I Didn't Have One of These in my Collection.....I Do Now.

[Deleted]

I have been considering one of these for a while as I don't own one of these,they are not too sought after apparently, but I kind of like them.(Someone has too I guess.)
I saw this one been iffing and arring for a while, so I made an offer this morning,which was accepted, by the pics the condition looks okay, a few age related marks on the hands etc, it has the original bracelet and overall it doesn't look too bad?

[cobrajet25]

Errrm...I guess it depends on how much you paid for it?  You are right about one thing: these seem to be the 'ugly duckling' of the 6139 family.  I don't think they are bad looking per se, but they do lack some of the pizzazz of their brothers.  They have sort of an odd, subdued spacey-look to them.

As to that particular watch, the case has been refinished.  The brushing on these actually goes horizontally.  It looks as though the tension ring for the crystal is missing.  The sweep hand is wrong, as I am sure you know.  And the bracelet is not original...I am not even sure it is an actual Seiko bracelet.  The original bracelet has large links with holes through it, like this:



Apparently the bracelet is modeled after the steering wheels on some vintage sports cars, which have holes like this through the spokes.  The silver model is quite common.  Much rarer is the blue dial, and the one with the brown dial is downright scarce.



The good news is that it should not cost much to set that one right, should you choose to.  This one ain't too popular, but wears quite well.

[Adrian-VTA]

Nice.

These things are usually really roached out because the water resistance was rated at only 30m, which is barely able to take a splash from washing your hands. The bezel-less crystal design really sucked after time. Because of the usual very poor condition they are not desirable. Also the original bracelet is really cool but very delicate, so they are one of the rarer bracelets to find.

The apocryphal story is they were advertised with some famous Japanese racing driver at the time.

I've got the blue one.




They're styled off an M3 Wheel -

[Deleted]

Thks very much for the info, i don't think I will monkey about with it tbh, just be another daily beater.

[cobrajet25]

Oct 31, 2015 2:56:04 GMT -8 Adrian-VTA said:

Nice.

These things are usually really roached out because the water resistance was rated at only 30m, which is barely able to take a splash from washing your hands.

I am convinced that the vast majority of people just wore these watches until they leaked, not that water resistance was particularly poor from the factory.

Most of them with water intrusion issues also show substantial case/bracelet wear.  The movements were not particularly fiddly about service, so people just wore them until they stopped or they fogged rather than having gaskets replaced and movements maintained every few years.

I dunk '30m rated' vintage Seikos all the time after putting fresh gaskets in, and never have any trouble.  Some of the sport divers rated to 70m use the same setup.  The 62MAS, also featuring a snap-in tension ring crystal, was even rated to 150m.

[cobrajet25]

Oct 31, 2015 3:00:49 GMT -8 vynster said:

Thks very much for the info, i don't think I will monkey about with it tbh, just be another daily beater.

These things make great beaters.  I have a beater 6139-8020 that I sourced locally.

And the best part is that even though it's a 'beater', you still have a 6139 on your wrist!

[Adrian-VTA]

My basis for saying the WR on these is dogshit is because of the crystal contact area. The side contact area is 0.8mm or less. Most of the press in crystals have a side contact area of 1-1.5mm. I don't have a 62MAS open right now to check but from memory it's a lot deeper.

Most of these I've seen have had water ingress through the crystal.

Oct 31, 2015 3:05:19 GMT -8 cobrajet25 said:

Oct 31, 2015 2:56:04 GMT -8 Adrian-VTA said:

Nice.

These things are usually really roached out because the water resistance was rated at only 30m, which is barely able to take a splash from washing your hands.

I am convinced that the vast majority of people just wore these watches until they leaked, not that water resistance was particularly poor from the factory.

Most of them with water intrusion issues also show substantial case/bracelet wear.  The movements were not particularly fiddly about service, so people just wore them until they stopped or they fogged rather than having gaskets replaced and movements maintained every few years.

I dunk '30m rated' vintage Seikos all the time after putting fresh gaskets in, and never have any trouble.  Some of the sport divers rated to 70m use the same setup.  The 62MAS, also featuring a snap-in tension ring crystal, was even rated to 150m.

[cobrajet25]

Oct 31, 2015 3:12:33 GMT -8 Adrian-VTA said:

My basis for saying the WR on these is dogshit is because of the crystal contact area. The side contact area is 0.8mm or less. Most of the press in crystals have a side contact area of 1-1.5mm. I don't have a 62MAS open right now to check but from memory it's a lot deeper.

Most of these I've seen have had water ingress through the crystal.

Oct 31, 2015 3:05:19 GMT -8 cobrajet25 said:

I am convinced that the vast majority of people just wore these watches until they leaked, not that water resistance was particularly poor from the factory.

Most of them with water intrusion issues also show substantial case/bracelet wear.  The movements were not particularly fiddly about service, so people just wore them until they stopped or they fogged rather than having gaskets replaced and movements maintained every few years.

I dunk '30m rated' vintage Seikos all the time after putting fresh gaskets in, and never have any trouble.  Some of the sport divers rated to 70m use the same setup.  The 62MAS, also featuring a snap-in tension ring crystal, was even rated to 150m.

Odd.  I usually see water intrusion through the crown gasket.  The moisture evaporates throughout the rest of the watch from there.  The crystal is actually often sealed in with an additional layer of...well, grot.  Maybe it's our damned Yankee water!    Of course, fresh vs salt water could also be a factor?

I see what you are saying about crystal contact area, but it seems that would be more of a factor if the watch were exposed to actual water pressure?  The 30m watches certainly aren't meant for diving, that's for sure.  But I find them to be dunk resistant under normal circumstances if the gaskets are up to spec.

EDIT:  I pulled this '73 6139-8020 out of the drawer for an impromptu autopsy, and it either leaked at the reset pusher or the crown.  There was a layer of rust residue on the caseback side of the inner circumference of the case between these two entry points.



I pulled out the crystal and found grot, but no leakage.  I DEFINITELY wouldn't want to skin dive with one of these.  Despite the obvious water damage, this particular example has a few service marks inside the caseback and runs strong.

While I can't say that 30m watches in general are particularly leaky, I think you might be right about this model in particular.

[siralan]

Here's mine - I really like it. 




very legible and simple dial layout.

[HiBeat]

I like mine, too.

[seikoholic]

Oct 31, 2015 3:12:33 GMT -8 Adrian-VTA said:

My basis for saying the WR on these is dogshit is because of the crystal contact area. The side contact area is 0.8mm or less. Most of the press in crystals have a side contact area of 1-1.5mm. I don't have a 62MAS open right now to check but from memory it's a lot deeper.

Most of these I've seen have had water ingress through the crystal.

Oct 31, 2015 3:05:19 GMT -8 cobrajet25 said:

I am convinced that the vast majority of people just wore these watches until they leaked, not that water resistance was particularly poor from the factory.

Most of them with water intrusion issues also show substantial case/bracelet wear.  The movements were not particularly fiddly about service, so people just wore them until they stopped or they fogged rather than having gaskets replaced and movements maintained every few years.

I dunk '30m rated' vintage Seikos all the time after putting fresh gaskets in, and never have any trouble.  Some of the sport divers rated to 70m use the same setup.  The 62MAS, also featuring a snap-in tension ring crystal, was even rated to 150m.

62mas crystal has some serious meat on it.