u/mikelew65

Pretty odd but cool watch here: a 1963 Citizen Ace "Great Wave off Kanagawa."  The Ace, launched in 1961, was part of Citizen’s early 60s 21-jewel, mid-grade, hand-wound lineup. Japan had been awarded the 1964 Olympics a few years earlier and this model specifically was built as a potential souvenir for the thousands of expected tourists. These Olympics, in part, involved massive Japanese industrial efforts by Citizen, Seiko (official Olympic timekeeper) & Orient to show new technological prowess only two decades removed from WWII. If you don't already know about the art on the dial, it's from 36 Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai and is one of the most famous art pieces in Japanese history. The image STILL is on souvenirs. 😂

The Seiko Speedtimers of the 1970s had some of the era's best Seiko dials. This 1972 JDM 6139-6032  sometimes gets called the "Coke" for its black swath on the bezel or, alternately, the "Black Pogue" for the close similarity to its more famous gold dial cousin to which it shares the same 21-jewel, column‑wheel chronograph movement. 

It was an interesting era for Seiko, right? Just three years before this watch came out, Seiko introduced the game-changing quartz Astron. By 1972 has begun to produce the more affordable VFA  quartz which would destabilize the whole foundation of the Swiss watch industry along with Seiko's own mechanical watch lines.

The 1969 Seiko Hi-Beat 6159-7001 is my favorite-ever Seiko dive watch. Seiko built this model directly following the legendary 62MAS. For this diver -- the 7000 in '68 and the slightly upgraded 7001 in '69 -- Seiko built a monocoque case surrounding the 36000bph Grand Seiko 6159A caliber, which is a 25‑jewel automatic & hand‑winding workhorse. The watch is rated for 300m in theory (which is 297 meters more than my personal depth rating). It's sort of the great-grandfather Tuna. It's achilles heel? The "sealed can” mainspring barrel. Not looking forward to that failing. But for now, it runs like a champ. Lume still hits (second pic).

The 1969 Seiko Hi-Beat 6159-7001 is my favorite-ever Seiko dive watch. Seiko built this model directly following the legendary 62MAS. For this diver -- the 7000 in '68 and the slightly upgraded 7001 in '69 -- Seiko built a monocoque case surrounding the 36000bph Grand Seiko 6159A caliber, which is a 25‑jewel automatic & hand‑winding workhorse. The watch is rated for 300m in theory (which is 297 meters more than my personal depth rating). It's sort of the great-grandfather Tuna. It's achilles heel? The "sealed can” mainspring barrel. Not looking forward to that failing. But for now, it runs like a champ. Lume still hits (second pic).

The 1969 Seiko Hi-Beat 6159-7001 is my favorite-ever Seiko dive watch. Seiko built this model directly following the legendary 62MAS. For this diver -- the 7000 in '68 and the slightly upgraded 7001 in '69 -- Seiko built a monocoque case surrounding the 36000bph Grand Seiko 6159A caliber, which is a 25‑jewel automatic & hand‑winding workhorse. The watch is rated for 300m in theory (which is 297 meters more than my personal depth rating). It's sort of the great-grandfather Tuna. It's achilles heel? The "sealed can” mainspring barrel. Not looking forward to that failing. But for now, it runs like a champ. Lume still hits (second pic).

Enicar made such great watches in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Enicar was an early 20th Century Swiss familial offshoot from Racine Watches. (The name literally is "Racine" spelled backward.) In the 1960s, the company became known for adventurer and outdoors-focused watches such as the Sherpa and Sherpa Ultradive line. This one is a beauty with its 40mm pillow‑case, Super Jet dial with racing‑style 24‑hour ring and checkered GMT hand. (The upper bezel turns the yellow-white 24hr ring.) Like a bunch of Swiss brands, the original Enicar didn't survive the Quartz revolution, although the brand-name lives on in some form.