Vintage Japanese Steel

Here's a link to a forum entry I made. The pieces will be/have been featured here on my blog, but it's kinda nice to see them all together.

I've been swapping out pieces and concentrating on divers and 6138 and 6139 chronographs, and things are starting to come around. I'd say these are the highlights of my vintage collection.

Seiko Sawtooth Diver, SCH063

Age: September, 2007

Dimensions: 46mm wide w/o crown, 20mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Hardlex crystal, Uni-directional rotating bezel, Water-resistant 200m, Quartz movement, Fully lumed hands and hour markers, Screw-down crown at 4:00.

Notes: My low-ball bid won this on the bay last summer, and when I put it on it didn't come off for months. The lume is outstanding, the quality in materials is there, and it's quite comfortable. The bezel is still stiff (I hear it's an easy fix), and clicks with a very satisfying feel. Having recently fallen in love with automatics again (and procuring an amazing piece to be reviewed later), this out-of-production-diver has been nudged onto the "maybe for sale" list.

Seiko Chronograph, 6139-6000

Age: February, 1970

Dimensions: 40mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Chronograph (30 min events), Tachymeter, Rotating inner-bezel, Water-resistant 70m

Notes: I landed this great example of a Seiko Pepsi Chronograph about a month ago. It's dial hasn't faded to deep blue, as most do. It still plays in the light. It's marked "proof/proof" and there's a notch above the crown, available only on the early makes of this watch. Bezel, case, and straight bracelet are in great shape. It needs a new crystal and the day function isn't advancing, so in the coming months it'll get shipped out for service.

Tissot Quickster Chronograph

Age: 2001

Dimensions: 42mm wide (w/o crown), 20mm lugs

Features: Date, Tachymeter, Event timer (1/10 second, 12 hour events), Sapphire crystal, 100m water resistant, Swiss quartz movement

Notes: I bought this watch used, but just after its release. I really like its 70's style, but modern durability and ease of use. This edition, with the blue and white rally striped strap, is a bit of a collector's item and has appreciated nicely. I still take it out and enjoy it from time to time.

Seiko Bullhead Chronograph, 6138-0049

Age: February, 1975

Dimensions: 42mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Chronograph, Tachymeter, 2 sub-dials for 12 hour events, Mineral glass crystal, Water-resistant 70m, Lumed hour markers and hands

Notes: This wonderful Bullhead chronograph was too good of a deal to pass up. I've wanted one for years, and my patience paid off. A fine, all original example on fishbone bracelet, it makes a great addition to my 6138 collection. Eventually, I'll get a new crystal and the case needs minor work, but it is an enjoyable watch in just about any state. Keeper!

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 Lord-Matic, 5606-7010

Age: February, 1971

Dimensions: 36mm wide, 18mm lugs

Features: Day, Date

Notes: This was one of Seiko's higher-end offerings. The Lord-Matic movements had a higher jewel count (this one has 25), uni-body construction, and graceful linen dial, chrome baton markers and elongated hands, The original bracelet is swanky; this is a classy and comfortable watch to wear.

Seiko Bell-Matic, 4006-6027

Age: June, 1972

Dimensions: 38mm wide (w/o crown), 18mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Alarm, Water-resistant 70m

Notes: I really like the colors of this, my first Bell-Matic, and the original bracelet it still has is very funky. But the inner-bezel, which is used to set the alarm, doesn't rotate, so it's been put up for sale. These Bell-Matics are very charming, though, with their mechanical alarms that must be hand-wound with the crown. I'm sure this won't be my last.

Seiko Chronograph, 6139-6005

Age: June, 1973

Dimensions: 40mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Chronograph (30 min events), Tachymeter, Rotating inner-bezel, Water-resistant 70m

Notes: This was another try at a good 6139, and my first gold-dialed one. It was a nice example, but I had my sights set on a "proof/proof" from 1970 (which I landed yesterday!). This classic has found a new home.

Seiko Chronograph, 6139-6009

Age: March, 1970

Dimensions: 40mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Tachymeter, Chronograph (30 min events), Rotating inner-bezel, Mineral glass crystal, Lumed hour markers, hour and minute hands.

Notes: This is my second attempt at procuring a 6139-600X series. I've decided that I want one with a "proof", or at the very least a "resist", dial. The case is immaculate, but it has some mechanical problems. All that combines in a reluctant catch-and-release situation. The search continues...

Hamilton King Khaki

Age: Circa 2005

Dimensions: 37mm wide (w/o crown), 19mm lugs

Features: Day. Date, Fully lumed hands (including second hand) and Arabic numbered hour markers, Military time markers, Sapphire glass crystal, Swiss quartz movement, Crown guard, Water-resistant to 50m

Notes: I bought this watch because it's younger, more basic cousin was featured in one of my favorite movies, After Hours (1985). This King Khaki has a full day window at 12:00 that makes it a bit dressier; it came on a black leather strap, but I keep it on this gnarled NATO strap because it is too darn hot here to wear any watch on leather. It's really cool to look down at the watch and see all the numbers glowing.

Seiko World Timer, 6117-6400

Age: October, 1969

Dimensions: 40mm wide, 20mm lugs

Features: Date, Rotating Inner-bezel, GMT hand, Recessed crown at 4:00, Case back marked "waterproof"

Notes: I bought this watch about two years ago and just never wear it. It's in perfect condition, but I find myself always attracted to something else in my collection. The city inner-bezel is very cool, and I want to have a GMT watch in my collection, but I don't think this one is it.

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 Arctura Kinetic Chronograph, 7L22-0AA0

Age: June, 2004

Dimensions: 40mm wide, integrated bracelet

Features: Date, Chronograph (45 min events), Sapphire crystal, Kinetic movement, Integrated bracelet, 100m water-resistant, Lumed hands

Notes: I was excited to receive this, but now I find the styling too modern for my taste. I like the recesses, finish and coloring of the dial, and I really appreciate the bracelet's homage to the fishbone bracelet of the old 6138s, but the overall shape of the watch combined with the small time-keeping portion of the dial makes it feel cold and impersonal. Something I find interesting is that the chronograph buttons have a feel like that of a mechanical watch as opposed to a quartz. I have yet to find a kinetic that fully satisfies me. The search continues...

Seiko Black Ion Chronograph, SNDA65

Age: November, 2008

Dimensions: 42mm wide (w/o crown), 22mm lugs

Features: Black ion-plated stainless steel case, Hardlex crystal, Chronograph (1/20 second, 12 hr events), 100m water-resistance, Quartz movement, Lumed hour markers and hands

Notes: I bought this watch for myself as a holiday gift late last year. I love it for several reasons: its Sinn-like appearance, light weight, strong lume and durability. I replaced the factory canvas strap with a 22mm Bond Zulu strap, and think it looks great. There is also an orange-striped black Zulu that would look good on it as well. I heartily recommend the SNDA series watches to anyone contemplating buying one. Or two.

Seiko Chronograph, 6139-6040

Age: September, 1976

Dimensions: 38mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Tachymeter, Mineral glass crystal, Fully recessed crown

Notes: This is the One That Started It All. My first Seiko, purchased in 2001 on eBay from the notorious Sophon. I should probably feel lucky that I escaped from that transaction with an actual Seiko, and not something cobbled together with an old picture and washing machine parts, seeing as I knew absolutely nothing then. This watch, missing the white part of its outer bezel decal, reminds me of 1/2 of a 6138 because its sub-dial is square-shaped. The pushers don't stick, it keeps fantastic time, has the rare black (and not orange) dial, and takes curved end-pieces of some unique radian (because I can't find a match after all these years for a bracelet), and I'll never, ever sell it.

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 Yachtman Chronograph, 6138-0017

Age: January, 1972

Dimensions: 40mm wide (w/o crown), 18mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Chronograph, Tachymeter, 2 sub-dials for 12 hour events, Mineral glass crystal, Water-resistant 70m, Lumed hour markers and hands

Notes: I have been lusting after one of these 6138-001X series watches for some time, and mine finally arrived yesterday. It is a big sucker and sits quite high on the wrist, though comfortably. The bracelet is sort of a fishbone/oyster hybrid. The two sub-dials, one smaller than the other and with a checkerboard pattern, make it one of the more distinctive Seiko chronographs. I wrote a more in-depth review of it here. I look forward to collecting its cousins, the -0010 and -0011.

Seiko Seikomatic-R, 8305-1010

Age: January, 1967

Dimensions: 38mm wide, 20mm lugs

Features: Date, 30 jewel movement, Applied bullet hour markers, Sunburst patterned dial, Glass crystal, Waterproof

Notes: This is a very sleek watch. It must have been considered big for it's age, but it sits gracefully on the wrist as the lugs gently curve downward. The dial is a great blueish-gray with a sunburst pattern and lines drawn to quarter the face. The hour markers are unique and substantial. And the 30 jewel movement keeps the second hand ticking smoothly around its path.

Seiko Quartz Diver, 7N36-6AO9

Age: August, 1991

Dimensions: 42mm wide (w/o crown), 22mm lugs

Features: Day/Date, Screw-down crown, 200m water-resistance, Ratcheting uni-directional bezel, Applied lumed indexes, Fully lumed hands, Hacking second hand, Hardlex crystal, Gray rubber Seiko Z-22 strap

Notes: I really want a white dialed diver in my collection, but I'm not sure this is it. While I love the overall styling and attention to detail (case is brushed on top but polished on the sides, semi-domed crystal), I'm not a fan of the gold trim. The hour indexes are framed in gold tone material, too, and it's a little too much for me. Also, for as nice and big as the watch is, the face is small in diameter, something I've found with the Boss Diver as well.

Seiko Macchina Sportiva Chronograph, SDWA87P

Age: May, 1996

Dimensions: 41mm wide, 13mm/18mm notched lugs

Features: Date, Chronograph, Tachymeter, Alarm, Water-resistant 200m, Giugiaro design, Hardlex crystal

Notes: This is a finely designed and crafted watch. The case has a unique ovoid shape and polished finish on top of the circular satin finished base. The hands are fully lumed. The chronograph sweep hand ticks at .25 seconds, and the top sub-dial tracks time at one hour increments. Hardlex crystal tops it off for durability and readability, and the sturdy 7T32 movement provides years of trouble-free service. This particular watch is lacking the original strap (which is blue sharkskin), so I will put this one up for sale and wait for a better example of this great piece.

Seiko Chronograph, 6138-8020

Age: Feb, 1977

Dimensions: 39mm wide, 18mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Tachymeter, Two sub-dials, Solid gold-plating

Notes: This beautiful watch was a great score, and my second 6138. Everything about it is in great shape, and it still has the original bracelet. It's my first gold watch, and probably my last as I don't really like the bling. The chronograph function can time up to 12 hour events.

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 Quartz Chronograph, 7A28-7039

Age: Dec, 1992

Dimensions: 39mm wide, 22mm lug

Features: Tachymeter, 1/20 second measure

Notes: This is one of the cleanest vintage watches I own. It looks brand new; even the lume is still strong enough to be seen in the daylight, as shown in the picture. It's the best looking watch I never wear -- there's no date function, and I have to admit this one taught me it's something I prefer. As it rarely leaves its box, I would sell it if the offer came around.

Seiko Criteria Perpetual Calendar, SLT083P

Age: 2003

Dimensions: 40mm wide, integrated bracelet

Features: Date, Compass rotating inner-bezel, GMT hand, Perpetual calendar, 100m water resistant, Double-clasp locking bracelet, Hardlex crystal, 8F56 Quartz movement

Notes: This watch is a keeper. I bought it several years ago just because; and I rarely keep watches I buy for no special occasion. But this watch is so well-made, and so jammed with features, I can't sell it. The finishes on the bracelet, for example, are a combination of brushed pieces and polished. The chrome hour markers tipped with lume are also numbered from one to 24, so as the GMT hand makes its way around it tells military time. The GMT hand also doubles as a compass with the inner-bezel. The textured dial and domed Hardlex crystal add luxury, and the lume on the sword hands (including an arrow tip on the second hand) are highly readable.

Seiko Chronograph, 6139-6005

Age: Aug, 1973

Dimensions: 40mm wide, 19mm lugs

Features: Day, Date, Chronograph w/30 min sub-dial, Tachymeter, Rotating inner-bezel

Notes: I took a flier on this one, as the seller posted a terrible picture, knowing that it was a bit of a crap-shoot. The case is very crisp, but the outer-bezel insert is badly faded. The inner-bezel is a somewhat rare gray in combination with the black dial. It still has the original bracelet, which is pretty rare on a watch of this age. There are some mechanical problems with it that my watchmaker seemed to shy away from, so I will probably end up selling it at some point.

Seiko Calendar, 7006-6039

Age: June, 1973

Dimensions: 40mm wide, 18mm lug

Features: Day, Date, Month at-a-glance calendar on rotating inner-bezel

Notes: I picked this up on a flier on eBay, and was pleasantly surprised. The case was in fantastic shape, as was the crystal and brilliant blue dial. The inner-bezel was very crisp and turned nicely. The only thing wrong with it was that it was oddly missing the day wheel. I ended up selling it to fund another purchase. There is virtually identical Seiko 5 model, the 7019-6070, and I'm not sure why Seiko would make the two -- perhaps they were meant for different markets.

Seiko Sport Diver, 6106-8100

Age: Feb 1970

Dimensions: 38mm wide, 18mm lug

Features: Bi-directional bezel, Day, Date, Hack

Notes: This is a nice little watch. With a "proof" dial (marked "waterproof" instead of "water-resistant", which came after 1970), this Sport Diver came to me with the bezel unable to turn. After a few minutes with my watchmaker, I had a fully-functional collector's piece in decent shape. I ended up selling it to fund another purchase.

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.

Seiko Sealion M110, 6106-8060

Age: Apr 1968

Dimensions: 36mm wide (approx), 18mm lug (approx)

Features: DX, Split day/date window, Linen textured dial

Notes: I rescued this Seiko from a thrift store. It's crystal was badly scratched, and it was mounted on a Speidel band. My intention was to spend some money fixing it up, but I ended up selling it to fund another purchase. The long hands were quite regal against the baton markers.

Seiko Rally Diver, 6106-8227

Age: Oct 1970

Dimensions: 39mm wide (approx), 20mm lugs

Features: Bi-directional, non-ratcheting bezel, Day, Date

Notes: When I bought this watch years ago, it had a bent stem. The watchmaker I took it to offered me several hundred dollars for it, but I hadn't had it more than a month and didn't want to sell it. It was in fantastic shape, and I recently sold it to fund another purchase.

Omega Seamaster

Age: 1970s

Dimensions: 38mm wide (approx), 20mm lug

Features: Day, Date, COSC certified

Notes: My first Omega, and one of the first legitimate watches I bought for myself. I recently sold it to fund another purchase; I rarely wore it though it was classy and in great shape.