I just got a new Seiko "5" self winder with a glass back. I am interested in the fact that Seiko would "go backwards in time", to an old technology ( one we love of course ). Besides marketing, why? It looks like manufacturing techniques are throughly modern, that is, investment, or die casting. The plates seem to be cast. The movement is not beautifully machined and engraved like watches of old, but does appear quite sturdy, and probably will last a long time. This watch has no provision for stem winding, therefore it is totally automatic. By the way, it keeps good time, and with it's stainless case, and nylon strap, it looks impervious to anything less than a hammer and anvil! Any one else have a comment on these watches?

Donald, all Seiko 5's were totally automatic winding. The Seiko 5 was the most popular model watch sold in the military PX system in the far east in the 1960's. The models sold in the PX system were constructed differently than those imported to the US at the same time. The imported watches had nicely finished movements and were a slightly different construction. The overseas models (those sold in the px) were more austaire all around and part numbers differed for the same Seiko models that were imported.


In the mid 1970's, I took my Seiko 5 to my Watchmaker friend for a COA. When he opened it, his first comment was that I had brought this watch back from overseas. He then opened a watch that was sold in the US and showed me the difference.

Are you sure that your watch is not a late 1960's era watch that has been recased?

Tom

Tom,
I really don't think it is on old recased watch. I bought it from an Ebay seller who had dozens of Seiko 5 watches in many different styles. There hundreds of new Seiko 5's for sale on Ebay, maybe thousands. There are men's as well as women's Seiko 5 watches for sale. They are sold as new watches.

The new Seiko's have the 7S26 movement. The lineage goes back at least to the 5000 series. For price to quality ratio Seiko is the best in-house movement made in the world. The Seiko 6000 and 7000 series are all easy to work on and incredibly sturdy. Some of the models have problems with the day/date function because of a gear that was made of plastic. Besides that I don't recall any major issues and that plastic gear was replaced in the 7000 series.

Seiko did not start selling watches in the U.S. until servicemen who returned home started asking for them at the PX's or BX's stateside. Tom's comment about the quality is true. Also one "grade" of Seiko's had a 17j, 19j, 21j, and 23j that all had the same basic movment. Seiko was applying the old PW model to WW movements. The majority of Seiko's production is for Japan only but that is now changing.

In my experience the basic Seiko movements are superior to the basic ETA movements. If anyone has serviced a number of Seiko's and ETA's and has a different opinion I would be fascinated to learn why.

Frank "407" Kusumoto

Frank, Did the plastic day/date setting gear exist in the model 5? I recently acquired a fairly nice condition, running model 5 for a couple of dollars. The problem is the push button will not depress far enough to set the day/date. Is this the problem with the plastic gear?

Tom

Tom - Old push model, hrm... I can't say for sure. I had a great time fixing a bunch of Seiko's and then there were no more to fix. For all the beautiful simplicity and ingenuity in the movement... it didn't carry over to the day/date functions. Frequently had problems with the calendars and no parts to be had. That's probably the one thing you better verify completely when buying an old Seiko, test out all the day/date functions and setting. The 7000 series has the bug's worked out and is all-around solid. Sorry Tom, you must have a 6000 series movement.

Usually it's easy to get a donor movement for a Seiko. I think Seiko's are under-priced. Great value for the money. I've bought very decent parts watches in bulk for less than $1/piece. The dive watch they make that retails for less than $200 is as good as most $500 dive watches. I'm slightly opinionated about the Seiko's. I got my first one delivered to me straight from Vietnam.

There's a fantastic article on the 7S26 that I highly recommend.

Frank "407" Kusumoto

Hello All, My brother, 6yrs older than me had a Seiko Automatic bought for his birthday by one of his sons. The watch kept on stopping and was eventually returned to the makers, on its return it stopped again. He 'phoned them and they asked how old he was, When he said 73 they told him he was too old for an Automatic and there was nothing wrong with his watch. I laughed when he told me, He swears its a true story. Regards, Ged.

Hi Frank, THanks for the info. I only paid a couple of dollars for the watch, so no big loss if I can't find parts.

Tom