Seiko DX - 1974 - Iridescent Dark Green Dial - Gold-Tone Day-Date Automatic

By 1974, the world had learned to take Japan seriously. Its cars, its cameras, and its watches had gone from cheap imitations to the products beating the West at industries it once owned, and in watchmaking Seiko led that charge. Confident enough now to take liberties with how a watch looked, Seiko filled its catalog with dials in deep color, blues and smoked browns and greens that shifted under the light, and the DX line was full of them. This 6106, made in 1974, wears one of those greens.

The green runs from a bright center out to near black at the edge, and the surface is cut into fine vertical bands that take the light at different angles, so the color lifts and darkens as the wrist moves. The hour markers are applied gold batons, faceted along their length with lume set at the tips, and the hands match them. The day and date share a window at three o'clock, the day in English on a white wheel, and the DX badge sits below the center with its small figure six. The dial is clean and the green still vivid, under a domed acrylic crystal that shows only light wear.

The case is gold plated over base metal, a simple round form with faceted lugs, and the plating has worn hard with the years. It holds across the top, but the lugs and the flanks of the case have rubbed back to the base metal underneath, the wear these plated cases nearly always carry once they have been worn this long. The crown sits at the side, and the back is stainless steel. It is on a later leather strap rather than anything original to the watch.

Inside is the Seiko caliber 6106, here the C version in its seventeen jewel form. It is an automatic day and date running at 21,600 beats an hour, with a hacking seconds hand that stops when the crown is pulled and a quickset that advances both the day and the date on an inward push, the day disc switching between English and a second language. Seiko built the 6106 in great numbers and built it to keep going, on the same 61xx architecture that ran the 6139 chronographs and the 6105 divers, which is much of why so many are still on wrists today. It winds from the motion of the wrist alone, with no hand winding.

The watch is running and keeping good time.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

I am happy to service any unserviced watch listed on the site, please inquire about service charges when purchasing.

All sales final.