Secret Swiss Made Seiko - 5328-5000 Review

ShapesOfHorology

11 months ago

The Seiko 5328-5000 (SYKZ960) is yet another extremely unique timepiece within the Seiko horological journey. With Seiko spearheading the quartz revolution, the watch industry was forever changed. By the 1980s, Seiko had fully embraced quartz and in the 1980 volume 1 catalog, we saw the last mechanical watch advertised (caliber 63). It wasn’t until 1992 that Seiko reintroduced mechanical watches back into its collection (with caliber 68 and 4S). However interestingly, Seiko had also dabbled in reintroducing mechanical watches during the mid 80s with the caliber 5328. For only 1 year of production found only in the 1987 catalog, the MECH series was advertised and this is what I have today to showcase.

Most of the information I’ve gathered comes from plus9time’s excellent article, which I’ll link below. There was likely a small market demand in the 80s for traditional mechanical watches. Since Seiko went fully quartz, it was difficult for Seiko to create mechanical watches if the production volume was not significant. The plan was then to enlist a 3rd party to create a movement for this niche market. For whatever reason, Seiko didn’t source this domestically, rather Seiko contacted a Swiss movement manufacturer FHF (Fabrique d’horlogerie de Fontainemelon). In a bit of a twisted irony, Seiko who once worked so hard to not rely on Swiss import and prided themselves in finally creating a fully in house watch in 1956. After revolutionizing time keeping with quartz, Seiko was no longer in need of the Swiss for expertise but rather for labor.

The caliber 5328 is a non-inhouse movement based on the FHF caliber 138.001. It's a classic 2 hand manual winding movement with a sub-second at 6. At 19.7mm in diameter and 3.2mm thick, this 17 jewels non-hacking movement runs at 3Hz and lasts about 47 hrs. Due to its small size, it was able to be utilized in both men and women models. The finishing is very basic and utilitarian. With the average MSRP of 25,000 Yen, these watches were not intended to be luxury pieces but rather for users who want to get back to a mechanical feeling of a watch with the pleasure of winding it manually each day. Some of the model design definitely pays some homage to the original Laurel.

Interestingly, almost all caliber 5328 watches I’ve found have a serial code stating it was created in 1985. However it was only marketed in the 1987 catalog. Thus, sometime between 85 to 87, these watches were either in production or marketing limbo. There are many theories as to why, but historical documentation is not solid.

Nevertheless, I’m glad I was able to find this interesting part of Seiko history. Being a Seiko fan and born in 1986, this rectangular 5328-5000 is kind of my perfect birth year watch. Even though this watch lacks many aspects I usually look for in a watch, such as a date, water resistance, and even lug width, I still adore this watch due to its story. I may not wear it often due to its size and it may not be part of the core collection, but it’s still a keeper.

Sizing and Wearability: