Vintage Seiko Lord Matic 5606-7020 Automatic 1968 Serviced UK Warranty

SPECIFICATION

Reference: Seiko 5606-7020
Movement: Seiko calibre 5606, 25 jewels
Age: March 1968
Case Size: 34mm
Case Thickness: 10mm
Lug to Lug: 40mm
Lugs: 18mm
Condition: Used vintage Seiko watch
Box & Papers: No
Case Material: Stainless steel
Warranty: 12-Months Warranty UK only

POINTS TO MENTION

• In great pre-owned condition, with light wear from use
  
• Case and bezel have some light scratches and marks
• Vertically brushed dial
  
• English and Kanji day wheel
• Fully serviced with original metal working quickset
  
• Paired with an unworn black leather strap
  

THE WATCH

This is the Lord Matic near the beginning of the story. The 5606-7020 belongs to the first years of Seiko’s 56-series Lord Matic family, and this example has the clean, restrained look that made those early watches so effective: a vertically brushed silver dial, slim applied markers and just enough detail in the framed day-date to stop it becoming anonymous.

Lord Matic sat in an interesting place in Seiko’s late-1960s range. It brought a sophisticated new automatic movement and increasingly sharp case design into a watch below King Seiko, without trying to imitate it. That balance is still the appeal today: properly interesting Seiko engineering in a watch that remains understated on the wrist.

A BIT OF TRIVIA

The 56-series did not stay confined to Lord Matic. Its architecture became the foundation for the higher-beat 56KS King Seiko and 56GS Grand Seiko families. In other words, the family tree runs upward from watches like this one, a useful reminder that Lord Matic was part of an important period of Seiko movement development, not simply another automatic range.

OUR THOUGHTS

We have handled plenty of Lord Matics, and the early 5606 models keep making the case for themselves. We like this one because it does very little for effect: the vertical brushing gives the dial texture, the case stays compact and tidy, and the blue Saturday is the tiny flash of colour. It is exactly the sort of Seiko that becomes more interesting the closer you look.