Seiko Lord Matic 5606-5000 Review

Seiko Lord Matic 5606-5000, the last of the Suwa-Seikosha darlings. This will be a mini review with a broader context on the general vintage Seiko Lord Matics. The Lord Matic line started in 1968 as the successor to the Seikomatic line, and the name takes some lineage from the famous Lord Marvel. It was positioned below the established King Seiko and Grand Seiko line. All three lines used the same movement architecture but differed in accuracy and precision standards Interestingly, like the famous Seiko 5, The Lord Matic line also had 5 principles it stride for. Some pillars were thinness, dual language day, water resistance, reliability, and a quickset (world's first day date dual quickset via the crown?)

Sizing and wearability:

Measuring at 31mm in diameter and 37.5mm lug to lug, this tv case style watch wears like a 35mm round watch. With a thickness of only 10mm and a large portion of it coming from the raised acrylic crystal, it is definitely a smaller dressy watch. With a 20mm lug width, strap options are endless. 

Movement:

Caliber 56 movement was positioned as Seiko's high end movement, thus one may think it's the descendent of the famous 61 series, but in actuality its architecture is more similar to the mid range 83 series. This was because the 56 series used much more automation in the assembly line. It was during the economic boom in Japan, and Seiko wanted to be able to mass produce higher end movements to keep up with demand. Thus the high beat was dropped from the 61 and some other cost saving measure was made. Some historians also noted that the 51 series from Daini also played some role in the development of the 56 series. (It is said the 56 series was a combination of 83 and 51 series). Over the years, 56 series would grow and eventually made its way to King and Grand Seikos. It offered a staggering 113 different types of case shapes.

The 56 series was unfortunately the last high end mechanical movement produced in the Suwa factory due to the Quartz revolution. Due to early quartz technology being somewhat thick and bulky, the 56 series was able to last until 1978 on the merits of being small and thin. At the time of 56's introduction, it was Seiko's thinnest automatic movement measuring at only 4.25mm. It also was feature packed, having automatic winding with hand winding capability, hacking seconds, 47 hour power reverse, and dual quickset of the day date. The automatic mechanism was not using the magic lever system but rather it is fully integrated into the gear train in order to keep the movement thin. 

The 56 series also had an unconventional construction of how the power gets distributed along the gear train. Suwa designed the 56 to have the minute wheel on the opposite side of the movement and placed the seconds wheel in the middle. In a more classical movement layout, the minute wheel is usually in the center turned directly by the mainspring and the seconds wheel is offset. This way, one can have a small seconds placed elsewhere or redirected back to the center. Having this architecture allowed the second hand to have more even running, but the downside is that it is more difficult to adjust the minute hand so that it always points exactly to the minute index. Another reason is that it allowed more space to fit a larger balance wheel, allowing more ruggedness. 

The main flaw in the 56 series is the notorious day date wheel rocker. Likely due to cost saving measures, but this critical calendar component was made out of plastic. Thus after many years, it can be prone to cracking and breakage. But surprisingly, as I did more research, it may not be the true reason (although it may be Seiko trying to defend a design flaw). Apparently, Suwa had learned some lessons from the 61 and 83 series, because if the date change was manually operated during the danger zone, 9 to 3. Often with a metal rocker wheel, it would produce so much torque that it caused damage to the movement itself. Thus, they wanted to remedy that by placing a softer material allowing some slip and producing less torque. This way, if there were user errors, the plastic piece can give some slip allowing for the date change to happen. At worst, because there is a weak point along this path, if a breakage were to happen, it almost guaranteed to occur at the rocker wheel. Obviously, they did not account for these movements to operate 40+ years and having the plastic naturally breaking down causing vintage collectors headaches. This single flaw I think is what puts off many potential buyers of KS or GS from this lineage. Many owners would buy dummy movement as spare for the inevitable day. There is a metal replacement part offered from a seller on Ebay which can put an end to this hassle.

Case and Dial:

Charming 70s tank style case with a TV style dial. It came in many different variants, such as stick markers, plot markers, or roman numerals. The case can also be finished in bare stainless steel or gold plating (SGP). This particular watch has the deep navy blue dial that is mostly matt finished with a very faint blue glow in a very bright environment. The markers are not polished thus it stays very understated. One interesting variant is the international version because it doesn't have the LM moniker (replaced by the Automatic under Seiko). They also have double markers on the 12, 9, and 6 positions (At least for the stick markers). The JDM variant should have the LM moniker and of course everybody’s favorite, the Kanji date wheel.

Overall:

This vintage Seiko Lord Matic is definitely on the smaller side. The square shape, wide lug width, and minimal bezel helps to give the watch more wrist presence, but it’s still best paired in more formal or dressy situations. Its shape may grab some attention, but for the most part, this is probably the most under the radar watch I own. 

Resource: http://matic6246.web.fc2.com/56series/56lm.html

YouTube:

https://youtu.be/toccKS-1YoU