Seiko Jumbo review

peasant

Ok, as promised, here's a review of the Seiko 6138-3002, aka the "Jumbo"

I haven't measured it myself but supposedly it's 45 mm left to right (incl. crown); 48 mm top to bottom and 38 mm dial diameter ... which in the 70's counted as mahoosive, hence its alias

It's powered by the Seiko 6138 21600 bph movement with auto winder (also handwinds), crown wheel and vertical clutch



The two registers show elapsed minutes 30/60 (bottom) and elapsed hours with markers for every half hour (top). The minute register steps forward every minute, the hour register hand doesn't step but moves continously. There is no small, continuously moving second hand, so with the chrono function off, seconds are not indicated.



Day and date have a quickset function ...pull the crown out one step, turn it one way to change the day; the other to change he date.


Here it is on it's period bracelet. The bracelet is not the one originally meant for this watch, but it is of the same shape and size = thin and narrow.
We have become friends by now and the bracelet can stay (mostly because it defines the character of the watch)




view from the side:



This watch can't have seen any heavy refurbishment, the brushed surfaces are still brushed, the edges still nice and sharp.


Here's another reason why the bracelet will stay:



It's difficult to replace it with something else
The gap between lugs is an awkward 19 mm to start with. Then there is the bit in the middle between the lugs where the round bit of the case breaks through the straight edge ...this looks awful when visible ...which it is when you put the watch on a leather strap.

The end link here has already been butchered a bit to fit the non-original bracelet. Bigger, more modern bracelets will require further modification of the end links to make them fit ...or you leave the end link cover off and you're looking at that ugly bit again.


Here you can see the thick (mineral) crystal



The crystal itself is flawless, no scratches, perfect edges. The ledge it sits on ...not so much. I suspect that at some point the crystal was replaced and a hammer and chisel were used to remove the old one. The ledge has a fair few scratches and dings which shine through the edge of the perfect glass and make it look dirty/damaged

peasant

Here it is on the wrist:




Thew thin and narrow bracelet makes the watchhead look even bigger but by now I rather like that (I didn't initially)

The day shows in Arabic and English



Friday (arabic) and Sunday (english) are marked in orange/red


A view of the back



The serial number starting with 56 indicates (according to the Seiko experts) that this watch was built in 1975 / June


A comparison with my similarly sized Quondam:



Due to the lack of a bezel (and the resulting big dial) and the narrow bracelet the Seiko looks quite impressively big, especially considering its age