Seiko watch Seikomatic Weekdater 6218-8970 Vintage 1964

SPECIFICATION

Reference : Seikomatic Weekdater 6218-8970
Movement : 6218A
Age : August 1964
Case Size : 37mm
Case Thickness : 11mm
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 light wear from use 
  
• Case has some light scratches and marks
• Case back worn from use
  
• Fully serviced movement
  
• NOS crystal and crown fitted
• Weekdater with full day window
• Paired with an unworn dark brown leather strap

The Seikomatic range has been introduced at the beginning of the 60’s. It was the upper range of the production of automatic watches by Seiko at that time. As their name means it, all Seikomatic were fitted with automatic movements. 

ABIT OF TRIVIA

The first models were time-only watches, based on the Seikosha 603 calibre and date only watches (Seikomatic Self Dater and Slimdate), based on the Seikosha 394, 395 and 840. The famous “Weekdater”, with day and date display was introduced in 1963 with the Seikosha 400 calibre. These first couple of years, the name Seikomatic was treated like a brand. The Seiko logo wasn’t present on the dials.

In 1965 the range split in to sub ranges : Seikomatic (62xx movements), Seikomatic-R (83xx movements), Seikomatic-P (51xx movements) and the name Weekdater disappeared.

In 1967, the Seikomatic name is abandoned and replaced by Business for the 6206 movement (the cases remained the same, with the same references) and Business-A for the 8305/8306 movement. In 1968, the Seikomatic-P becomes the Presmatic (calibres 5106 and 5146) and is sold at least until 1970. P and Presmatic refers to the date quickset which is triggered by pressing the crown, which had a star shape. The Presmatic range remains quite rare.

In 1968, the Lordmatic (LM) range replaced the Seikomatic/Business range, with the freshly developed 56xx movement, which would equip all mid and high range Seikos (Lord Matic, King Seiko, Grand Seiko). The Seikomatic-P/Presmatic was replaced by the Seiko LM Special 5206/5216 range.

THE WATCH

The Seiko 6218-8970, a Seikomatic Weekdater, was introduced in 1964 as a top-of-the-line automatic watch, featuring a 35-jewel, 18,000 bph hacking movement, and was the automatic equivalent of the 1964 Grand Seiko hand-wind before the first automatic GS in 1967.  The "Weekdater" designation refers to the watch's ability to display both the date and the full day of the week. A recessed crown at 4 o'clock, which was a common design feature of 1960s Seiko's. The case back, like other Seiko's of the era, often featured various designs, such as sealions, seahorses, dolphins, Olympic flames, and crowns. This model has a dolphin albeit faint. The crystal tension ring that also plays the role of the chapter ring, with the correct indexing of the chapter ring to the hour markers.

The 8970 was the earlier watch produced for a year or so from April 1964, with the 8971 taking over from late 1964 and surviving through to April 1966.

PERSONAL NOTE

A fantastic early vintage Seiko that has all the characteristics and maybe even more charm than a GS but for a fraction of the price. A fantastic edition from to any collection, brought from the past to the present, ready for you to take on in to the future.