A Rare(?) Seiko

[ramrod]

well, maybe not rare, but not an everyday movement.

i got this on fleabay a couple of weeks ago. the seller took a horrible picture of the watch, but i thought that the dial might be nice. and the movement number was barely legible - 5126 with 23 jewels. i think they were only made for three years - from 1968 to 1970. this one does not run at all. but the dial is in great shape overall, slightly discolored around the date window and the center hole. it won't clean off - the paint is discolored. i'm not worried about it because it just adds to the patina. the date on this one is june 1968.

 

[bobm12]

Nice! The balance cock reminds me of the ETA 2801 family in the way it attaches to the plate. Looks absolutely clean!

[ramrod]

another similarity to swiss is the lack of seiko's magic pawl. they didn't have it on this movement. they must have used something like the swiss multi-gear aparatus to wind the barrel no matter the rotation of the rotor.

another thing i noticed on this: when you push in the crown, it only changes the date, as i believe the 70XX movements do. but, it snaps into position. it feels very different than the other seiko movements i've worked. it is very positive.

[jdm]

Lovely quality movement. Large balance wheel and impeccable execution, on a watch that was still economical. I hope to get one for myself too someday.

[WileyDave]

Like the inside marker lume, as opposed to the outside marker, (like most Seiko's) Truly unique!

[anilv]

The automatic winding train is the wheels next to the balance cock. There is one there is one wheel fully (almost) visible - this is the transmission wheel.. below that you can see a segment of another wheel, this is the reversing wheel.

 

Anil