King Seiko Watch 45-8010 Hi-Beat Chronometer Officially Certified 1970

SPECIFICATION

Reference : Seiko 45-8010
Movement : 45
Age : July 1970
Case Size : 36mm
Case Thickness : 10mm
Lug to Lug : 41mm
Lugs : 18mm
Condition : used Seiko watch
Box & Papers : No
Case Material : Stainless steel
Warranty : 12-Months Warranty

POINTS TO MENTION

• In great pre owned condition, with some light wear
• Case and bezel have some light marks and scratches
  
• Fully serviced movement
  
• High Beat movement 36,000 BPH
  
• Sunburst dial has light patina
• The gold medallion in fine condition
  
• KS signed crown
  
• Paired with an unworn blue leather strap

This King Seiko 45-8010 features the manually wound, high beat (as marked on the dial) calibre 45 (no date). As part of the famous 45~ series of King Seiko movements, the 45 runs at 36,000 bph, or 5 Hz, which provides greater accuracy to the wearer.

The applied hour markers on the sunburst dial are beautiful and elegant, as is the handset. Both the markers and hands are executed without lume and instead the black inlay on the minute/hour hands which sits underneath a sweeping silver second hand with the hour marker silver and through its centre a single black stripe. The case is curved and polished with a polished bezel. One of our favourite details is the gold King Seiko medallion placed in the centre of the case back, a testament to the quality of construction and design present in the watch.

A BIT OF TRIVIA

The inter-corporate competition between Grand Seiko and King Seiko in the 1960s and '70s is a story that has fascinated all who have heard it. At that point in time, Seiko had two factories to create watches. Grand Seiko was produced at the Suwa factory; King Seiko was produced at the Daini factory. The rationale between having these two separate factories was to promote internal competition in order to build the absolute best watches possible. This 1970 King Seiko is an excellent example of exactly that.

Caliber 45 was also the last hand assembled King Seiko movement as the models that came afterwards were built on automated production lines. Perhaps, this means that the 45KS has a little more connection in collector’s minds with the Daini Seikosha artisans more than subsequent models. It is also the one and only high beat movement from the Daini factory and was also their last purely hand-wound movement.

AA

The 45KS movement gave rise to another chronometer grade watch to follow on from the eariler King Seiko 4420-9990. By this time, the King Seiko chronometers were being independently certified by the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute (JCII, established December 1968) to the same level as the old Swiss standards. At that time chronometer grade was defined to be a mean over five positions within -1.0 to +10.0 seconds/day which corresponded to Seiko’s internal ‘A’ grade accuracy. This independent certification led Seiko to mark the dials with ‘Officially Certified'

OUR THOUGHTS

The King Seiko 45-8010 Hi-Beat Chronometer Officially Certified stands among the finest timepieces ever produced by Seiko. Its exceptional accuracy, refined design, and rich history make it a highly sought-after piece that won’t stay in our collection for long. Carefully preserved and brought from the past to the present, this KS is ready to be enjoyed today and carried forward into the future..