King Seiko
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King Seiko J14102
The September 1961 edition of Seiko News announced the release of the King Seiko, a new, high class luxury watch. The opening lines of the accompanying marketing blurb acknowledges the recent increase in demand for luxury goods and references the Grand Seiko (released the previous year), Lord Marvel and Crown Special as examples of luxury Seiko watches. The article goes into some technical detail in setting out its case: the movement inherits the robust qualities of the Cronos movement, on which the King Seiko movement was based. The use of jeweled holes in the top and bottom of the barrel reduces friction, allowing full use of the mainspring’s output; the self-greasing mainspring provides stable output over a long period of time; the use of an adjustable stud lever as well as regulator arm allows for elimination of beat error. All of these attributes “place the King Seiko as second only to the Grand Seiko in domestic products”.
This first King Seiko was offered in 100 micron (later 80 micron) gold-filled- or stainless steel-cased variants. It employs conservatively-styled, three-part cases of 34.8mm diameter with slender, lightly bevelled lugs.
For the full account of the restoration of this 1963 example, please click here.
New!
King Seiko 15034
In September 1962, a second version of the King Seiko appeared, this one housed in a larger case, of 35.8mm diameter, and with thicker, more emphatically faceted lugs. The model number of this new watch was 15034 which arguably classifies it as the second King Seiko rather than a variation of the first, although in matters other than dimensions and a mild tweak to the lugs, there is not a lot to distinguish the two in terms of technical specifications.
The 15 of the model number is a reference to the enlargement of the dial diameter to 15 lignes (33.8 mm), compared to the 14.5 lignes (32.7 mm) diameter of the 14102 models. In the flesh, this modest increase does provide the 15034 with a presence that flexes its credentials a little more overtly in the company of the imperious Grand Seiko 3180. The gold-filled version of the 15034 was produced for just a year until September 1963, at which point production of the steel version paused, with a final short production run lasting from May 1964 until July 1964.
For an image gallery timeline of the restoration of this October 1962 Special Dial example, please click on the image.
For the full written account of the restoration please click here
King Seiko 4420-9990
The follow-up to the 15034, which appeared towards the end of 1963, was a bolder watch with improved water resistance, thanks to its screw-down case back, and thicker more emphatically beveled lugs. The earliest examples of this third generation King Seiko used the five-digit model number 44999 and featured a stop-second mechanism that employed a hooked lever acting upon a disk mounted on the shaft of the fourth wheel.
In parallel with this mainstream 44999, Seiko released a chronometer King Seiko, the 49999 (subsequently acquiring the model number 4420-9990), produced in much smaller numbers and housed in a completely different case that hinted at the grammar-of-design style that would become so iconic a few years later. The production run of this special King Seiko extended from late 1963 through to the end of 1966. Its movement was held in such high regard that it was used in the 4420-9000 Grand Seiko that would join the established Grand Seiko 5722 Self-Dater in 1967 at the top of the hand-wind model tree.
For the full account of the restoration of this 1965 example of the 4420-9990, please click here.
King Seiko 5626-7000
In spite of the fact that the King Seiko sub-brand was an invention of the Daini division of Seiko and that the entire line of hand-wind models were Daini-designed and produced, the first automatic King Seiko was developed not by Daini but by Suwa Seikosha using a high-beat variant of the automatic movement first used in the Lord Matic product line. Rather than employing a piggy-back autowinding module, as had been used in the 62- and 61-series Grand Seikos, the 56-series was designed at the outset as an automatic movement with its autowinding module integrated at the same level as the gear train.
The first wave of automatic King Seikos started conservatively in 1968 with just a single model, the 5626-7000, joined in 1969 by a second model, the 5626-7010 and broadened with additional dial options. The 5626-7000 was unusual in its construction in that it employed a monocoque case in which the movement is loaded from the top rather than through a separate removable case back.
For the full account of the restoration of this 1970 example of the 5626-7000, please see the series of four posts starting here.
King Seiko 5245-6000
The Suwa division 56-series (see above) was introduced in 1968 and sustained in high-beat form until 1975 and in low-beat form until as late as 1978. The Daini division had, to this point, arguably produced the more ground-breaking designs, and not wanting to be seen to be resting on its laurels, set about designing its own smaller high-beat automatic calibre as a direct competitor to the Suwa 56 series. This new calibre was the 52-series, introduced initially as the 5206 in 1970 and fitted to a number of different Lordmatic designs. A year later, chronometer-spec 5245 and 5246 movements appeared in a small number of King Seiko Special Chronometers, the best known of which the 5245-6000 and 5246-6000, featuring a monocoque case design.
For the full account of the restoration of this late 1971 example, please click here.
King Seiko 4502-7001
For the first seven years of its existence, the King Seiko evolved slowly but steadily through a series of beautiful hand-wind models, all of which powered by variations of the 44-series movement, itself a refined development of the Cronos 54A movement, dating from the late 1950s. In 1968, Daini replaced the 44 family with the thoroughly modern high-beat hand-wind 45 calibre, running at 36000 beats per hour, and undoubtedly one of Seiko’s finest hours. That movement would go on to serve both King Seiko and Grand Seiko watches until 1973.
The 4502A movement incorporates a quickset date complication with instant date changeover at midnight.
For the full account of the restoration of this 1973 example, please click here.
King Seiko 5626-7041
In 1970, six additional models were introduced into the King Seiko 56-series product line, three of which Superior Chronometers, officially certified by the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute which had been founded two years previously. One of these King Seiko chronometers was the 5626-7040, a very handsome and well-proportioned watch that would go on to become, in both its incarnations (see below), the longest-lived of all automatic King Seikos.
The 5626-7040, in common with the 5626-7000, featured a monocoque case design, with the movement accessed via the dial aperture rather than the more conventional approach via a removable screw-down case back. These unibody cases featured a removable hatch between the lower lugs to allow external fine regulation adjustment. However, in 1973, the 5626-7040 design was updated, with the unibody case changed to a screw-down case back design and the external fine adjustment feature was lost. This evolution of the 7040 was recognised in a change to the model number to 5626-7041. In all other respects, the external appearance on the wrist was identical.
For the full account of the restoration of this 1974 example of the 5626-7041, please click here.
