Mid-60s Seiko 6206 Weekdater

[Itsguy]

This Seiko 6206 weekdater just landed (pics at the end), and it seemed worth a post as it goes to show that you don't have to break the bank to find beautiful vintage watches. What it does take though is a bit of perseverance!

It started with trying the incredibly beautiful Grand Seiko SBGR095 at SalonQP last year. I fell in love with the watch, but not with the £4K price tag, so the hunt was on to find something that would satisfy the craving.



The first choice was obviously a vintage original, the 6245 from 1967. But due to the reissues attracting attention, and the increasing interest in vintage GS in general, these are not exactly cheap either. They tend to go for around £1k and are hard to find in good condition, along with other early GS such a the self-dater. Not a huge sum in vintage watch terms perhaps, but I was looking for something cheap and cheerful so GS was off the menu. The next port of call was King Seikos, Lordmatics, Lord Marvels, and Seikomatics.

Finally I found what I was looking for with the mid-60s Weekdater, which is more or less an automatic version of the manual GS of the time. It has a lot in common with the GS6245, including the intriguing recessed crown at 4, the classic sunburst dial and chapter ring. The lugs are slightly different, but have a hint of the Self-dater about them which is no bad thing. And you also get a day window, which adds a lot of character, and has red text on Sundays to remind you to have a lie in. It measures in at 36.5mm, and wears well at that size due to the large dial and lack of bezel.

The next trick was to find one, and the best place to look was Yahoo Auctions in Japan. After passing up a few very worn examples, this one appeared and I entered a sniper bid via fromjapan.co.jp, who I can certainly recommend on the basis of this purchase. Once you figure out the process of leaving a deposit, which is automatically refunded, and making payments on winning the auction and when it's shipped, the whole thing is efficient and effortless. Inevitably I got hammered on VAT and customs charges as always seems to happen from Japan, but it still counts as a bargain at a fraction of the price of the GS reissue that started the quest.

I must say I'm delighted with the quality, which seems close to GS of the era and certainly compares favourably to 60s Swiss I've owned. There's a little discolouration on part of the chapter ring but in normal wear it's not noticeable and overall it's in great shape for something half a century old. To my eye it has a sense of style that only 60s watches seem to manage, though it's hard to capture with these quick photos.

I believe there may be a few others on the forum so let's see them! There were a great many minor variations to the dials and case backs of these watches over the years, and also the branding, some saying Seikomatic rather than Seiko - so there are a lot of options to choose from when searching out one of these. There's also plenty of information online if you search for the reference. One question to anyone who has one - it seems to be possible to quick set the day by winding it back and forth past 12, I'd be grateful if someone could confirm if this is ok or if there's a danger of damaging the day wheel, please let me know!

[MartinCRC]

Seikomatics are some of my favourite watches from 1960's. Yours looks like a typically lovely example but I am not sure that you have a 6218. The dial suggests it's a 6206 but if the rear says different then it may be redial. On the issue of quicksetting the day, your method is fine and there should be no adverse consequences. If you want to read more on the 62 series 1960's Seikomatics, then feel free to have a nose around my blog here. I've also written about the GS you mentioned in your opening paragraph here and here.



Martin

[ddm27]

Beautiful. I've been looking out for one of these - any chnace I could ask how much they go for in that sort of condition?


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[Thewatchbloke]

Gotta love the 62xx calibre Seikos and yours is a lovely example although it should be 35 jewels not 26! Mines an example with the Seikomatic script



and the dolphin and crown caseback.





Lovely watches although the higher jewel count was a lot to do with the four jewels supporting the day disc



and the seven supporting the date disc!



These were added to prevent what has been translated from the Japanese as the ‘shake fall problem’ with the discs, although to my knowledge none of the lesser jewelled 62xx calibres suffer unduly with day/date problems. And rest easy, no damage will occur winding backwards and forwards to advance the day disc.

[Itsguy]

Seikomatics are some of my favourite watches from 1960's. Yours looks like a typically lovely example but I am not sure that you have a 6218. The dial suggests it's a 6206 but if the rear says different then it may be redial. On the issue of quicksetting the day, your method is fine and there should be no adverse consequences. If you want to read more on the 62 series 1960's Seikomatics, then feel free to have a nose around my blog.

Thanks, you're quite right it does say 6206 on the back, so much for my powers of observation! I'll amend the title. Looking forward to checking out your blog as soon as that's done!

EDIT - I now realise that I've already read your blog, which formed a significant part of the research that lead me to this watch, so thanks for that!

There are also some better pictures than mine here: http://nakahiro.parfait.ne.jp/moji/week26.html

[MartinCRC]

These were added to prevent what has been translated from the Japanese as the ‘shake fall problem’ with the discs, although to my knowledge none of the lesser jewelled 62xx calibres suffer unduly with day/date problems. And rest easy, no damage will occur winding backwards and forwards to advance the day disc.

I am of the opinion that the use of this additional jewelling was driven by the marketing department rather than the engineering department of the time. I have a 39 jewel 395 which uses 6 ruby ball bearings in the autowinder mechanism. That watch also used no less than 9 jewels to support the date disk and so in practice only 24 of the 39 jewels actually played a functional role!

Martin

[Itsguy]

Beautiful. I've been looking out for one of these - any chnace I could ask how much they go for in that sort of condition?


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Prices seem quite variable as of course is condition. This one set me back a couple of hundred before HMRC slapped on another fifty. I've no idea if that's a good deal for one of these but the looks and quality are definitely in a completely different league to the price!

[forpetesake]

That's Just Gorgeous!
It is evocative isn't it...please excuse me, I have to look away now.

Well played Itsguy.

[Thewatchbloke]

I am of the opinion that the use of this additional jewelling was driven by the marketing department rather than the engineering department of the time.

That's always been my take on it Martin, I also think the diafix shock protection on the escape and fourth wheel pivots are a bit of overkill but it does add a further four jewels into the count. I've never heard of escape or fourth wheel pivots being broken by a drop or shock as the mass just isn't there, balance wheels yes of course because of the mass relative to the size of the pivot. I think diafix are more useful as dust caps keeping any particles out of the jewels as opposed to shock protection!

[dixie]

Wow, that is glorious!
I am going to japan next week so will keep my eye out for one!

[Der Amf]

watch wiki entries on Seiko movement families tend to be fulsome. Here's the one for the 6200 family, listing the 6206 (26 jewels) and the 6218 (35 jewels)

"The 6200 family was an exclusive movement for high-end Seiko watches....based on the 6100 family"

[Omegary]

Here's my example from 1965 (my birth year).



Bought from forum mate Neil.C and serviced by our resident Seiko expert Duncan. Here's his blog about it if anyone's interested.

https://thewatchbloke.co.uk/2015/03/22/seiko-6218-8971/

I was going to service it myself, however as I now build watches for a living it was going to be a bit of a busman's holiday. Plus Duncan has far more experience with and parts than me for vintage Seikos.

I love the proportions of the case, bezel and chapter ring. There's just something about them that's so right, to my eyes at least.

Cheers,
Gary

[Dr.f]

Yes,very nice.

[Tazmo61]

Yes,very nice.

Yes it's gorgeous , very nice indeed .

[Itsguy]

Thanks for all the comments, pictures and input guys - good to know the day can be (sort of) quick set safely, it makes it a lot more wearable. Currently I'm enjoying the blue Saturday, the more colourful days seem to be saying 'Wohoo it's the weekend, party time!' Btw, the reverse of mine seems to be a picture of a whale, with no crown, just the serial number. Accuracy seems very good and I'm guessing the gentle five ticks per second will contribute to the longevity of the movement.

So nice to find a bit of a cult watch that's still so attainable, you used to be able to pick up Omegas in this price bracket but those days seem long gone. I've just got to avoid continuing to scour Japan for vintage GS, now I know it's not too hard to bid on them - there's far too much temptation!

[grey]

Here's a couple of lousy pics of my 6206-8110 from March 1966. A delight -you just have to lift it out of the watchbox and it starts running. Really ought to wear it more, or put it towards funding my pensioner roadbike project.

[Thewatchbloke]

I agree, the 6206-8110 is a lovely example of the 6206 calibre. I have exactly the same model on exactly the same oyster bracelet, although these bracelets are a lot later (about 40 or so years) than the watch!

[pastrana72]

Fantastic shot of a fantastic watch. These seiko's are in a league of their own.

[markrlondon]

Lovely watches.

60s and 70s Seikos are an area where I think it pays dividends in terms of value for money to pay a little extra than the cheapest prices available: Not massively more but enough to buy that little bit extra quality (whilst avoiding over-polished, over-priced examples). By "extra quality" here I mean a combination of good external condition with a good mechanism.

[Itsguy]

Lovely watches.

60s and 70s Seikos are an area where I think it pays dividends in terms of value for money to pay a little extra than the cheapest prices available: Not massively more but enough to buy that little bit extra quality (whilst avoiding over-polished, over-priced examples). By "extra quality" here I mean a combination of good external condition with a good mechanism.

Sounds like good advice. I've seen quite a few very tatty examples that have obviously not been looked after or serviced and you'd tire of them quickly. Then again you do see good ones going cheap. Mine isn't perfect but on the wrist it's still got that glow about it and functions perfectly. Worth waiting for as in the scheme of things a decent one is still very reasonable.

[seikomatic]

Personally I hate the hidden crown..a design that might be fashionable at that time but I'm not sure why?

[alfat33]

Personally I hate the hidden crown..a design that might be fashionable at that time but I'm not sure why?

I think it was part of the general Futurist design movement in the '60s, minimising detail and hiding the 'messy' functional parts of machines, buildings, cars etc.

It started before then but seemed to really take off in the 60s.

[Der Amf]

Think the idea was that since the watch, being automatic, didn't need to be wound, there was no point having the crown getting in the way.

That's also the reason for it being at four o'clock

[markrlondon]

I think it was part of the general Futurist design movement in the '60s, minimising detail and hiding the 'messy' functional parts of machines, buildings, cars etc.

It started before then but seemed to really take off in the 60s.

Think the idea was that since the watch, being automatic, didn't need to be wound, there was no point having the crown getting in the way.

Both these seem likely to be correct imho (but just guessing).

It's a feature I like as I think it makes the watch look rather sleek. I find it aesthetically very pleasing.

[Tokyo Tokei]

Seiko say of the 62GS (the first automatic Grand Seiko) "The crown was recessed and placed at the 4 o’clock position to dramatize the fact that hand winding was not required"

http://www.grand-seiko.com/about/history.php

There are some nice old Seikos. Not a weekdater but one of mine:


Paul

[Caruso]

I've just added a 6206 to my collection too.

It literally looks the Business!

[TheDeli]

I've just added a 6206 to my collection too.

It literally looks the Business!

That is a gorgeous watch and a very nice add.

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