Hi,
Here is another review of a simple, yet very effective Seiko non-diver automatic from the 70's. I can't point to a single feature that makes it "special" or "different", except perhaps for the fact that is has survived for 39 years and still keeps very good time (+11s / day), a testimony to the reliability of the 6106 movement; otherwise, I would say it is an example of a watch which is better than "the sum of its parts". And - oh yes - it's very, very blue!
Let's take a look at it:
I bought this one from a fellow forum member, and he had done a marvelous job fitting a new crystal and refinishing the case.
A polished ring protects the crystal and contrasts with the brushed steel matte case finish. The watch is in pristine shape, as far as I can tell, except for the lume which - quite understandably - has no luminosity left. The dial says 6106-8269 but the back says otherwise:
The correct code for this watch is 6106-8237. Note the screw back is mirror-polished on the sides but has a circular brushed pattern in the center, and the case bottom is also finished with a circular brushed steel pattern.
Back to the dial, it is extremely simple, with square lume markers, and a metallic blue shine which I didn't quite manage to capture. The bright red sweeping seconds hand is eye-catching, the lumed hours and minutes hands are classic Seiko 70's styled.
The case shape is somewhat reminiscent of a 6105 diver, without the extra "flap" for the screw-down crown. Here the crown is at the 4 o'clock position and it fits in a very nicely shaped cutout in the case.
The lugs are short and integrated in the general case lines:
A sharp angled edge line goes around the watch, where the top meets the bottom, but it never gets to touch the wrist, and the watch feels very comfortable for extended periods of time (specially with this strap).
The tall, beveled crystal is almost flat, very slightly domed on its outside surface and more pronouncedly dome shaped on the inside, as evidenced on this shot, where the seconds hand appears curved:
Contrarily to the actual trend of gigantism in sport watches, this 70m WR rated Seiko is human sized (44mm lug-to-lug, 39 mm wide) and relatively lightweight at 42.7g with strap.
I have seen identical watches or almost identical ones, such as this one:
http://larrybiggs.net/scwf/index.php?mod=103&action=0&id=1237590360where you'll notice the only difference is the color of the seconds hand (yellow instead of bright red). I assume it's a different year and production lot.
And this is an old wrist shot by yours truly, posted in the original forum:
It's definitely a keeper!
Cheers,
