Seiko & Citizen Watch Forum Message Archive

Hi Gene,

It's no wonder these have the same "7C" caliber quartz movement in them as the 1000m & 300m professional quartz diver watches -- because these Seiko Railway pocket watches are also PROFESSIONAL watches! They are made for Japan's national railway company (JR), and issued to engineers.

They are very large and heavy, and extremely shockproof. They have an acrylic crystal (for obvious reasons), which is very cheap and easy to replace. They are waterproof to 3 ATM, and keep time to +/-15 seconds per month.

The quality is remarkable. The way the crown "clicks" when pulled out to set the watch, and when it is pushed back in, the way the hands move so precisely, the high quality finish on the stainless steel case -- is all very impressive. I just love the ultra simple, no-nonsense, all-business dial.

They can also be purchased by the general public. They retail for 20,000 yen, but you can get a better price than retail I think. Try Higuchi-inc.com or K-seiya.com to order.

This is a relatively inexpensive watch, but is a very high quality and unique piece. If you are interested I seriously feel you won't regret getting one. I never have. After coming to Japan and seeing Japan-only Seikos in stores here, the ones which always have attracted me most have been Grand Seikos, various diver watches, and these Railway pocket watches.

If you do decide to order one, I'd recommend you request one which has a second hand which strikes directly on the indices if that is important to you. Most of them I see in stores do, and of course I made sure to buy one which does. In addition, if you prefer one which gains time instead of losing time (again, almost all do), you could request the seller watch it for a couple of days before sending it out to make sure it does -- if you are as picky as I am those things may be important.