Anyone addicted to seikos?

[Frankt8242 1]

Ive caught a seiko bug. My first real watch was a seiko solar chrono, SSC007, which has served me perfectly fine. I then purchased a BK blue sub, and at the same time a old gen Orange monster. I now purchased a SKZ323 White Stargate which i received today, and im already thinking about my next seiko, a SKA427P1 Kinetic Diver. Will it ever stop?

Well then WTF are you doing HERE...???? :giggle:

[trevsdad 0]

Damn!!! I've never seen these Solar pilots (...did I get that right?) .....I'm starting to get that itch!

 

 

love mine

 

 

 

[itsme7 0]

love mine

 

 

 

Thats a sharp looking seiko! Are those screw down chrono buttons too?

Ive caught a seiko bug. My first real watch was a seiko solar chrono, SSC007, which has served me perfectly fine. I then purchased a BK blue sub, and at the same time a old gen Orange monster. I now purchased a SKZ323 White Stargate which i received today, and im already thinking about my next seiko, a SKA427P1 Kinetic Diver. Will it ever stop?

Well then WTF are you doing HERE...???? :giggle:

Haha, i have a BK sub at least, will start on some Pam, rolex, and breitling reps shortly.

[diplosa 0]

Anyone yet brought invicta into this conversation?

[rhounsell 0]

I thought I will tranpost this from the wrist check section, here's my Seiko 5 sports limited edition.

 

 

 

That is nice!

 

Here's my only Seiko so far, the Orange Monster....

 

and I will definitely be getting one of the spring drives at some point.

[trevsdad 0]

wasn't aware that Seiko carries Invicta...

watch, watch...WATCH!

 

Anyone yet brought invicta into this conversation?

[NFleischer 4,355]

I just ordered the Orange Monster, great watch for under $200 with tax, shipping,etc!

 

Update, just came in today. Really nice piece, unbelievable value!

[Sambonator 0]

Yes I have both the black monster and orange monster with the AWESOME bracelet. Even my local Rolex dealer was impressed with the bracelet... but I just wished it had screwdown link pins instead of the pressed pins and collars... so easy to lose those very tiny things...

[Kleen™ 45]

I just ordered the Orange Monster, great watch for under $200 with tax, shipping,etc!

 

Update, just came in today. Really nice piece, unbelievable value!

 

- and UNBEATABLE quality for the money. Or five times the money.

[daeffy 0]

DO they rep the Seiko Tuna Can? I'd be all over that

[daeffy 0]

Whats there to hate about seikos? Great watches at competitive prices, good styling too. ^_^

 

I guess it's like asking "why do you dislike St John's Bay shirts from JC Penny's?" Seiko's made their company replicating other watches but lack the balls to bother doing it right. At least a rep goes the full monty. To me a Seiko is just an unoriginal P.O.S. I would never wear one. Maybe I would wear a Tuna can in the right circumstance. But 99% of Seiko's I think are just the worst.

The SEIKO Quartz Astron,

the watch that changed the way the world told time

 

 

December 25, 1969. The SEIKO Quartz Astron, the world’s first quartz watch

The 40th anniversary of quartz

In December 2009, SEIKO starts a year of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the launch of the world's first quartz watch, the SEIKO Quartz Astron.

This important anniversary is being celebrated in a variety of ways, starting with an exhibition in December in Tokyo of 40 new designs, all inspired by the Quartz Astron. The exhibition will be followed by the release, at Baselworld 2010, of revolutionary quartz watches whose new functionality and design demonstrates the great future potential of this most important of watchmaking technologies.

The SEIKO Power Design Project exhibition took place from December 1 to 6 in Tokyo's fashionable and trend-setting district of Omotesando (*), and the 40 designs featured add a contemporary twist to the original Quartz Astron design. The SEIKO designers preserved the integrity of the iconic Quartz Astron design, but brought it up to date for the next generation of watch enthusiasts.

(*) Special website including the works exhibited: http://www.seiko-watch.co.jp/p_design/e/

 

Project 59A

It all started in 1959 as 'Project 59A' within the research & development laboratory in Suwa Seikosha (now known as SEIKO Epson), one of the SEIKO's watchmaking companies. It had been known since the days of Pierre Curie's experiments in 1880 that, when an electrical current is passed across a quartz crystal, the crystal would vibrate at a fast and very precise speed. The question was how to utilize this effect in a practical application. In 1927, Warren Morrison, a technician in Bell Laboratories in the USA was the first to demonstrate that accurate time could be measured using the 'piezo-electric' effect, and SEIKO built, in late 1959, a quartz clock that was successfully used in Japan by a radio and TV station. However, this clock was huge, 2.1 meters high and 1.3 meters wide ! To develop a watch using the same technology must have seemed to the engineers on Project 59A like an insurmountable challenge. Nevertheless, the project was launched.

The 1959 quartz clock

 

The first results

By 1962, SEIKO had succeeded in downsizing to build a quartz marine chronometer for Japan's shipping industry but it still weighed 30 kilos. A further advance was made in the following year when a portable quartz timer was created for sports applications. It weighed just three kilos, and became the first quartz device ever used at Olympic Games when it was used as a back-up timer at the longer athletics events at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. This device, the QC-951, was put on the market and sold for 125,000 Japanese Yen (USD 347 at the 1959 rate).

 

The daunting challenge of miniaturization

The Crystal Chronometer QC-951 used to time events at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games

The QC-951 had proven that a stable and reliable quartz timer could be made portable. However, the challenge of further miniaturization remained. The QC-951 had an exterior volume of 1760 cubic centimeters, while a viable watch movement needed to be 3.74cc.

So, every part needed to be miniaturized. The key advance was the creation of an open-style stepping motor, which made significant size reduction possible. The power requirement of the quartz movement also had to be reduced, so that a miniature battery could be used. To make this possible, SEIKO’s engineers invented new IC’s, first a hybrid type and, soon after, a C-MOS IC. These advances made possible a movement that could run for more than one year on a button-type battery.

 

The Quartz revolution takes off

The Quartz Astron was presented in an 18 carat gold case and went on sale in Tokyo on December 25, 1969 in a limited edition of just 100. It was a momentous day for the entire watch industry as it was clear to all that, with further advances in efficiency, quartz would deliver far greater accuracy than any mechanical watch could ever achieve. The Quartz Astron was precise to five seconds a month, 100 times more accurate than most mechanical watches.

And, in the coming years, it was SEIKO that made nearly all of these advances. In 1973, SEIKO launched the world's first LCD quartz watch with a six-digit display. In 1975, a multi-function LCD quartz watch was launched, bringing high accuracy to the chronograph. In 1983, SEIKO created an analogue quartz chronograph and, in 1988, SEIKO combined the best of automatic and electronic watchmaking to create A.G.S. (now known as Kinetic). Powered by the movement of the wearer, it converted kinetic energy into the electricity required to run the quartz regulated movement.

Perhaps more important than all these SEIKO innovations was the decision in the early 1970's to open all SEIKO's many quartz patents to the world. Still today, most quartz watches use the design and technologies that SEIKO made available.

As the fifth decade of quartz begins

The 40th anniversary of quartz is for SEIKO much more than a moment to review past achievements. It is an opportunity to look to the future.

The progress made by quartz-based timepieces over the past 40 years has been astonishing and SEIKO's leadership in electronic watchmaking is itself a cause for celebration. However, quartz technology is an infinitely flexible springboard for future innovation and SEIKO will continue to develop new designs and new functionalities on the quartz platform in the coming years.

As the fifth decade of quartz opens in 2010, SEIKO will provide various dramatic and exciting products, proving the future potential of quartz technology at Baselworld 2010.

[dainese 0]

Just so reliable and straightforward.

 

Newly acquired 6309-729a

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[KarmaToBurn 1,419]

I'm not quite addicted yet but I do really love my Seiko and there are many other models I wouldn't mind owning

 

 

[Mazz 62]

Just so reliable and straightforward.

 

Newly acquired 6309-729a

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

 

Schweet

[itsme7 0]

Very nice! Decided today that i dislike the bracelet on the Stargate, and ordered a shark mesh bracelet to replace that.

[docbp87 0]

Absolutely in love with my Black Monster SKX773K3. I bought it used, in perfect working order aside from a single scratch on the bezel for like $115, and promptly bought a Super Oyster bracelet, and a Seiko clasp for it, and that combination has made it one of my most worn watches. The lack of a hand-winding and hacking movement is kind of a pain, but the reliability and feeling of wearing a TANK on my wrist more than make up for that. Oh, and has anyone mentioned the LUME? My goodness, Seiko does the lume right on these things.

[itsme7 0]

I feel the same way about fhe orange monster, it's excellent features packed into a great value. The lume is amazing, extremely bright and long lasting. For the price you really can't beat it.

[300kph 0]

Had 5 or 6 over the years. Still have two old LCDs which I wear when I'm feeling "retro"

[myaz 3]

Great info about quartz watches, daeffy (post #86). Got this one in the early 70's, an automatic, a little after the Astron was invented. Note that the day window can be set to spanish (Jueves here) or english.

 

[Electron17 0]

I have about 14 Seiko watch, among them 3 Kinetics. I love all my Seiko's but just a word of warning, having 3 Kinetics is a big mistake. You need to wear the Kinetics quite a lot to keep them fully charged and so you will end up wearing the Kinetic most of the time and neglecting your other watches. My Kinetics are wonderful watches and keep very good time but you do need to wear them a lot. My rep consequently get very little wrist time.

i

 

Buy the kinetic charger

 

Hi Mazz, where do you get one of these? Is it just a watch winder? Thanks, Jan

[itsme7 0]

Cool looking watch. My dad has 2 older seikos from when he was younger, purchased one from the trade depot when he was in the Seabees back in the early 70s over in Japan i believe. I believe most seikos have the english and spanish days, can set to one or the other.

 

Im already scoping out my next seiko... and my other hasnt shown up yet. Checking out the SKA511. Heres a pic of it.

 

[Baldr 0]

At this moment I'm wearing a Seiko Kinetic as my daily watch. Great piece. I also like the Seiko 5 series.

[<RJ> 0]

The lack of a hand-winding and hacking movement is kind of a pain

When you update to the 2nd gen you get that

[68 Bullit 0]

I love my Seiko's, it's hard not to be a fan of these great watches, I have a very clean original 6309 7049, two H558 5009 Arnie's, an SKX 007J, an SKZ 255 Black Frankenmonster, and my daily beater is a SNDA65 pilot's chrono,

The H558 5009 Arnie was produced and tested under some of the harshest conditions on the planet, from Mount Everest to Antartica, and both of mine still run like new, My 6309-7049 just recently had it's first service since it was made in 1977, Amazing watches.

[Bash64 17]

Yup, like 'em a lot. Black Monster continues to dog me, will have to buy one soon. The FFF mod is also pretty compelling.

 

Well, that is looked after. Black Monster arrived a few days ago. FFF donor en route. Still wear my Sea urchin regularly and working on a 6309 7290 restoration. Donor movement en route as well.