King Seiko Vanac 5626
Hi folks,
This is a King Seiko Vanac 'Special' from March 1973, I believe it's the end of the line from Daini Seikosha and they never made any more after this - and went out with a bang it seems, the special in this instance is a beefed up 5265A movement with better accuracy than the standard movement, I believe even surpassing the Chronometer Grade.
The original Vanac SS bracelet is above, rare itself. The distinctive features of this watch is of course the multifaceted crystal and coloured dials - I've never seen replacement crystals for sale but this one is the original and in good condition for its age.
I've cleaned out the case and reassembled and the watch works Inc the quickset date, this changes over at midnight exactly with no lag, the instant change - the second hand has a beautiful sweep - it's very very difficult to wind up however, has anyone a similar watch with this movement? I'm taking this to my watchmaker anyway but keen to get some feedback in any event...
Cheers 🥂
I am an Electronic Engineer - living in SE England for some time now - have travelled quite a bit in my life (most of Europe, SE Asia, China, Australia, S Korea, Japan) I enjoy some good flicks, tv sh...
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Very nice watch! Thanks for sharing!
Daini continued making the 52KS until the King Seiko sub brand was discontinued in 1975. They are indeed spectacular watches and your Vanac variant is really cool. I own a black 5245-6000 from 1971, one of the rarer versions of the 52KS. I presume you're having difficulty winding up the watch manually? The crown on mine is tiny so I don't really bother trying to manually wind the watch with it. I have no issue at all powering my 52KS up with some light shaking.
It's also worth noting that even after King Seiko was discontinued Daini still made Lord Matic Specials for a while. Those had the caliber 5216 movement, which was virtually identical to those found in the 52KS only without the instant date change feature (the trade off is that they're a bit more mechanically robust). They're fantastic watches in their own right. This is my LM Special 5216-8020. This watch manually winds pretty easily for what it's worth, though getting it wound up with a gentle shake is still my preferred method. No issues with powering it up to report here either.
Daini continued making the 52KS until the King Seiko sub brand was discontinued in 1975. They are indeed spectacular watches and your Vanac variant is really cool. I own a black 5245-6000 from 1971, one of the rarer versions of the 52KS. I presume you're having difficulty winding up the watch manually? The crown on mine is tiny so I don't really bother trying to manually wind the watch with it. I have no issue at all powering my 52KS up with some light shaking.
It's also worth noting that even after King Seiko was discontinued Daini still made Lord Matic Specials for a while. Those had the caliber 5216 movement, which was virtually identical to those found in the 52KS only without the instant date change feature (the trade off is that they're a bit more mechanically robust). They're fantastic watches in their own right. This is my LM Special 5216-8020. This watch manually winds pretty easily for what it's worth, though getting it wound up with a gentle shake is still my preferred method. No issues with powering it up to report here either.
Yes it's difficult to manually wind it, it could need oiling but I don't think it should be like this. When you change the date of these it also winds the ms! Your watches are cool...Daini also made quartz watches too I should add, the twin Quartz movement.. pretty sure he had some done .
I have a KS 5626 too, that winds perfect that's just had a OH and is like new, I'll do a write up soon.