Grand Seiko watch 6146-8000 Hi-Beat 36000 Vintage 1969

The Grand Seiko line made its debut in 1960, and continued until the 1970s (the mechanical Grand Seiko was revived in 1998 and continues production to this day). The most iconic of all the Grand Seiko case designs began as the manual wind 44GS in 1966 , and culminated in the automatic 61GS in 1968. The 61GS line was the result of refinements over the years including technology from the Astronomical Observatory Concours of the late 1960s.

The watch was designed by Taro Tanaka, the first graduate of a college design programme hired by Seiko. He wanted to design a watch that would “sparkle brilliantly” while on display, one that would compete with the Swiss watches of the time. He came up with a set of rules that would come to be known as the “Grammar of Design.” This meant perfectly flat surfaces and angles for cases, dials, hands and indices. All distortion would be eliminated and the case finish would have a mix of high polish and brushed surfaces, couples with razor-sharp edges. The 6146-8000 is a perfect example of this design philosophy. Brilliant flat surfaces of mirror finish, with sharp lines delineating the different planes.

THE WATCH

The dial has a beautiful white finish with radial brushing, and simple faceted steel baton markers. This one has a nice clean date window at 3 o’clock. The 61GS was also available with day/date. The date is quickset via the knurled “GS” signed crown. The steel hands are a simple dauphine style with a black line down the middle of each.

The movement is one of Seiko’s finest, a 25-jewel automatic hi-beat that operates at 36,000bph, made at their Suwa factory. It can also be wound manually, and has a hacking feature. It is finished to a high level, with a nicely decorated rotor. The 61GS movement achieved the Seiko internal GS standard approval, which was adjusted to be within -3/+6 seconds per day when it left the factory. It is based on the 61 SeikoMatic 5 movement, and was engineered with technology developed from data from the Astronomical Observatory Concours competitions that Seiko did extremely well in during the late 1960s.

OUR THOUGHTS

This 1969 Grand Seiko 6146-8000 is a must-have for any watch collector, this vintage timepiece has classic style and with the precision of its hi-beat 36000 movement, this Grand Seiko is a true vintage gem.