Watches that have a connection to space missions are always popular with collectors, the most obvious being Omegas Speedmaster which back in the 1960’s came first in trials to become the official watch used for space flight by NASA. Seikos 6139-6002 also has a part to play in the space mission story as commander William R Pogue wore his example during his eighty-four day Skylab mission between November 16 1973 and February 8 1974. Although he was not officially sanctioned to do so, Pogue wore the watch during his duration on Skylab. He travelled around the Earth 1214 times for a total of thirty-four million miles with the watch on his wrist. He also used the watch during pre-flight training to time the engine burns. Seikos 6139-600x chronograph has now become better known as the “Pogue” for the above reason.
Seiko
Seiko SKX007
Seiko’s SXK007 & 009’s are one of the companies most popular affordable dive watches and as such most collectors own or have tried one of these models at one time or another. They represent enormous value for money and are very popular in the modding community where different style dials, crystals, handsets, inserts even complete bezels can be bought and fitted to personalise it to your own taste. This particular example has been fitted with a domed crystal and thicker font insert.
Seiko Gen 1
This Seiko 7A28-7120 chronograph came in for a full service, a new crystal and a seal change recently, it also had a problem with the chronograph minute counter which wasn’t working. More commonly referred to as the Seiko Gen 1 (generation 1) these were first issued by the MOD to British military pilots in October 1984 and weren’t replaced until November 1990. Seiko supplied a Gen 2 chronograph later on in the 1990’s. The Gen 1’s were also the first quartz powered chronographs issued by the MOD replacing the venerable mechanical Valjoux 7733 powered ones that were issued for the preceding decade or so. The MoD bought and issued a total of 11,307 Gen 1’s, which makes it one of the most popular issued military chronographs to date. This particular watch had been sent by the owner to Seiko UK for the work to be carried out but it was returned as they don’t carry the spare parts anymore, this was when it made its way to me. The movement has a crown at 8 and the start, stop and reset at 2, 4 and 10. The large seconds hand is the chronograph running seconds hand, the sub dial at three is the 1/10th second counter, the one at 9 is the minute counter and the one at 6 is the running seconds.
Seiko Chronometer
This 1972 Seiko 5626-5020 Chronometer came in for refurbishment at the end of last year.
It’s screams 1970’s from every pore with its TV style dial, chunky case and faceted crystal. It’s powered by the 25 jewel, 28,800bph, calibre 5626a automatic movement. It also has the benefit of manual winding and hacking, the lower grade Seiko movements of the day tended not to have these features. These movements were a step up from the 21,600bph 5606a which normally found their way into Seikos Lord Matic range of watches. The 5625/6a was destined for the King Seiko range which also includes their line of “Superior” Chronometers which were produced at the Suwa plant, and “Special” Chronometers which came from the Daini plant. This particular model isn’t branded a King Seiko, but it is in all but name and has the legend “Chronometer Officially Certified” below the Seiko logo. The 56xx Chronometer was built to a specification of -3/+8spd and was certified by the in-house Seiko chronometer standard testing, the equivalent of the BO (Basel Observatory) Chronometer standard. A nice touch is that these chronometers were serialised with individual numbers engraved on the movement. (more…)
Another 62mas saved
I make no apologies for the fact that the Seiko 62mas is my favourite vintage Japanese dive watch. For me, the case size at 37mm is perfect and the design is a classic. I’ve owned every variant and restored many more of these beauties so when I was offered a case, bezel and dial I thought they would be fine for spares at the least. When it all arrived the case had no tube so was essentially useless and the dial had no feet! The bezel was a nice example though. Well these parts were put in stock and I thought no more about it. As time went by I picked up a spare 6217a movement complete with the case ring and some NOS crowns, stems and crystals. In the mean time I was contacted by a friend of mine who mentioned he was actively looking for a 62mas diver and did I know any for sale? I remember I had this project tucked away so I said if he hadn’t found one by the time this was finished he could take it if he liked. This gave me renewed interest in the project and when I revisited the case I realised I had enough parts for a complete watch if it wasn’t for the missing case tube that had been butchered out. I thought I’d have a go at fitting a generic tube of the correct dimensions, after all I had nothing to lose! I reamed out the hole in the case to the size of a suitable tube, however there were still some rough spots in the hole that I couldn’t remove as the diameter would have ended up too large. Although the tube pressed in nicely I decided to smear some slow curing two part epoxy around the inside of the hole and on the tube to prevent the possibility of any moisture ingress. The pictures start here, I didn’t take any earlier ones because in my mind at that time they were essentially just spare parts!
Here is the new tube in place in the case.
The Seiko one button chronograph
This little one button chronograph came in for a service and crystal change earlier in the year, It’s a Seiko reference 5719-8992. As you can see it’s actually out of the case and in a movement holder in this shot.
These little one button chronographs are interesting watches in Seikos development. They marked the first commercial chronograph that Seiko developed for the mass market, whilst Seiko had made a chronograph model back in the forties it wasn’t available to the general public as all production was destined for the Japanese military forces. The 5719 and 5717’s were brought to market on the back of the 1964 summer olympic games in Tokyo where Seiko were the official timekeepers. (more…)
You can ring my Bell
This Seiko 4006-7011 came in recently for a service and to sort out a problem with the date changeover.
The Bellmatic line was originally released in 1966 and carried on to the late seventies. The earliest Bells used the date only calibre 4005a movement, these were soon phased out and the day/date 4006a was used from thereon in. The alarms spring is wound by the crown whilst the movement is wound automatically. To set the time of the alarm you pull the crown out one click and rotate the indicator on the chapter ring to the desired time. As soon as you pull the button above the crown out the alarm is then set, when it sounds just push the button back in to stop it. (more…)
The Seiko 6159-7001 – the SBDX001’s grandad
The 300m 6159-7001 (and 7000) diver is Seikos first proper attempt at a “professional” dive watch. When I say the first there was of course the 300m 6215-7001 which was released a year earlier in 1967, and the 150m 6217-8001 released in 1965, but according to the Seiko parts catalogue of the time these two models are listed as a divers watches and the 6159-7001 is listed as a professional divers watch – so who am I to argue with Seiko? Of course another clue is the fact the 6159 has”Professional” printed on the dial and the 6215 doesn’t! The 6215 and 6159 cases are very similar, both are monocoque and both share the same dimensions but the 6215 has a larger diameter crystal and slightly different bezel. It’s inside where the biggest changes are, instead of the 6215’s 35 jewel 19,800bph movement it has the beautiful 6159a movement, the 25 jewel, 36,000bph masterpiece that allows the seconds hand to almost glide around the dial. The case style and distinctive lines continue to this day in Seiko’s SBDX001 more commonly known as the MM300.
The example featured arrived looking rather sorry for itself.
The Watch Bloke 