Seiko "World Time" - A 6117-6400 from 1970

(All images may be enlarged to full-size by clicking on them)

SOLD March 2015
This little gem is a very recent acquisition, coming my way via Ebay and at what I consider to be a very reasonable price. In fact, when I won the auction I must admit to being a bit concerned as to what I'd actually bought, considering that final low price.

But any worries were put to rest when the watch arrived and I was very happy to remove the case-back and find a pristine 6117 17-jewel movement tucked away inside a perfectly clean interior.

The watch is 100% original other than the crystal (acrylic) and left the factory in February of 1970 - being the 274th. on the production line.

The dial is almost unblemished, displaying just a couple of spots under magnification. When viewed by my naked eye they are almost invisible......but then my eyesight is pretty blurry unless I wear my glasses!

As the name implies, this is a timepiece which allows the wearer to see what time it is in various major cities across the globe.
This is done by rotating the "city ring" or time zone (the one with the light blue and black names on it) where you are located via the crown in its normal un-pulled position.

The idea is to then line up your city/time zone with the red hand (which moves once around the dial in 24 hours) and then the time at any other location  - including GMT - can be determined quite readily by reading off the time opposite that city or time-zone.

This is a different arrangement to that used on Seiko's later 6117-6409 "Navigator", where the 24-hour internal bezel is moved so that GMT (or the local time at any place on earth, so long as you know it to start with) can be monitored by aligning that time with the red hand.

So the "World Time" 6117 was more for the international traveller who jetted across several time-zones to various locations whereas its "Navigator" cousin was aimed at those who wanted time at two locations - theirs and somewhere else in a different zone.

In addition to the 4 hands (sweep second, minute, hour and 24-hour) the dial displays a date-only window at the traditional 3-position.

The case is crafted from stainless steel, with the crown slightly inset at the 4-position.
Case-back is also stainless steel, as is the attractive and very comfortable folded-link bracelet, which tapers from its connections with the case to a slightly narrower width at the clasp, which is signed.

In the few days that I've been wearing this watch I have found it to be very accurate, gaining less than 30 seconds over that period of time.
It runs beautifully, looks great and is a very nice example of another timepiece from Seiko's great 1970s range.

Citizen Bullhead

SOLD - November 2011.

I bought this watch nearly two years ago and really did so just for the sake of having an example of the bullhead style in my collection.

It's been worn occasionally and sits nicely on the wrist, but I'm not carrying on a love affair with it........I don't find it an attractive design. The crown and pushers sticking out the top remind me of an insect!

The dial is immaculate but is in a rather dull brownish shade, although the overall effect is quite pleasant, with the white markers, white minute & hour hands, splashes of reddish/orange with the other hands and a bit of greenish-blue showing on the 30-second dial on the right.

The automatic movement includes a day/date complication, its positioning being somewhat unusual when compared to the vast majority.

The case is all stainless-steel, with a sort of "helmet" shape and it does sit very nicely and unobtrusively on the wrist.

I really like the (original, signed) bracelet design.......I think it's cool and very 1970s.

The case-back advises that the watch is water resistant and that it is made of stainless steel.

A very original item - it hasn't been mucked about - and runs perfectly, keeping good time.

Just a shame that I don't find it particularly attractive.

Oh dear.....I've bought another watch! Bellmatic 4006-6030.

I couldn't resist this "Belle" when I saw it advertised for sale on the Seiko & Citizen Watch forum. 

It wasn't specifically because the case is actually gold-plated, not just "gold-tone", but was due more to the fact that the bracelet is an original "coffin" Seiko model, with alternating gold-tone and stainless-steel link sections. These are not common.

So, as I only have one Bellmatic left in my collection, I thought that this would be a nice addition.

The watch arrived today and once the date and time were set and the watch given a couple of gentle shakes, away she went and now, some 10 hours later, is still running sweetly.

The dial, crystal, hands, case and bracelet are in very good condition and the entire item makes for a very handsome timepiece that just screams "1970s"!

 

My thanks to the gentleman in the USA from whom I bought the "Belle"; I'm delighted with it.

This watch was sold in 2013.

A Citizen "Eagle" from 1972

This 21-jewel automatic features a silvery-white dial, day/date display at the 3 o'clock position and a with silver hour indices.

The stainless-steel case and signed bracelet are original and in very nice condition and the overall presentation makes for a nice dress-watch - very appropriate for business or evening wear.

The Citizen "Eagle" keeps excellent time and is a watch that I wear occasionally to the office.

Old Gold restoration.........update.

Within the past week I have enquired about three types of refinishing for the watch case and bracelet:-

• Gold plating (as per the original finish)
• PVD
• Powder coating

I also considered anodising but quickly learned through a bit of preliminary research that brass (the watch case) cannot be anodised.
The PVD route is not possible either - not because the application can't be done to what I have but because the cost for a "one-off" is too high and also because there is no-one here in my area who can do it.

So I thought about a powder coating as an alternative to anodising and PVD.
It's practical, it can be done locally, it is reasonably inexpensive and the choice of colours is broad. But.....I would have to disassemble the bracelet completely - break it down to it's individual components so as to avoid any likelihood of having the coating affect the flexibility of the bracelet.

The decision, therefore, is to go to gold-plating and to reproduce the original coating, albeit this time in 24- carat. (That is the only plating they do......24 carat. The original is 9ct).
Cost to undertake this is AUS$120.

The only thing I need do is remove the stainless-steel clasp (already done), as the plating will not properly adhere to stainless-steel and could cause uneven plating on the bracelet and the case.
At this time I have also polished the brass case to a smooth and relatively blemish-free surface. The bracelet (base metal) will be chemically cleaned by the plater.

The question is - is the cost worth it for a 1970's-style Seiko of somewhat kitchy styling?
Well, like all hobbies, value is in the eye of the user, I s'pose.
There is no way I would ever expect to recover the cost of refurbishing this old dear if I ever came to sell it but then that isn't really the intention behind an interest or hobby, is it?

I think it will be nice to see Madam 1973 back in all her finery!

UPDATE - 13th. July
Another option has entered the arena - black chrome.
Thanks to a chap in Melbourne who is investigating this option for one of his watches, I am now looking at this as a possible alternative.

Restoring Old Gold: a Seiko 6119 needing a spruce-up.

This 1973 gold-tone-encased Seiko, with a 6119 21-jewel movement, was received in exchange for a Bell-matic that was surplus to my requirements.
As you can see from the photos (click on them for larger views) the plating has seen better days - much better days - and whilst running perfectly fine, this great example of 70's watch-styling looks rather tatty......like an over-the-hill Hollywood actress who doesn't know when to call it quits.
So I thought I'd have a shot at stripping it (the watch, not the actress) and see if I could get the case and bracelet re-plated.

The chap from whom I received the watch had advised that he'd never had the back off as he couldn't undo it with his "magic ball" and even with an appropriate tool I found it very difficult; that back must have been screwed on with a rattle-gun (used for car wheels).
But off it finally came, revealing a clean and corrosion-free movement.

There was no sign inside the case-back of the watch ever being serviced - watchmaker's usually leave some indication scratched inside the back-plate, but there is nothing in this case. (No pun intended).

With the movement exposed I then removed the crown & stem before popping the mechanism out and inspecting the dial for wear and tear.

This is in almost immaculate condition, with the only signs of aging being slight deterioration of the metal on the hour & minute hands and the framing of the day/date window.
In all other respects the dial, script, indices and minute markings are in fabulous shape, the aqua colours being bright and unblemished.

The crystal was finally removed and inspected and apart from external surface scratches - only to be expected on a 36-year old watch - the item is unmarked and undamaged. This is the original crystal, with the distinctive triple-facet design running vertically on the oval face. You can see the effect in the first photograph - there is a vertical line which just touches the inside of the 2, 3 and 4 indices. There is a corresponding line on the left-hand side of the crystal.

The final stage of disassembly was to remove the crystal retaining ring from inside the case and then the two bracelet halves.

With the watch now completely broken down into its component parts I will be making some enquiries this week regarding re-plating and hopefully the old girl will once again have a case and bracelet worthy of that magnificent face. Stay tuned.

Replica or Rubbish?

The watch world is full of so-called "replicas", some of which are pretty good imitations of the real thing.
Many, however, present a face that is nothing but complete and utter rubbish.
See that watch over there - that's a genuine Omega "Moon-to-Mars" model #3577.50 - there's nothing shonky about that watch and there wouldn't want to be - the current price is approx. AUS$4,000.
You may be able to get it at a cheaper price, by a couple of hundred dollars, by searching around. (I haven't tried because I can't afford one, anyway).

Now have a look at the two images below (click on them - and any image in this blog by-the-way - to get a full-size version).


(Sony DSC-F717)
This watch is not the genuine article.
It is not even deserving of the dubious term "replica" and I would be hard pushed to grant it the title "facsimile". It may just be approaching "fake", but in my opinion, if you are looking for a good facsimile of the genuine article, look elsewhere. This one is just plain rubbish.

Look at the dial and compare it with the Omega-made item.
The most glaring difference is with the wording between the two blobs representing the Moon and Mars. How stupid are the people who throw this sort of garbage together?
"From Time Moon To Mars"!!!
For crying out loud.....talk about dumb and dumber! "Time"? What happened to "The"?

The next items of rubbish to look at are the three circular blobs of colour.
The one on the left is supposed to be the Earth, that in the centre, the Moon and the one at right, Mars.
About the only things that they actually look like are multi-coloured blobs of Plasticine found in a child-care centre.

Hard to see in the photo is the fact that the hand at the 3 o'clock position is slightly off-centre.
If you look closely at the second pic you might be able to see that its hole is elongated and the centre of the hand is actually to the left of that hole. Built to close tolerances, this machine.

That the case has been punched out or die-stamped is clear from the fact that the underside edges are almost sharp enough to shave with. They are sharp! I had to use a jeweller's file to smooth them off so as not to slash my wrist.

Inside the case is an automatic movement that surprise, surprise, hand-winds and hacks, and via a screw-down (signed!) crown.
Another surprise is that it also keeps very good time.
I have not taken the case-back off, fearing that the guts may spill out all over the desk, so cannot advise what type of movement may be lurking inside.

The silly thing about this bit of fluff is that nobody could ever, ever, mistake this for the real McCoy.
Perhaps the wording on the dial is deliberate (although I doubt it) but even if it said "The" instead of "Time", the rest of the face gives the game away immediately. It's like a low-rez photo-copy!
You'd have to be Blind Freddy to accept this as a genuine Omega.

But I didn't buy it mistaking it for the real thing; I bought it for what it is - a piece of inconsequential stuff that, if and when I wanted, I could wear whilst doing manual labour without worrying about damaging a decent watch.

Or, if I wanted, I could wear it to an important business meeting and compare it to that of the Managing Director and say "Yes, JB, very impressive.....but mine says 'From Time Moon To Mars', so there!"

Orient - Not widely known.

This is a brand-name that you will not find in many (if any) "watch shops" in Australia.
In amongst the vast numbers of Seiko, Citizen and Casio watches from Japan you will be hard-pressed to detect an Orient.
Yet the brand is as old as (if not older than) Seiko and although Seiko now own Orient the watches continue to be produced independently, with Orient making their own movements - and they have a high reputation for the excellence of their automatic mechanisms.

My father owned an Orient back in the late 1950's - I can still see the distinctive logo, with the two lions holding the shield with the 'O' in the centre - to my eyes a very "British" logo and not at all oriental.

It was only recently, and quite by chance, that I discovered that these watches still existed and after spending some time deliberating I finally decided on the model shown here - a satin-black (ion plated, or "IP") stainless-steel Orient Star with the distinctive power-meter on the dial at one o'clock and the display of the date at nine o'clock. The crown is at four o'clock.



This is an impressive piece of time-keeping equipment; whilst not as large as the current crop of "diver" models out there (the diameter of the crystal is approx. 33mm) it is a solid and "chunky" unit and, with the black finish, looks bigger than it really is. It is also reasonably heavy, as the stainless-steel bracelet is comprised of solid links.



I'm in two minds about the usefulness of power meters on automatic watches, seeing no real advantage in having any indication of the time remaining before the watch needs to be shaken again.
After all, those who wear one watch - and that would be the vast majority - only take it off at night and as a modern automatic movement can run for more than 30 hours before needing another shake, the owner isn't likely to need an indication of what power remains.
Even 1950's-vintage manual-wound watches are capable of running for 30 hours between wind-ups, so what's the point?
On this style of watch-face the power indication doesn't clutter the dial but on a chronograph with multiple complications, the dial can look a bit overcrowded.

I like this watch and I particularly like the black IP finish. It has a definite presence but in an understated, almost stealthy, manner. Certainly the opposite to Seiko's Advans, Vanacs and their cousins from the 1970's!

Citzen's 8110A chrono - in Green & Burnt Orange!

With a face like that it has to be from the 1970's........and, of course, it is. October 1974, to be precise.
As with most of my previous acquisitions I was attracted by the design and colours - the hexagonal sub-dials with their graduated colouring from yellow to orange; the emerald-green dial; the octagonal case. All worked for me, baby!


However, upon arrival of the watch I noticed that the dial was more blemished than I was led to believe and that the 12-hour hand (sub-dial at 12) was inoperative.
Other than those glitches, the watch operated correctly, keeping good time, and was all-original, including the signed stainless-steel bracelet.

Apparently the Citizen 8110 movement is considered to be somewhat ordinary by those who know watches (and I'm not one of them and don't pretend to be), and can be a pain in the posterior to work with.
However, a local watchmaker, whose expertise I have used in recent months, is taking a look at this blast-from-the-past in order to bring the non-functional sub-dial back to life, although the blemished main dial will have to stay that way.

But irrespective of the few scratches and aging, nothing can take away the nostalgic charm of this 1970's design.
It evokes mini skirts, flares, cassette tapes and ABBA! Groovy!

The Jewel in the Crown - Vanac KS

SOLD March 2015

From November 1973 comes another fine example of Seiko's 1970's styling - the Vanac KS (King Seiko), with their high-beat 25-jewel cal. 5256 movement with day & date, 9-facet crystal, chunky indices and colourful dial - in this example an ocean-blue.


Even the case is sculptured, with bevelled edges, and the crown is signed (KS).
The leather strap is not original - I believe that these watches were issued with stainless-steel bracelets. Trying to find an original item may well be an impossible quest.


A fabulous design and probably the most highly-valued watch in my collection of Seiko's.

UPDATE :
I was so taken by this watch that a month later another one became available - a very similar dial, same design for the case but with the 5246 movement. In excellent condition.
It was such a nice item that I couldn't resist! Now they share the same box, like peas in a pod. :)

It MUST be the 1970's!

SOLD NOVEMBER 2015
This is an example of Seiko's Advan range.
Most, if not all, of these watches had colourful dials, "chunky" hour indices and sculptured hour & minute hands.
They were certainly from the 1970's - without even checking the back-plate for the manufacturing date it was easy to tell that they were seventies designs: the delicate faces of the 60's had gone and the quartz movements of the 80's had yet to appear.

This example - another Ebay purchase - has a bright and bold purple face, with hardly a blemish other than a small scratch on the illumination material of the hour hand.
The dial itself is in superb condition, with the stainless-steel indices and Seiko name quite shiny and the Advan sun logo & script in perfect order.

There is a day & date complication, with Kanji and English versions of the day display.

The watch uses Seiko's cal. 7039 movement and keeps very good time.
Overall size is approximately 37mm diameter and 41mm lug-to-lug.


The original bracelet is in stainless-steel and follows a similar pattern to that fitted to my Elnix (see below) with the toothed links.
The clasp is signed "Seiko" and "Advan".

A nice watch and one that always draws attention due to its colour.
You've gotta love the 70's!

A Plethora of Bell-matics

4006-6041, from December 1977. A distinctive black-and-gold face.

"Plethora" may not be the correct term for a gathering of these lovely watches.
Maybe the collective should be "a peal of Bell-matics", thereby acknowledging the ringing of their mechanical alarms.
Never mind - whatever term is used, I bought another 4 of these, one after the other, having become strongly attracted to the type, mainly because of the vast number of different styles and colours available.

4006-6040 from December 1972. A fabulous dial in very good condition with little sign of aging.

All Most Bell-matics have the Seiko 4006 movement (Some - date only - have the 4005 movement), be it 17, 21 or 27 jewels. All of my Belles are 17-jewelled movements.
I placed a bid on a 27-jewel item once but was blown out of the water. As for the 21-jewel, forget it!
What I paid for four watches would be spent on one.

4006-6011, from January 1973. Since this photo was taken this Belle has been refurbished.

Being a strong and avid supporter of nostalgia, I am a great fan of these watches.
I love the style and the cool mechanical alarm. I often find myself setting an alarm just so that it will go off when I know I'll be in a meeting - the look of puzzlement on the faces of my fellow attendees, half my age, does this old bloke's frame of mind a great deal of good!
"What's that?", they ask.
"That's my watch", I reply as, with a high degree of casual and coolness, I press the little button to stop the buzzing.
Shagadelic, baby!

4006-6060, from July 1976. My favourite Bell-matic. A beautiful, near-mint face and an alarm that sounds like a miniature bell. Just gorgeous.

Everyone and anyone who loves mechanical watches should own and wear at least one Bell-matic.......and set the alarm to amaze and startle your friends.

A Vintage Seikomatic

This fine example of Seiko's classic offerings from the late 1960's - early 1970's was added to the growing collection, being bought off Ebay.
The watch - a Seikomatic Diashock 20-jewel automatic - has a beautiful dial finished in a creamy satin colour, highlighted by the fine hour indices in gold and slim gold hands for hour, minute and seconds.

The back of the watch has a snap-on case-back in stainless-steel whilst the case itself is gold-filled.


A black leather band, whilst not the original, suits the watch, although I would like to see it in a brown or mahogany strap. Note the tiny crown (see below) - it really is quite small.


This oldie keeps pretty good time and I like to wear it at least fortnightly when possible.

Seiko Navigator Timer 6117-6409

The next watch to join the ranks was this June 1972 Seiko Navigator Timer, with the 6117 movement, date-only display and a "GMT" indicator - that fourth (red) hand on the dial.
Of course, the indicator may be used to monitor the time anywhere - it doesn't have to be set to GMT.
This hand completes one rotation of the dial every 24 hours - all the hands align at 12 when that occurs - and the monitored location is set by rotating the crown which in turn moves the internal blue & red bezel around the dial. Align that location's time with the red pointer and SHA-ZAAAM! - you now have that spot monitored continuously.....or at least until you wish to change it.

I picked this watch up pretty cheaply - way less than three figures (in Aussie dollars) - so was really delighted with the purchase. It presents such a cool face, the metalwork is in great shape and I can keep tabs on the hometown time of a friend in the USA.

The internal bezel, with the red & blue segments (indicating 12 hours of daylight - red - and 12 hours of darkness - blue) had some issues, with two segments missing areas of colour, and the watch needed a new crystal plus a service. The watchmaker also found that the crown was non-Seiko and that there was a broken case-spring, so all of these items, with the exception of the paint, were attended to.

Since the photo was taken (before refurbishment) the Navigator has been fitted with a new stainless-steel bracelet and is being worn at least once a week, as I like it very much. It has "wrist presence" and draws comments from younger people more attuned to G-Shock Casios and black & white divers.

This watch screams "1970's" - it could come from no other time period.

UPDATE November 2011.

Here are two "after refurbishment" shots - one as it was received from the watchmaker (Peter Kuhn) and before I found a replacement Seiko bracelet and the other after the bracelet was sourced and fitted, which is the state of the watch today.

The first of my Bell-matics - 4006-6080

After buying the Citizen Eco-drive (see previous post) I spent some weeks just browsing the internet and visiting various sites and blogs dedicated to the art of horology in general and watch-collecting in particular and I became interested in the Seiko Bell-matic.
This was an automatic watch with a movement (4006 caliber) featuring a mechanical, wind-up alarm and also a day & date display.
(To see an extensive collection of Bell-matics, please click HERE)

Unmistakeably 1970's in style, the Bell-matic range immediately grabbed my attention, not just because of their mechanical technology but also because of their appearance. I really enjoy what watch designers did in the 1960's and 1970's.

The "Belles", as they are often termed, came in a wide range of dial styles, colours and case designs and were made between late-1966 to 1978 and the watch featured here hails from December 1976. It features the 6080 stainless-steel case and 6090T dial in a gold tone. It has the 17-jewel 4006 movement. (These movements came in 17, 21 and 27-jewel versions, the 17 being the most common, then the 27 and the 21 being the rarest of the three).
The internal, rotating, bezel - which is used to set the required alarm time - is in black and bears teal-blue characters.
An after-market leather strap has been fitted; the watch would have been supplied originally with a stainless-steel bracelet.

This watch kicked off my desire to collect some other examples of Seiko's 1970's classics, including other Bell-matic styles.

Introduction

(All images can be enlarged by left-clicking on them)

What started me off on this new hobby?
I have no real interest in watch-making or watch-repair, and had, down through the years, owned a mere handful of watches. Apart from a replica Rolex that I bought (via a friend) from Bangkok in the 1980's, I only ever had one watch at a time.

My wife-to-be gave me a new Seiko automatic (cal. 7005) for Christmas in December 1972......

.....and I wore it daily until May 1993 when, after leaving a company with whom I had been employed for almost 30 years, I bought myself a "30-year watch".

It was a Seiko SQ100 quartz (cal.7N43) and I used to alternate it and the Christmas gift.






Both watches gave sterling service; the automatic went to a watchmaker's once, to replace a damaged crystal and, at the same time, it was serviced. That watch I still own.

The SQ100 only ever had a service when its battery gave out, and it has only had two replacements in its 16-year life. This watch I recently sold for much less than what I had to pay for it 16 years ago!

So these two watches were the only items I really owned (the fake Rolex gave up the ghost about six months after it was bought....back in the 1980's) until fairly recently, when my interest was piqued by something I saw in a magazine about the Seiko Kinetic range.

And that is the next episode.......