Seiko changed their serial number convention

[Slant]

Last month in June we had a birth in the family so what a better way to mark the occasion than to find a birth year birth month Seiko for the little one, i.e. serial beginning with "06" to denote 2020 June.

To my surprise, it appears Seiko has changed their serial number convention to no longer use the last digit of the manufacture year as the first digit of the serial number, and numeric month (except 0, N, and D) as the second digit.  Kind of like Rolex going with random serials a few years back.

Case in point: I was asking a few people who recently received the 2020 newly released smooth non-dive bezel Seiko 5 SRPE series like this one:



3 of the watches have serials that start with "50" and 1 had "00" - keep in mind we're not in October 2020 yet.  I was expecting "01", "02", "03", "04", "05" or "06".

And here's a screen grab of one from a youtube review:



Anyone know when Seiko started doing this?  Or does it only apply to Seiko 5s?  I bought a couple Seikos last year and it appears last year's (2019) serial numbers still had the year/month convention.

Are the days of hunting for birth year birth month watch over for those future watch collectors born in 2020 and after???

[leffemonster]

I contacted SEIKO UK regarding this apparent change to case numbering last year after noticing the apparent ‘oddity’ on my SEIKO 5 -

wristsushi.proboards.com/thread/19854/odd-new-arrival

Seems it’s only related to the new ‘5’ series. My SNJ031P1 ‘Streets’ Arnie I bought a couple of weeks ago has an ‘03xxxx’ serial number, so March 2020, so in keeping with the standard case numbering convention.

[Slant]

Thank you leffemonster! Looks like the hunt is still on but gotta pay a little more for a Seiko and not a 5. Cheers!

[HiBeat]

Jul 3, 2020 23:07:29 GMT -8 leffemonster said:

I contacted SEIKO UK regarding this apparent change to case numbering last year after noticing the apparent ‘oddity’ on my SEIKO 5 -

wristsushi.proboards.com/thread/19854/odd-new-arrival

Seems it’s only related to the new ‘5’ series. My SNJ031P1 ‘Streets’ Arnie I bought a couple of weeks ago has an ‘03xxxx’ serial number, so March 2020, so in keeping with the standard case numbering convention.

Yes the SNJ025/028 New Arnie also has the traditional numbering system.

[itsdannym]

Yep, can confirm that the convention held as late as last spring; around New Year's I got my daughter a birth month SARB017 from the very end of its production run (4/19). Had a hell of time finding a Seiko automatic I liked that would fit a woman's wrist well, and who knows if I managed. We'll find out in 17 years!