For some reason, when I saw these two Seiko quartz watches for sale - and it was several month's apart that they were acquired - I was taken by them.
I think it was a combination of the striking dial colour coupled with a rather attractive (to my eyes) design of the entire watch, including the bracelet.
The first one - on the left in this opening photograph (taken against a background consisting of a high-visibility orange woollen pullover) - is a model 7546-603H, from (I think), 1988 - March, to be precise.
The outer bezel, which has 12 flat faces around its perimeter, can be rotated so as to give some idea of elapsed time, I presume. Yet there is no stop-watch or countdown facility as part of the design, so I am at a loss to understand why the rotating bezel.
The dial has large, bright luminescent markings for the hours, thin luminescent hour and minute hands and a black sweep second hand.At the 3 o'clock position is a day and date window and at the 4 o'clock position sits the screw-in crown. Once released from the thread the first click allows the setting of day/date - turning it in one direction changes the day and in the other direction the date changes. The day readout is available in English and French.
The second watch is a 6923-600A, from November 1983, and it is also a bit unusual in its design.Where the first one has a rotating bezel, this one has a fixed bezel but around its perimeter are a series of "windows" through which one or another set of numbers can be seen.
Above the crown you will see a small black button, which can be moved to sit either immediately above the crown or slid upwards to a second position.
When in the first position, the windows provide a quasi-24 hour time, with 24, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 being seen around the perimeter.
In the second position - with the black button slid up to the 2 o'clock location - the windows provide a 60 minute or 60 second count, with 60, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 appearing in the cut-outs.
This watch also has luminescent markers at the hour points around the dial, luminescent hour and minute hands (wider than the first watch therefore easier to read at a glance) and a black sweep second hand.At the 3 o'clock position is the day/date window and the crown is also at this traditional spot.
If you are observant you will have noticed that this watch has some damage done to the bezel at the 12 o'clock position.
That is a result of a motorbike accident I had in April 2010 - not long after I bought the watch, in fact - and it suffered some asphalt-rash in the incident. So whilst it will never be a sellable item, I don't really mind because I now wear it as an everyday, ready-for-anything timepiece.
So there you have it - a couple of watches for everyday use which keep accurate time, are water-resistant, can take a few knocks yet are quite colourful and a bit out of the ordinary.
