Seiko Sportsmatic 5 7619 – Vintage Seiko 5

A Seiko 5 is ubiquitous to almost all regular joe watch collectors and definitely all Japanese watch collectors. I am ignoring all the watch collectors born with a silver spoon and start collecting Rolexes and Hublots.

The Seiko 5 story started in 1963 with the first Sportsmatic 5 (https://www.seikowatches.com/5sports/seiko5story/index.html) and has been in constant development until today. In fact Monochrome even named the lowly Seiko 5 as the “Cheapest High – End Watch” way back in 2011.

The current batches of Seiko 5s today are powered by the 7S movement and are gradually being replaced by the hackable 4R movements. Some time late in 2015 I got my hands on a vintage Seiko 5 and I wanted to share some photos of it with my readers today.

This watch is dressier than the usual 5s you will find in the market today, complete with dauphine hands and baton hour markers ala GS/KS. Unlike the GS/KS, this 5 does not have a black line down the middle of its hands nor markers, which made it more classy in my opinion. Of course, with its day/date complication, it will not qualify fully as a dress watch. There are some water marks on its minute chapter ring near the 2 o’clock position, but otherwise the dial is in decent condition for its age.

Applied Seiko 5 logo, which is very similar to today’s Seiko 5 logo as well

This was a slightly higher grade 5 in the past, and came with 25 jewels, more than the current 7S/4R variants

Bordered Day/Date window

Very nice Dauphine hands

Twin recessed crowns. The crown on the top is for quick set of the date, while the lower crown is for the time.

I do like the look of the recessed crown as it adds symmetry to the watch case, however the usual sacrifice of this is that winding of the watch is a pain in the ass because the crown is usually smaller than usual.

Faded case back with the dolphin logo. Etched case back of vintage Seikos had this issue of the etching eventually fading over time. Note that the engraved serial number remains sharp in contrast.

I do not have a movement shot because the case back was very tight after after an overhaul, but the movement runs extremely sweet at 280 degree amplitude. One of the most efficient of my vintage watches and this is likely to be due to its low beat rate, as high beat rate vintage watches tend to have much higher wear and tear.

This 7619 movement is based off the basic 7625 movement, which makes this yet another Daini product.

 

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