HANDS-ON: The Seiko Automatic Chronograph 50th Anniversary — SRQ029J
Celebrating five decades since its first automatic chronograph was released, Seiko has just unveiled this, the new Seiko Automatic Chronograph SRQ029J 50th Anniversary. First revealed in 1969, the original Seiko Automatic Chronograph featured the Japanese watchmaker’s historic Calibre 6139 movement, which utilised an integrated vertical clutch and column wheel chronograph architecture. 1969 was a competitive and interesting time for watchmakers, as it wasn’t just Seiko that was trying to bring an automatic chronograph to market in the last year of the Swinging Sixties. In fact, not only was an automatic chronograph joint venture between Heuer and Breitling on the precipice of release, but Zenith’s famed El Primero movement was also on the verge of being brought to market. Exciting times indeed for the chronograph. The 6139-equipped timepieces were presented in a number of different colour schemes, and all featured a day-date indicator and a single 30-minute sub-dial located at the 6 o’clock position on the sporty dial. What followed the 6139 was arguably one of Seiko’s most notable chronographs of all time, the Seiko 6138 “Panda”. In fact, the Calibre 6138 spawned a great many cult classics, including the “Kakume”, “Jumbo”, “Calculator” and “Bullhead”. The Panda, like all 6138-powered timepieces, featured two sub-dials: one displaying…
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Some of the coolest and cultiest of vintage Seiko watches are their calibre 5719 monopusher chronographs, released to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 (an event for which Seiko were the official timekeepers btw). These watches didn’t look much like a chronograph, with only a single seconds hand and a bidirectional bezel to track elapsed time. They were also (like all chronographs before 1969), manually wound affairs. And while they might have lacked the sort of bells and whistles we expect from a sporty chronograph today, you can’t deny that these angular pieces, with reserved ’60s good looks oozed style. Well, that was 55 years ago and Seiko has decided that the time is right for a reissue. Which brings us to the SRQ031J, which preserves the old-school charm of the original but adds in some of that modern functionality we expect in 2019. The Seiko Anniversary Chronograph 55th Anniversary SRQ031J (to give it its full name) is a large, fully specced automatic, limited to 1000 pieces. And for all that it’s larger than the OG version, it does a very good job of evoking its spirit. The silver dial is shimmery in the light under the sapphire crystal,…
