First of the Electronics - Seiko's Elnix SG

SOLD APRIL 2015

I was attracted to this watch by its quite beautiful crystal, with nine facets, and the striking emerald-green dial. The way that the crystal captures the light is quite lovely.

I soon learned that the Elnix was part of Seiko's venture into the world of electronic watch movements.
Not quartz; that technology was just around the corner.
These watches still used a balance-wheel and should not be confused with quartz-controlled movements or Bulova's Accutron "tuning fork" technology.

The Elnix featured here - manufactured in June 1975 - is 99% original, including (as mentioned above) the faceted crystal and also its stainless-steel bracelet made up of solid, toothed links. (The 1% non-originality is the battery - it has a new one fitted.)
The case is in very good condition and only displays natural wear marks of its 34-year life. It is undamaged.

The watch keeps time quite accurately, losing about one minute in twenty-four hours, but as I have not yet had it serviced since acquiring it, some inaccuracy is to be expected.
When held up to the ear, a high-speed metallic "chatter" can be heard - the unique signature tune of the Seiko movement.

A beautiful and technically-interesting watch that was bypassed very quickly by the quartz movement.

For more information on electronic/electric watches, see http://www.electric-watches.co.uk/

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.

More new technology - Citizen Eco-drive

There are many who do not like "gold" watches but I don't mind them. Spending the majority of my working hours in an office environment also means that I can wear dress-watches without the hazards associated with manual labour.

I wanted a Citizen Eco-drive simply because of the technology: The light (be it sunlight, desk-lamp, whatever) shines down on the dial-face, passes through it and is collected by a photo-electric device which keeps the battery charged.

This particular item was chosen because of the price and the styling; it was a new watch selling for a very reasonable amount and I liked the dial and the fact that the case was not too large.

One thing which struck me about the movement in this watch is the fact that, as the second hand marches around the dial, it hits each hour marker (there are no other indices) smack on dead-centre.

Citizen Titanium

Not exactly a "classic", this Citizen quartz model (from 2005), with gold highlights on its all-titanium case and bracelet, caught my eye for two reasons; in this world of gigantic watch-faces, it has a small diameter (36mm) case and therefore suits my skinny wrist, and it is extremely light, being made from titanium.

I also like its "industrial" grey colour, which is softened by the gold trim around the black dial and on the bracelet.