Seiko 5 Sport "Sushi" Diver, 6119-7163

Age: April, 1970

Dimensions: 42mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Rotating inner-bezel, Waterproof 70m, Applied hour markers, Glass crystal

Notes: I just sold this great example of a "proof/proof" sport diver. It was a sweet watch that I owned for about two years and just never wore. I'm trying to give my collection some direction, and this piece was one of the odd ones out. I know it went to the good home of a SCWF member.

Seiko 5 Sportmatic, 6619-8050

Age: June, 1965

Dimensions: 36mm wide, 17mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Waterproof, 21 jewel movement

Notes: This is a nice example of an early Seiko 5. It has a somewhat rare black/white combo on the day/date wheel. I've included a picture of the caseback because it has a picture of a whale, something I've never seen. Sea lions, dolphins, sea horses, waves, yes. But not this aquatic mammal. It's a sporty but refined watch, clearly not in the same league as the
62mas divers that Seiko featured at the time.

Seiko 5 Speedtimer, 7017-8000

Age: March, 1971

Dimensions: 38mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Pulsimeter, Cushioned case, Fully recessed crown

Notes: This was an impulse buy. The watch is immaculate and the date wheel is English/Kanji. I've never had a Japanese date wheel, so I was very excited to have it. Plus, the pulsimeter instead of a chronograph made it a novel acquisition. (The pulsimeter works by checking your pulse for 15 seconds, as it is a "base 15", and then reading how many beats per minute it shows.) I have another Speedtimer with Kanji datewheel on the way, and the pulsimeter has proven to be unuseful to me (as I'm not a doctor or hypochondriac), so I will probably put this one up for sale to fund something else.

Seiko 5 Sport "Sushi" Diver, 6119-7160

Age: Feb, 1979

Dimensions: 42mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Rotating inner-bezel, Waterproof 70m, Applied hour markers, Glass crystal

Notes: I really love these so-called "Sushi-Divers", named because the hour-markers are cylindrical and filled with lume, resulting in a 3-D effect that looks like a sushi roll. This one has a brilliant yellow-orange dial under the scratched crystal. Unfortunately, the inner-bezel doesn't rotate and while the watch is marked "waterproof", which would put it pre-1970, the production calculator puts it at 1979. A red flag for shenanigans, and I'll soon put it up for sale.

Seiko 5, 6119-7480

Age: Feb, 1973

Dimensions: 38mm wide, 16mm lugs

Features: Day, Date

Notes: This was a complete flier purchase, and, unfortunately it needed more work than it was worth. Still, the positives are many: wonderful, shimmering blue dial, black/white day/date combo, grooved hour markers, hidden lugs and a six-sided, scalloped case. I put it up for sale soon after I received it.

Seiko 5 Sport Diver, SNZD65K

Age: 2007

Dimensions: 40mm wide, Integrated band

Features: Unidirectional bezel, 7s36 movement and exhibition back, Day, Date, Textured dial, 100m water resistance

Notes: I bought this on a flier on eBay and was surprised at the quality I got for the price. The lume was outstanding (but could have used more) and the dial really played with the light nicely. I could almost get away with it as a dress-diver. In the end, I sold it to fund another purchase.