A Brief Buyer’s Guide to Vintage Seiko

Felix from The Young Horologist is back to talk us through a buyer’s guide to some iconic references from vintage Seiko.

(Courtesy Vintage Watches Inc.)

Seiko, who coincidentally happen to be one of my top three favourite brands, are also a brand that transcend the watch collecting community like no other brand. They are more people’s first watch than any other, and they are enjoyed by people who have one beloved SKX as their only watch, all the way up to people who collect Patek Philippe 2499’s and Philippe Dufour Simplicities. The charm and romance of a Seiko diver or a vintage Seiko 5 knows no bounds. However, this unmatched popularity does come with some risks when perusing the likes of eBay or Chrono24 after one too many Negronis — so Joshua has kindly let me pen another article giving you a few tips (from personal experience) on what to look out for when buying Vintage Seiko! So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

Unfortunately, few other brands’ vintage catalogues are as much at the mercy of fakers as my beloved Seiko. The terms ‘Frankenwatch’ and ‘Mumbai Special’ were effectively coined due to the rise of fake and franken Seikos. In fact, when I was just a 15-year-old newbie in this hobby, the first watch I bought with my own money was a Seiko 5 Frankenwatch. Looking back at it now, it is so clear to me that the tell-tale signs are there, the dial being an instant giveaway, but unfortunately at the time my naivety and the price outweighed that. 

The issue here is that the popularity and availability of Seiko means that the number of parts that have to be available is astronomical. Outside of some parts being easy to fake such as dials, the sheer availability of parts means that you could go onto eBay right now and buy a dial, handset, case and bracelet, stick them together yourself and call it a Seiko 5. While this is sort of what a Seiko 5 is, it’s obviously a smorgasbord of random parts stuck together. While it works and does the job, do you really want to be showing it to your friends? The issue here is that unless you know the signs to look out for, how is Joe Bloggs supposed to tell a genuine Seiko from a mixture of odds and sods? This is a desperately important article in my opinion, as vintage Seiko can be an absolute goldmine if you know what to look out for. 

A main factor that massively trips people up when buying vintage or even neo-vintage Seiko is servicing. The apparent bargain of a cheap Seiko Lordmatic or 7002-8040 (in my case) is usually too good to be true. Case in point is the watch you can see above, which I purchased from the depths of eBay about 2 years ago for a steal. And as you can see, it is a very attractive little watch, all original, untouched, and less than £100! However, it turns out that is for good reason. Ever since ownership it will wind and run for roughly 20 minutes then stop. While mechanically this is likely a simple fix, the cost of vintage Seiko services and the difficulty of obtaining movement parts has led me being quoted more than double what I paid for the watch to get it repaired. Though I’m a huge fan of the watch, this does seem like somewhat of a stretch. As a result, it has been worn all of about twice since it arrived on my doorstep. This serves as a big warning to you all, do not be lured in by the price unless you absolutely know the service history, as some Seikos have a reputation for being horrible to service.

Now, to move onto slightly cheerier subjects around Seiko, it would be remiss of me to not shine the spotlight on some vintage models that, despite the issues that I have raised above, are really fun, and really do demonstrate the ridiculous amount of value that you can find in the world of Vintage Seiko! Due to there being so many different models within the various Seiko lines, I am going to give you a few of the families, and then let you deep dive into the minutia within!

(Courtesy of Reddit)

Seiko ref. 6309

As a former owner, I am a huge fan of modern Seiko “Turtles”. But the watches they’re based on, the 6309 family, are just so much better. The reference itself is legendary and looks superb on-wrist. The curvaceous case and range of patinated and damaged examples that you can find make it a piece with real charm. And despite its vintage nature, its 150m water resistance could mean that you could swim with it if you so desired! Seriously though, get it tested first.

(Courtesy of DreamChrono)

Seiko ref. 6139 ‘Pogue’

The “Pogue”, as it has been nicknamed, is another legendary vintage Seiko. So called because it was worn in space by Colonel William Pogue in 1973 as part of the Skylab mission. The other reason for it being so legendary is its the movement: the 6139 was firmly in the race to be the first automatic chronograph in 1969! Pretty good credentials if you ask me… Outside of these facts, the bright yellow dial and ‘pepsi bezel’ offer it a quirky and fun design which collectors love. Very cool piece of kit. (Editor’s note: but beware of fakes! There are many and they’re getting more convincing. Pop over to @dcvintagewatches on Instagram for excellent fake Pogue-spotting scholarship!) 

(Courtesy of Time and Tide Watches)

Seiko ref. 6138-8020

This particular model has been a grail of mine for many years. Why I didn’t pick one up when they could be had for $300 is beyond me. Their popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, and now you are looking at around $1,500 for one of these beauties. The panda dial layout and some examples discolouring to a grey/blue colour just makes these watches look incredibly cool. These are very sought after and there are a lot of fakes out there so be careful!

(Courtesy of Time and Tide Watches)

High-beat King Seiko

With the surge of Grand Seiko popularity in recent years, the vintage GS market has seen—yes, you guessed it—a price increase. While this has also filtered down to regular Seikos as I have spoken about above, it has manifested itself predominantly in the rise in price of King Seiko. King Seiko offer incredible options in the dress watch space, and to me are probably the best buy in vintage Seiko right now.

(Courtesy of Fratello Watches)

Seiko ref. 7Axx Quartz chronograph

Probably the option that has stayed the most affordable despite its rise in popularity. These watches are polarising to some because they have integrated bracelets and quartz movements, but considering the running seconds are in a sub register, that would not be something that would bother me. Examples can be had in steel, two-tone, gold and a variety of dial configurations. They are charming, affordable and a quartz movement means that they are actually easy to service!