Pogue’s lesser-loved cousins–part III

Once more, let’s look at lesser-known 6139 family memebers. We’ve had the 8002 / 6030 Franken, the pair of 7002s and a Green Hornet JDM special… now it’s time for another 6139-7060. I don’t really know why I keep picking these things up; The case shapes of some of them just don’t gel, and if the dial doesn’t pop either then they’re just not going to be keepers. That’s what happened with the green 7060.

But not this one. Of the –7060 models, it’s the only one which was built for export so doesn’t have the JDM features like the 21-jewel movement, the 5-Sports name or Speed-Timer on the dial.

I followed the usual approach of spotting it in an auction – a mixture of all sorts (mahogany cosh? bosun’s whistle?) with “assorted watches by Seiko, etc” being the key phrase in the description. Looking at the photo, I could see a 6139 and the variety of other stuff tickled my fancy too, even if it was all going to go straight back to an auction or eBay.

On arrival, I noted that the crown on the watch had snapped off so temporarily robbed a crown/stem from another 6139 before eventually replacing it. The watch itself looked in pretty good shape otherwise:

(apart from the usual gunky bracelet, but that is something I can solve… in fact, it’s a perverse pleasure I have to clean these things up, knowing that I can make a real difference without ruining it mechanically).

As a precaution, I thought I’d send it off to the maestro known as “Sir Alan” (who does Seikos and nothing else)… and it wasn’t quite as nice inside as it was on the outside. Simon (for that is his name) has a technique for installing additional jewels at points where metal rubs against metal, sometimes to just make sure whatever wear there is inside doesn’t get any worse. He performed his magic on this watch and it’s looking great. Add it to the list of “there’s more money in there than I’d ever be able to sell it for, so might as well keep it”…

This is a fairly late 6139, dating from July 1977 – note the usual Seiko “Horseshoe” case back is absent and they’d switched to a simpler style by this point.