Vintage Japanese Automatic Watch - 23 Jewels - Day / Date - Made in Japan

A Seiko Lord Matic in a gold plated (SGP) case, powered by the 5606A automatic movement with 23 jewels and a day-date complication. The day wheel is in Japanese kanji. Lord Matic was Seiko's dress line positioned just below King Seiko, and this generation was built by the Suwa factory, whose mark appears on the dial and on the case back.

JAPANESE NATIONAL RAILWAYS PRESENTATION PIECE

The case back is engraved in Japanese with a service award inscription from the President of the Japanese National Railways (JNR). It reads, in translation, "Commemorating the Award of Merit" with "President of the Japanese National Railways" below. Watches like this were presented to JNR employees for long service. JNR was the state-owned railway that operated the first Shinkansen and was privatised into the JR group in 1987, so these presentation pieces are no longer made.

Because the presentation engraving replaces the usual serial number, the exact production year cannot be determined. The dial is marked WATER RESISTANT, which Seiko used from around 1971 onward.

SPECIFICATIONS

- Brand: Seiko

- Model: Lord Matic (LM)

- Reference: 5606-7000 (case back)

- Movement: Automatic, 23 jewels, caliber 5606A

- Case width: 35.6 mm (excluding crown)

- Lug to lug: 40.1 mm

- Thickness: 9.7 mm

- Lug width: 19 mm

- Case: gold plated (SGP) with a stainless steel case back

- Dial: silver sunburst, applied bar markers, day and date at 3 o'clock

- Day wheel: Japanese kanji

- Strap: new aftermarket brown leather, gold tone buckle

- Made in Japan

CONDITION - PLEASE READ

The automatic movement runs. The second hand sweeps and the watch keeps running when worn or gently shaken. The day and the date both change correctly when the hands are moved past midnight, and the quickset works as well: with the crown pulled out to the first position, turning one way advances the day and the other way advances the date. Both directions work correctly. All of this was tested by me before listing. The watch has not been serviced recently, so I cannot guarantee timekeeping accuracy for daily use.

The dial is the highlight of this watch and is in excellent condition, with crisp printing and clean applied markers. Cosmetically the case shows its age: the gold plating is worn through on the lug tips and along the case sides with the base metal showing, and the acrylic crystal has fine surface scratches overall. Please review the photos, which form part of the description.

The watch is fitted with a new aftermarket brown leather strap. The original Seiko bracelet is not included. No box or papers.

IMPORTANT - HOW TO SET THE CALENDAR

Please do not use the quickset, or change the day or the date in any other way, between 8 PM and 1 AM. On this Seiko calibre the day-date corrector parts are made of plastic, and forcing the calendar while it is engaging is a known cause of damage. Set the calendar during the daytime hours instead. This watch works correctly today and I would like it to stay that way for you.

SHIPPING

Shipped from Japan via eBay SpeedPAK with full tracking.

Carefully packed to protect the watch in transit.

Please feel free to message me with any questions.