The Rolex “Cosmograph” Daytona was initially a commercial failure. For Omega, it was NASA’s choice of the Speedmaster as the official watch for the Apollo program. These include, among other things, groundbreaking functionality, a celebrity owner, or involvement in a historic event, for example. In the modern age of vintage watch collecting, several things lead watches to become highly desirable and, thus, very expensive. Heuer’s Monaco was the first automatic chronograph available to global markets While we don’t know the specific month that these watches were first sold on the retail market, there are caseback serial numbers dating back to January and February 1969. Still, unbeknownst to the Swiss group at the time, Seiko had already been producing their 6139-6000 for the Japanese domestic market. It was undoubtedly the first watch to become available to global markets. This watch was released at the Basel fair in April 1969. Heuer’s Calibre 11, in turn, debuted in the iconic square Monaco that Steve McQueen would later wear in the 1971 film Le Mans. While Zenith’s El Primero was also fully integrated (the Heuer Calibre 11 was modular), it had taken nearly a decade to develop and wouldn’t make it to the market until much later in the year. With a hefty dose of determination and ingenuity, Seiko was able to do what even the Chronomatic group – with the combined resources of multiple companies – was unable to do, build an automatic, fully integrated column-wheel chronograph movement. In any case, with that achievement still in their rearview mirror, Seiko got back to work.

As an aside, the beautifully simple and elegant 5717 serves as inspiration for Seiko’s new Presage Style60’s collection. The manufacturer had released their first chronograph movement in 1964 in the Seiko ref. Seiko had simultaneously set its sights on the same goal.

Seiko 6139 guide