To be clear: the Spanish day wheel thing is my theory (that all Silvers originall had Chinese or Roman), which I'm testing by asking people to come forward with watches that disprove it... Thanks for participating in the test
Let's talk about the history of Silver 6139-600x
Whether you call the model a "Silver Pogue" or if you insist on only referring to yellow 6139-6005s as "Pogues", the silver-dial 6139-600x variant is both rare and increasingly popular.
I'd like to try and gather what we collectively know, in one place if possible - so please let us know about Silver Pogues you have ...
What I know about Silver Pogues
There's nothing worse than an armchair expert who bases their opinion on a hunch with nothing to back it up.
That said, I have some theories about Silver 6139s that I'd like to test - if you think this (or any of the above assertions) is wrong, and can point to evidence to that effect, please speak up. Maybe we'll all learn something.
I'd like to try and gather what we collectively know, in one place if possible - so please let us know about Silver Pogues you have ...
What I know about Silver Pogues
- They were available from 1969 - I have had 3 PROOFs in my hand, 2 from July and 1 from October. All were 6139-6000, with WATER 70M PROOF on the dial and WATERPROOF casebacks. The PROOF dial is always a 6030T dial code; 6030R PROOFs are ebay fakes.
- There are 6139-6001 watches with Silver 6030T dials.
- Q: has anyone ever seen a 6139-6001 with 6030R dial and confirmed the dial is real? In any colour?
- There are 6139-6002 models with WATER 70m RESIST dials in both 6030T and 6030R variants. There are no -6005 or -6009 watches with a silver dial.
- There are 1972 onward 6030T and 6030R dial variants with no text at 9 o'clock
- All Silver dial 6139-600x have a black/gray chapter ring
- No Seiko catalog has ever been proven to show a silver dial watch
- Q: The monochrome Universal Suppliers catalog (here) that's used as proof of the "Aussie Pogue" existing, has one image which most people assume is a yellow dial watch...
... but the key at the start of the catalog does say ...
... so it is always possible that the above image is not yellow, but "grey".
- Q: The monochrome Universal Suppliers catalog (here) that's used as proof of the "Aussie Pogue" existing, has one image which most people assume is a yellow dial watch...
There's nothing worse than an armchair expert who bases their opinion on a hunch with nothing to back it up.
That said, I have some theories about Silver 6139s that I'd like to test - if you think this (or any of the above assertions) is wrong, and can point to evidence to that effect, please speak up. Maybe we'll all learn something.
- There were no JDM silver dial 6139-600x - ie no 5 Sports Speedtimers.
- Q: did they even sell the silver 6139-600x in Japan? I somehow doubt it as there were so many other JDM only variants, why would they need to?
- The Silver 6139-600x were only sold in what we could say is Asia-Pacific - perhaps centering around Australia and Hong Kong - not Europe or North America
- Most will have been shipped with Stelux President bracelet
- Perhaps the chiclet bracelet was an option; there are certainly some which purport to be one-owner watches with chiclet bracelet
- Is there any evidence that a silver-dial watch came on an H-link bracelet?
- I have had 2x 70M PROOF watches which came to me in barn-find condition on straight-end diamondback bracelets (like this)... not a great fit but it seems like a coincidence...
- The Day wheel on Silver watches is always either Chinese or Roman (I. II, III etc)
- All silver 6139-6000 PROOFs I've seen are Chinese... I'd be inclined to think that it was only sold in Hong Kong, and all of them have Chinese wheels, then they added Roman as an alternative when the 6001/2 came out and was more widely distributed
- As a reminder - the Chinese day wheel has
- 日 - Sunday
- 一 - Monday
- 二 - Tuesday
- 三 - Wednesday
- 四 - Thursday
- 五 - Friday
- 六 - Saturday
- Some owners of Silver dial watches report Kanji day wheels - is it possible they're getting Kanji and Chinese mixed up?
- I know of one Silver with an Italian day wheel (which I think is pretty unusual in itself), but wonder if it and any other languages are outliers (maybe a previous owner got the day wheel swapped during a service)
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Interesting theory Ewan.To be clear: the Spanish day wheel thing is my theory (that all Silvers originall had Chinese or Roman), which I'm testing by asking people to come forward with watches that disprove it... Thanks for participating in the test
My silver Resist 6001 has an Italian day wheel. I suppose it may have been changed, but I have no reason to believe that it has.
An interesting thread this one and nice to follow but a post earlier up the list mentions the little square under the 60 of the tachy ring being later, this means my 6000 black/blue? dial proof/notch serial 06 shouldn't be like this then
All my 600x's are rebuilt using original parts in the main. My 6005 is virtually original though other than crystal and the best of my few.
A couple may have AM tachy rings, perhaps this is one as it's very well coloured without fade to the blue or red yet some scratches suggesting age.
My notes on them were lost in a burnt out PC so memory doesn't reach back to what had to be done to each of them.
JimW saw a gold one once at Ryton and felt sure the dial is AM based on the sub dial markers.
Don't want to hijack this silver topic thread, just some thoughts coming to mind as I follow.
All my 600x's are rebuilt using original parts in the main. My 6005 is virtually original though other than crystal and the best of my few.
A couple may have AM tachy rings, perhaps this is one as it's very well coloured without fade to the blue or red yet some scratches suggesting age.
My notes on them were lost in a burnt out PC so memory doesn't reach back to what had to be done to each of them.
JimW saw a gold one once at Ryton and felt sure the dial is AM based on the sub dial markers.
Don't want to hijack this silver topic thread, just some thoughts coming to mind as I follow.
Yes the very point I was making John, I think the gold dial one that Jim thinks is a fake could give up it's one for a swap over, that watch has a 73 case back and would also then be wrong but no harm if it's a mongrel already.
FWIW, this is on its way to me from Venezuela. I decided to pull the trigger after some negotiations with the seller and getting input on the T-dial authenticity input from several folks here. I bought it for the dial, hands, tachyring, caseback and the facts that it seems to run. I’m concerned that the dial text on the bottom may be smeared due to oil absorption (sir Alan hypothesis), so it may not be recoverable. We shall see.
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I was also watching that one. I am surprised it lasted as long as it did. IMO a Good Watch at a Good Price. Like many I am very hesitant on anything from Venezuela but that Silver Pogue looked like it was worth the risk Hard to tell the condition of the Dial but it looks like with a re-lume of the hour markers and maybe the hands you would have a good one. Original President bracelet is a Big Plus - I sure would not enjoy refinishing that bracelet with those oval links
Hard to tell the condition of the Dial but it looks like with a re-lume of the hour markers and maybe the hands you would have a good one. Original President bracelet is a Big Plus - I sure would not enjoy refinishing that bracelet with those oval links 
Ha! You are right. I may ship this bracelet off to John.I was also watching that one. I am surprised it lasted as long as it did. IMO a Good Watch at a Good Price. Like many I am very hesitant on anything from Venezuela but that Silver Pogue looked like it was worth the risk
But I have to say that this seller was a joy to work with. He promptly answered my questions, sent more photos, and got the watch in the mail the next day with DHL tracking. He has a lot of honest (well worn) Seikos on his feed on our favorite auction site.
This will be fun!
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-6002, March ‘72. I got lucky with this one off eBay and came from New Zealand. It’s in nice condition, I stumbled upon it while looking for a blue dial.
This is an old picture taken with previous phone I had, I’ll see if I can get around talking better ones tomorrow.
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Few more shots but still not very good pictures:
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This is an old picture taken with previous phone I had, I’ll see if I can get around talking better ones tomorrow.
Few more shots but still not very good pictures:
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Are you kidding me...Better?... That is the One of the Best Photos I have ever seen of a Silver Pogue....Just Stunning... Thanks for Sharing-6002, March ‘72. I got lucky with this one off eBay and came from New Zealand. It’s in nice condition, I stumbled upon it while looking for a blue dial.
This is an old picture taken with previous phone I had, I’ll see if I can get around talking better ones tomorrow.![]()
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In 1970 in addition to their flagship Watch Dealership in Hong Kong Thong Sia also operated a retail store in Singapore.
Thong Sia Seiko Guarantee Certificate
Although it is hard to read the detail and fine print it looks like Thong Sia is directly offering the Guarantee for the Purchase of a Seiko Watch. Also the paperwork has an additional stamp by another Watch Dealer (Haven & Co?). I am only speculating here but it looks like Thong Sia might have been acting as a Distributor for Seiko Watches.
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Thong Sia Seiko Guarantee Certificate
Although it is hard to read the detail and fine print it looks like Thong Sia is directly offering the Guarantee for the Purchase of a Seiko Watch. Also the paperwork has an additional stamp by another Watch Dealer (Haven & Co?). I am only speculating here but it looks like Thong Sia might have been acting as a Distributor for Seiko Watches.
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Well, thanks bro! Cool stelux details.Are you kidding me...Better?... That is the One of the Best Photos I have ever seen of a Silver Pogue....Just Stunning... Thanks for Sharing
I got lucky on this one and just liked it when stumbled upon it and might have payed more than fair for it at that time but it caught my attention. One of the best variants as far as color scheme, why didn’t it have equal production numbers as the gold and blue, hmm.
Excellent thread and info yet again Ewand.
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All, apologies for checking this thread a few days late, but I can add my data point that pretty strongly supports the theories expressed so far here. I got my near-NOS proof silver 6139-6000 from the original owner along with two other watches - a 6119-6020 sports diver and a 6139-6000 proof gold dial - who reported buying all three in Hong Kong in January of 1970. The silver's dial is 6030T, the day wheel is English/Chinese, and the bracelet is a Stelux chiclet. Even more on point, the silver came with the Thong Sia sales paperwork, filled out to list the serial number that matches the watch. So I have no doubt it was sold there. Pics:
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Also, I agree there was definitely no JDM silver dial version - I say this having devoted an unhealthy amount of time to tracking down every possible dial color, dial type (resist/proof/blank), and target market (speedtimer or not) example of 6139-600X and 6139-603X. I'm still missing an export silver resist and an export silver blank, but having tracked down the rarest of the rare (the Sunrise, the Forward, the 603X resist Italian export, and the 603X blank French export), I'm sure at this point I would've seen at least one silver JDM if it existed. All that said, if anyone's ever interested in selling/trading for a silver resist or blank, please reach out!
Cheers,
Also, I agree there was definitely no JDM silver dial version - I say this having devoted an unhealthy amount of time to tracking down every possible dial color, dial type (resist/proof/blank), and target market (speedtimer or not) example of 6139-600X and 6139-603X. I'm still missing an export silver resist and an export silver blank, but having tracked down the rarest of the rare (the Sunrise, the Forward, the 603X resist Italian export, and the 603X blank French export), I'm sure at this point I would've seen at least one silver JDM if it existed. All that said, if anyone's ever interested in selling/trading for a silver resist or blank, please reach out!
Cheers,
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