Oh yeah!

Not sure I can agree. I’ve never mentioned 90s prices at all. The fact is Seikos prices are higher than they have ever been and the quality of watch and bracelet at the lower end of the spectrum is poor compared to many.

They keep reintroducing 70s models with limited runs , rehashing the Willard at every opportunity so we are not really seeing anything new.

I like the vintage world not for nostalgia but for value and I can work and restore them. I’ve done them all, Japanese , Swiss, Chrono , tuning fork , digital and quartz .

The fast is that Seiko movements back in the 70s were all solid , still running today 50 years on, many I uncover have not been serviced. All metal parts. Newer ones are updated versions of the same movements but with thinner material and plastic wheels on occasion.

Seiko did many firsts in the watch world and now they don’t.

Some of their early quartz stuff is amazing, Seiko superior twin quartz thermally compensating . How strange is it that it’s now rehashed and in some grand seiko of today.

Personally feel they have lost their way a bit and don’t look forward so much compared to when they did in the 70s

The problem with seiko is they filled the low cost market and the 70s were their glory years ! I have 150+ 70s seikos and love them for their design , engineering and durability.

Seiko of today are now £500 upwards for reasonable ones and the ones £300 downwards are really cheap in construction. The rise of the Chinese micro brands have filled that market now with much better quality cases, finishing and materials all using Seiko movements. San Martin stand above all of them , I have a few and for £150 nothing gets close to them.

Omega etc I have a loathing for, like the watches and the movements , heck I won two, one 100 years old and the other nearly 60.

Thing is swatch are making it impossible for the independent watchmaker to work on them by restricting parts availability, it’s a disgrace and a scam. You can see the logic , drive all consumers to ADs for service and repair where they cream the customer for more than the job is worth.

The customer has no choice and that is anti competitive.

My friend a 50 year served independent watchmaker can’t afford the £10,000s required to buy all the state of the art kit required, heck I would even have to paint his workshop ! In order to get accredited yet he has all the skill and know how.

He refused Omega and a few others and will soon retire taking all that skill with him.

I can’t accept the prices of watches from prestige brands , they are not worth it materially or from an engineering standpoint. Most are assembled by machines , parts will be made overseas too, to say Swiss made is a joke if you actually read what I required , very little !

I live in the vintage affordable world . A nice place to be and my collection of watches is really the byproduct of my hobby of watch repair and restoration

The answer is no one knows really although the article is wrong in that the 6139 did not stop production in 1969 to be replaced by the 6138 (I have a bullhead too)

6138 was a double register 12 hour Chrono , the 6139 was a one register 30minute . 6139a and then B versions were produced well into the 70s as I have many other examples in my collection or across my workbench.

I think it’s safe to say that Seiko had theirs in the shops probably first and sold in much greater numbers .

Seiko have many firsts in the watch world. It’s just a shame the stuff they make now is not as nice and far too expensive for what it is.

Not sure why so many don’t like their logo as I don’t mind it.

Why a watch manufacturer would only want to put a logo on the back is beyond me.

Gorgeous

That’s pure hairspring issues. Either a coil is sticking or maybe more. Debris in them possibly.

Could be magnetism but I’ve never seen it effect one as bad.

Fortunately I repair my own watches and this would be done in no time.