Before Heritage Was Cool – an Overview of Seiko’s Incredible Historical Collection from 2000

Modern reissues of historical watches have been the trend of the past few years. This year’s Baselworld was perhaps the zenith of the vintage-inspired craze, with a large number of heritage releases coming out across all market segments, from brands both big and small.

Seiko, not immune to market demands, has also played the heritage game, reissuing watches based on or inspired by, to various degrees, historical counterparts. For example, in the brand’s final release of 2016, Seiko issued the lovely Presage Automatic 60^th Anniversary, a watch acknowledging the 60^th anniversary of its very first automatic watch. Of course, there were notable differences between the modern and vintage models; the power reserve indicator was in a different position on the two watches due to the differing architecture of their respective movements. Another attempt by Seiko was in the affordable, vintage-themed Recraft series powered by the ubiquitous 7S/4R movements, a line inspired by, but not actually based on any vintage references. And at Baselworld this year we saw Seiko tapping their archives with the release of the SLA017, a 62MAS homage, and three watches from Grand Seiko honoring the very first Grand Seiko from 1960.

But before this craze ever hit the peak we’re seeing now, Seiko, way back in 2000, did something really cool with their history. Now, let’s imagine that just for a moment we could turn back the hands of time, go back 17 years with exactly JPY 1,735,000, or roughly $15,863 today. What could that get you? Well, nothing short of seven (yes, seven!) shockingly accurate reproductions of Seiko classics deemed worthy by the brand to be reissued.

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It’s worth noting that this was before the fandom and appreciation that Seiko commands today, and this reissue was not done due to any particular demand from the market. In fact, if anything, some of the seven–which were all released in the span of one year–are probably not highly appreciated by the market today. This cements my observation that this collection was released as a celebration of the turn of the millennium by Seiko without the expectation that these would be bestsellers in their time. Even today, many Seiko lovers might not be aware of these watches.

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As these were meant to be re-issues of significant watches from Seiko’s history, hard choices had to be made, and no doubt certain references that collectors today covet and would argue should be included were left out. Among these are the iconic 6139 chronographs, the world’s first quartz analog chronograph (ref. 7AX8), and the first-ever watch driven by body heat alone.

Among the seven that were included, however, I would say that the two divers are the most frequently discussed and seen on the secondary market (side note: they were how I discovered the Seiko Historical Collection 2000 in the first place). The other models are not as frequently discussed nor put up for sale.

Below is a rundown of each watch in the collection.

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SCVN001 4S15 King Seiko – 150,000 JPY ($1,371); released August 2000; limited to 2,000 pieces

Modern watch collectors may not be aware that King Seiko was actually a competitor to Grand Seiko back in the 1960s and ’70s, with the two operating as separate subsidiaries (our very own Sean Lorentzen covered that history here). Though certain King Seikos shared movements with Grand Seiko and were also Chronometer-certified, the friendly internal competition between the two brands resulted in different and, one might ultimately argue, better products from both branches of the Japanese giant. Seiya-san, the renowned Seiko online seller and collector, has long argued that the 52 King Seiko, powered by the caliber 52, was superior to the Grand Seiko at that point in time, not necessarily in terms of accuracy, but in the overall quality and build.

The caliber 52 was subsequently resurrected in the 1990s as the 4S family of movements (you can read more about that here) and could be found in mid-range Seikos up until 2000, where it was moved upwards to power Credor and Brightz watches. The reason behind this move, or so rumor says, is that the 6R movement was finally developed from the basic 7S movement, and that it was designated for use in mid-range Seikos.Interestingly enough, Seiko chose to bring back a modern interpretation of a King Seiko, and not a Grand Seiko. This, however, might be due to the fact that the modern Grand Seiko range was launched in 1998, and Seiko did not see the need to confuse consumers with a relaunch of a product that, to casual watch enthusiasts, was only released two years prior.

Given the fact that this is the only King Seiko released in modern times–using a period appropriate movement (the 4S15 simply being a rebadged caliber 52) and done with historically accurate case finishing (read about Seiko’s Grammer of Design)–the SCVN001 is a very valuable watch indeed.

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SCVR001 8L34 Railway Watch – 250,000 JPY ($2,284); released September 2000; limited to 3,000 pieces

I find this to be the most interesting and curious release of the Historical Collection. This Railway Watch, as it was dubbed, is based on an example from 1929. It’s powered by the 8L34 movement, which is the only manual variant of the 8L movement that I am aware of, and it’s also the only model that uses this particular variant. Furthermore, the Railway Watch is encased in sterling silver and has an enamel dial, both of which made this the third-most expensive watch in the collection. Yet, it also enjoyed the highest number of production pieces (3,000) compared to the rest in the line, which ranged from 500 to 2,000 units. Perhaps pocket watches were enjoying a revival in Japan at that point in time.Furthermore, I also find it intriguing that the two manual watches in this collection, the Laurel and the Railway watch, use two different manual movements. Perhaps this was done to show off the variety of calibers Seiko was able to produce, or perhaps it was a way for Seiko to differentiate between the historical specifications of their predecessors. Given that railway watches needed to be extremely accurate over 24-hours in actual practice, it might very well be the reason for Seiko using the 8L movement as it is more tightly spec’d at +15/-10 seconds per day. By comparison, the 4S movement in the Laurel is spec’d to +25/-15 seconds a day.

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SBDX005 8L35 Diver’s 600M – 300,000 JPY ($2,740); released December 2000; limited to 1,000 pieces

Similar to the first watch discussed in this post, most Seiko lovers should be familiar with the SBDX005, which is the limited edition of the popular SBDX011, otherwise known as the “Emperor Tuna” due to its size and heft. The Tuna has a rich history within Seiko’s diver lineup–which you can read more about here–and this release pulled on the heritage of the foundational 6159-7010, also known as the “Grandfather Tuna.”

One difference of note between the SBXD011 and the SBDX005 is that the former has an upped water resistance of 1,000m, while the latter is water resistant to 600m (though that’s no small feat).

With this lead-in article to a much overlooked collection by Seiko, we will be diving deeper into some specific pieces within this line in future articles. Watch this space for more.

Image credit:

Featured image: user harryoboy via watchbus.com; catalogue scans courtesy of Stefan Molin (mollewatch.com)

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