Seiko - Precision 15J Second Setting NTT Telecom Issue JDM - 1960-1969

SEIKO Precision 15 Jewels – Second Setting – NTT Telecom Issue – JDM – 1966

This is a vintage SEIKO Precision 15-jewel hand-wound pocket watch manufactured in Japan in 1966 and issued for professional use by the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, the predecessor of today’s NTT.

This is not an ordinary SEIKO Precision pocket watch.

The case back bears the prominent institutional marking:

日本電信電話公社
66-1981

The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation was Japan’s national telecommunications organization and later became today’s NTT. Watches supplied for its professional operations represent a fascinating part of Japan’s post-war industrial and telecommunications history.

The special-purpose character of this watch is immediately visible from the dial.

The white dial features large, highly stylised Arabic numerals, vivid blue-finished hour and minute hands, and a distinctive subsidiary seconds register at 6 o’clock.

The small-seconds dial is divided into alternating yellow and white 10-second sectors. This unusual design was created to make the passage of seconds particularly easy to read during professional telecommunications work and is one of the defining visual features of the NTT telecom-issue version.

The dial is marked:

SEIKO
PRECISION
15 JEWELS
SECOND SETTING DIAFLEX
JAPAN

Another particularly important feature is SEIKO’s Second Setting mechanism.

When the crown is pulled out, the seconds hand does not stop immediately. Instead, it continues moving until it reaches the 60-second position, where it automatically stops.

This allows the watch to be synchronised precisely with an external time signal and is a sophisticated professional-use function rather than a conventional immediate hacking mechanism.

The operation is especially interesting to observe today and strongly reflects the original purpose of this Precision model as a practical professional timekeeping instrument.

Inside is a SEIKOSHA 15-jewel hand-wound mechanical movement.

The movement is marked:

SEIKOSHA
15 JEWELS

The movement displays the solid and purposeful construction associated with SEIKO’s professional pocket watches of this period, together with attractive finishing visible across the bridges and wheels.

The inner side of the case back is numbered:

6210693

Based on the production number and the period of this model, the watch dates to February 1966. The “66” appearing in the institutional case-back marking is also consistent with its 1966 telecom-service issue.

The case measures approximately 50.4 mm across, excluding the crown.

The overall height including the crown and bow is approximately 72.2 mm.

Thickness is approximately 14.5 mm.

Weight is approximately 98.4 g.

The watch has a substantial presence in the hand and retains the classic proportions of a professional Japanese pocket watch.

The blue hands contrast beautifully against the white dial, while the yellow-and-white seconds register gives the watch an unmistakable appearance that immediately separates it from standard SEIKO Precision examples.

The case shows scratches, plating wear, oxidation and other age-related signs of professional use. The dial, hands and crystal also show natural signs of age.

These traces of use are consistent with the watch’s history as a professional working instrument and form part of its authentic vintage character.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.

The Second Setting mechanism is operating, and the watch has been confirmed running at the time of listing.

The service history is unknown. As this is a vintage watch approximately 60 years old, accuracy, power reserve and water resistance have not been measured and are not guaranteed.

Please consider this primarily as a collectible historical timepiece.

If you intend to use it regularly, inspection and servicing by a qualified watchmaker are recommended.

No original box or papers are included.

With its 日本電信電話公社 institutional marking, NTT telecommunications history, yellow-and-white 10-second sector dial, vivid blue hands, 15-jewel SEIKOSHA movement and distinctive Second Setting mechanism, this is far more than an ordinary vintage SEIKO pocket watch.

It is a surviving professional instrument from Japan’s post-war telecommunications era and a particularly distinctive example of the SEIKO Precision line, combining mechanical ingenuity, industrial history and an immediately recognisable special-purpose dial design.

Shipping:

The watch will be carefully packed and shipped from Japan with tracking. All necessary export documentation will be prepared appropriately for international delivery.