Brand: Lucius Atelier
SKU: EC36UTDLC/NH.Solid/CE6
Price: 175.0 SGD
Availability: InStock

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$175 SGD - $195 SGD$0 SGD

Caseback

Solid

Sapphire

Crown

Coin Edge 6mm sold out

Coin Edge 7mm sold out

Knurled 6mm sold out

Knurled 7mm sold out

Crown Signature

Sterile

Signed S

Worldwide
Delivery Express
2–4 Days Replies In
1 Day 30-Day
Returns

The Explorer. Reborn Ultra Thin. Coated in DLC Black.

The Explorer is the watch that taught the world a sports watch could wear a suit. We've reinterpreted that silhouette at 36mm — the proportion that defined the archetype before the modern catalogue drifted larger — and built it on the Ultra Thin Edition architecture so it sits on the wrist the way the original was meant to.

The difference here is the finish. Every visible exterior of the case body is coated in DLC black — Diamond-Like Carbon, the hardest coating commonly available on watch cases. Most "black" mod cases on the market use PVD, which is a soft coating that scratches and rubs off with daily wear. DLC doesn't. It's roughly five times harder than the 316L stainless steel underneath, and it stays that way through years of contact with belt buckles, desk edges, and door frames. DLC cases are uncommon in the modding world for one reason — cost. The coating process is significantly more expensive than PVD. We do it anyway, because a case worth building is a case worth protecting.

At 9.96mm thick with the solid caseback, this is one of the slimmest 36mm Explorer-style cases built for an NH movement — and it ships ready to mod with the SKX013 chapter ring + 28.5mm dial ecosystem you already know.

Ships complete with sapphire, caseback, and screw-down crown.
The flat sapphire crystal ships pre-installed and aligned at our workshop, with your selected caseback and screw-down crown included. Pick a chapter ring for your dial, add dial + hands + movement, and you have a complete watch — built on the most scratch-resistant coating commonly available on watch cases.

Wears 36, looks classic.
36mm case diameter, 43mm lug-to-lug, 20mm lug width. The proportions that made the original Explorer the benchmark dress-sport watch — restored, in stealth black.

Genuinely thin.
9.96mm total thickness with the solid caseback. The NH movement is 7.59mm tall on its own — meaning the sapphire, case body, and hands clearance combined add up to just 2.37mm.

DLC, not PVD.
Diamond-Like Carbon coating — 5× harder than steel, far more scratch-resistant than the PVD coatings used on most "black" mod cases. It doesn't rub off. It doesn't fade. You'll wear it harder than you'd dare wear a PVD case.

Built on the SKX013 ecosystem.
Accepts our 28.5mm dials, SKX013-spec chapter rings, and NH movement-compatible hands. The full mod-parts library, ready to pair.

Caseback	Total Thickness	Water Resistance	Best for
Solid · HEADLINE BUILD	9.96mm	100m / 10 ATM	The thinnest profile — pure stealth black on the wrist
Sapphire	10.9mm	100m / 10 ATM	Movement display — show off the rotor through the back

The solid caseback is the headline build — this is the case at its slimmest. The sapphire caseback adds slight thickness in exchange for a view of the NH movement. Both casebacks are uncoated steel — see What's Included below.

Heads up — sold separately

Chapter ring. This case requires a SKX013-spec chapter ring to seat the dial correctly — without it, the dial sits too low and hands won't clear. The case fits both normal and ultra thin chapter rings; the choice depends on your dial, not the case. If your dial has applied (raised) indices, choose ultra thin for clearance. If flat-printed, either works. When in doubt, ultra thin is the safer default. Browse compatible chapter rings .

The case ships complete with sapphire crystal, your selected caseback, and your selected screw-down crown — you do not need to buy a crown separately for this case.

For experienced modders only — TYPE M movements only

This case fits TYPE M versions of NH35, NH36, NH38, NH70, NH71, NH72 only. TYPE L will NOT fit. Due to tight clearance between hands and sapphire, this case is recommended only for professional watchmakers and experienced modders.

Specs
Build Guide
What's Included
How To Mod

Dimensions
1. Case Diameter 36mm
2. Case Thickness 9.96mm (Solid Caseback) / 10.9mm (Sapphire Caseback)
3. Lug to Lug 43mm
4. Lug Width 20mm
Materials & Finish
1. Quality Swiss Production Quality, ISO 9001 Certified
2. Case Material 316L Stainless Steel
3. Coating Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) Black on the case body — approximately 5× the hardness of 316L stainless steel. Caseback is supplied uncoated (see What's Included).
4. Case Finishing Polished front lugs, brushed top surfaces — under the DLC coating
5. Crystal Flat sapphire with clear anti-reflective coating
6. Crystal Size 29.5mm x 1mm
7. Crown Screw-down, included (Coin Edge or Knurled, 6mm or 7mm, Sterile or Signed S — selected above)
Compatibility
1. Movements TYPE M: NH35, NH36, NH38, NH70, NH71, NH72
2. Dials 28.5mm
3. Chapter Rings SKX013-spec (required, sold separately)
4. Hands NH movement compatible
5. Bracelets 20mm lug — Oyster Bracelet in DLC Black recommended for a fully-DLC build. Also fits all Lucius Atelier 20mm bracelets, or pair with black/earth-tone leather for a strap build.
Water Resistance
1. Solid & Sapphire Caseback 100m / 10 ATM
New to Seiko modding? Here's everything you'll need for a complete, functioning watch — in the order you'd actually assemble it.

What's already in this purchase:

The Explorer 36mm DLC Black case body with the flat AR-coated sapphire crystal pre-fitted, your selected caseback (Solid or Sapphire), and your selected screw-down crown (Coin Edge or Knurled, 6mm or 7mm, Sterile or Signed S). That's the foundation. Everything below is what you'll add to make a wrist-ready watch.

The 4 parts you'll need for a complete watch:
1. Chapter ring — required first. The chapter ring seats the dial at the correct height; without it, the dial sits too low and the hands won't clear.
  (SKX013-spec — sold on a separate page. See the "sold separately" panel above for normal vs ultra thin guidance.)
  Browse compatible chapter rings
2. Dial (28.5mm) — the face of the watch. The biggest aesthetic choice you'll make. Match it to your chosen movement (date / day+date / no-date dial). For the DLC Black case, most builders pair with dark or high-contrast dials (matte black, deep blue, military green) and BGW9 or C3 lume for visibility against the stealth case.
3. Hands — paired with your dial. Most modders match lume colour across both hands and dial markers (BGW9 white-blue, C3 green, etc.). Our Swiss Super-LumiNova® BGW9 hands pair especially well with the Explorer silhouette.
4. Movement — NH35 (date), NH36 (day+date), NH38 (no date), or source your own. The movement is the engine of the watch.
Optional finishing touches:
1. Bracelet or strap (20mm lug) — fit any 20mm bracelet or strap from our catalogue, plus custom shell cordovan / full-grain cowhide leather straps. Black or earth-tone leather pairs naturally with DLC.
2. Decorated bridge + rotor (only visible with sapphire caseback) — replace the stock NH movement bridge and rotor with our Côtes de Genève decorated set, viewable through the sapphire caseback. Note: our bridges fit only our rotors (not OEM Seiko rotors), so they're chosen as a pair. Recommended for experienced modders only — or tick Assemble Watch below and we'll handle it.
Want it built for you?

Tick the Assemble Watch (+SGD $50) option above on this page and we'll handle the full build in our Singapore workshop — case fitting, movement seating, crown alignment, caseback press, function check, and decorated bridge + rotor installation if you've added those.

Heads up: assembled watches require 2–5 business days of workshop time before shipping.

Once your parts arrive, see the How To Mod tab for assembly tutorials.
1. 1x Watch Case Body in 316L Stainless Steel with DLC Black coating (with pre-fitted flat AR-coated sapphire crystal)
2. 1x Screw-down crown (Coin Edge or Knurled, 6mm or 7mm, Sterile or Signed S — per selection)
3. 1x NH Caseback — uncoated steel (Solid or Sapphire, per selection)
The caseback is supplied in uncoated stainless steel — it sits against the wrist and is not visible when worn, so it's left uncoated. The case body, bezel and lugs all carry the full DLC black coating.

All photos of watches with modification parts are for illustration purposes only and are not included with the case purchase.

How durable is the DLC coating?

Very. DLC is one of the hardest commercially available coatings on watch cases — harder than the steel underneath it. Under normal wear (belt buckles, desk edges, door frames, daily contact), it resists scratching far better than any PVD-coated mod case. Hard impacts can still mark the underlying steel, and like any coating it's not immune to deliberate abrasion — but for daily wear, it stays looking new for years longer than PVD.

Is the caseback also DLC coated?

No — the caseback is supplied in uncoated stainless steel. It sits against the wrist and isn't visible when the watch is worn, so it's left uncoated to keep the case priced as accessibly as possible. The case body, bezel and lugs all carry the full DLC black coating — every surface that's visible when the watch is on your wrist.

What is DLC, and how is it different from PVD?

DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) is a hard, amorphous carbon coating with properties similar to natural diamond. It's significantly harder and more scratch-resistant than PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) — roughly 5× the hardness of 316L stainless steel. PVD coatings, by contrast, are softer and prone to wear through at high-contact points (lug edges, crown, bezel) over time. DLC stays put. It also doesn't fade in colour the way PVD can after years of UV exposure.

Which caseback should I choose?

The solid caseback (9.96mm) is the headline build — this is the case at its thinnest, and the all-black stealth read on the wrist is at its purest. Choose sapphire (10.9mm) if you want to display the NH movement and rotor through the back. Both are rated 100m / 10 ATM, and both are supplied in uncoated steel.

Which crown should I pick?

The crown is selected on this page from {Coin Edge 6mm, Coin Edge 7mm, Knurled 6mm, Knurled 7mm} × {Sterile, Signed S}. For grip and ergonomics: knurled designs grip better than coin-edge, and 7mm crowns grip better than 6mm. Crown grip ranking, best to worst: Knurled 7mm > Coin Edge 7mm > Knurled 6mm > Coin Edge 6mm. Visually, 7mm crowns look slimmer than 6mm even at the same thickness — a Müller-Lyer-style optical effect from the lugs framing the crown.

Why is the DLC version more expensive than the standard Explorer 36mm?

DLC coating is a more demanding manufacturing process than PVD — it requires specialised vacuum chambers, higher temperatures, and more precise control of the carbon plasma deposition. The materials and equipment cost significantly more. We pass through some of that cost, but we keep the DLC case priced as accessibly as we can because we want the coating to be more common in modding, not less.

What's the difference between Type M and Type L?

Type M and Type L are Seiko's two factory hand-fitting versions of the NH series. Type L sits higher than Type M — about 0.4mm taller from base to second-hand pinion. Because of the tight clearance between hands and sapphire in Ultra Thin Edition cases, only Type M will fit. Confirm your movement type before ordering.

Do I need to remove the sapphire crystal to install the chapter ring?

No — and that's the whole point of us pre-installing the sapphire for you. The chapter ring sits on top of the dial inside the case, not under the crystal, so the crystal stays where it is throughout the build. (If you ever do need to remove the sapphire — for example, to replace it — that's a workshop job we handle for you, not an at-home step.)

Should I choose the normal or the ultra thin chapter ring?

The choice depends on your dial, not the case — both sizes fit every Ultra Thin Edition case. If your dial has applied (raised) indices, the ultra thin chapter ring is the better choice because its slimmer profile gives the indices clearance instead of resting on top of them. If your dial is flat-printed (no applied markers), either size works. When in doubt, the ultra thin chapter ring is the safer default because it works with both dial types.

What is an SKX013 chapter ring and why does it matter?

A specific size and spec used by Seiko in the SKX013 (discontinued 2019). The LA smaller-case lineup all uses this same spec, which means dozens of chapter ring designs work across every smaller case in the catalogue.

Will SKX007 dials fit?

Any 28.5mm dial will fit. Stock SKX007 dials may seat differently because the original SKX007 has a 4 o'clock crown position with offset dial feet, while Ultra Thin Edition cases are designed for 3 o'clock dial feet.

Does this case need a chapter ring?

Yes — every Ultra Thin Edition case requires an SKX013-spec chapter ring, sold separately. The chapter ring seats the dial at the correct height; without it, the dial drops and the hands will not clear properly.