Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Seiko vintage mens automatic movement watch, c. 1970
- Maker / attribution
- Seiko (maker)
- Date
- c. 1970
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Japan
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- stainless steel
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 94242950
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 318, NEW YEAR'S EXTRAVAGANZA, Austin York LLC (2021), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- SEIKO VINTAGE MENS AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT WATCH (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 94242950), this is a wristwatch by Seiko, made in Japan, dated c. 1970. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: stainless steel. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Lot description — Austin York LLC
Vintage (circa 1970's) Seiko Men's automatic watch in stainless steel. Watch has a 7009 Cal. movement with 17 jewels. Unusual checkerboard / cross hatch face design. Day and date complications. Replacement leather band with butterfly type deployment clasp.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Automatic (self-winding) watches
Self-winding watches use the wearer's motion to wind the mainspring. Abraham-Louis Perrelet and Breguet made 'perpétuelle' pocket watches with oscillating weights in the late eighteenth century, but the principle only became practical in the wristwatch. John Harwood patented a bumper automatic in 1923; Rolex's Perpetual rotor (1931) winding in one direction, and later bidirectional rotors (Eterna, Felsa Bidynator), established the modern form. Micro-rotors (Universal Genève, Buren) and peripheral rotors made automatic watches thinner.
What to look for
- A semicircular rotor turning 360° over the movement, or a 'bumper' weight that rebounds between springs.
- 'Automatic', 'Perpetual' or 'Self-winding' on the dial.
- A sealed screw-back case, since automatic watches are wound less often by the crown.
Dating clues
- Bumper automatics: 1923–c. 1955.
- Full rotors: from 1931 (Rolex); widespread after c. 1950.
- Micro-rotors: from 1954–1958.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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