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Wrist Check

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The little SNK was getting lonely, its diver cousins were getting all the love recently. Look at the lume it soaked up last week sitting in the box (up in a loft, get a lot of natural light). It's practically glowing in daylight.
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Nice change of pace. Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaeRM7X_yS4
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Daisy_Cutter
1288
Nov 13, 2017
So on my recent visit to Tokyo, I was fortunate enough to be able to make a detour to the Seiko museum. It's full of fascinating Seiko history and antique clocks and watches.
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(Image: The Seiko 5 display case.)
Among other things, I learned that the humble, dinky Seiko 5 series has way more history than I imagined, dating back to the early 60s, and that '5' refers to the five features that Seiko thought a sporty watch should have (1. Magic lever winding system, 2. Day/date in a single window, 3. Water resistance, 4. Recessed crown at 4 o'clock, and 5. durable case and bracelet). Not quite the 5 features I would necessarily have picked, but well maybe that's why I don't run one of the most successful watch companies in the world.
Most interestingly, it seems that the 4 o'clock crown, which has become a Seiko trademark and appears in much more expensive Seikos, actually originates with the Seiko 5 series. So in a sense, every inexpensive Seiko 5 can trace its pedigree further back than many of Seiko's more modern and expensive watches!
Daisy_Cutter
1288
Nov 13, 2017
Thanks, Stainless (and Benz). Any account of watchmaking history is incomplete without a chapter on Seiko, not least because they almost killed Swiss watchmaking with their quartz watches.
If Tissot and Tag Heuer are the brands you start out thinking are good watches, and later learn they are not so good after all, then Seiko is the opposite. It is the brand you start out thinking makes cheap proletariat watches, and later learn actually make really really good stuff, some of which you can actually afford.
Daisy_CutterPlus the Snowflake which is on my "I just won the lotto" wish list.
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