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American astronaut William Pogue made horological history during his 84 days orbiting Earth. By wearing his Seiko 6139 for the Skylab 4 mission between November 16 1973 and February 8 1974, he bestowed the watch the honour of being the first automatic chronograph in space.
“Although this was not an officially sanctioned watch and it was unauthorised, I put it in the pocket of my space suit during launch prep and put it on shortly after inserting into orbit (when we got unsuited),” the pilot explained in 1993. There had been a delay in the astronauts receiving their official Nasa watches, he said, so he had used his own Seiko in training to time thruster burns.
Today, Seiko is marking the 55th anniversary of the release of its 1969 Speedtimer by unveiling a new design inspired by the distinctive yellow-dial version that Pogue wore. The launch also falls during the centenary year of the Seiko name appearing on a dial.
The Japanese watchmaker introduced the 5 Sports Speedtimer in 1969 following two years of development. A promotional booklet distributed to retailers at the time positioned the brand’s first automatic chronograph as “a dynamic sports watch developed with a focus on young people”, according to Noboru Miyadera, deputy director of the Seiko Museum Ginza in Tokyo.
Seiko cannot determine when the model, sold worldwide, was discontinued. “However, we assume that sales were withdrawn due to the decline in production of mechanical watches during the ’70s, when quartz watches gained immense popularity in the global watch market,” says a Seiko spokesperson.
Pogue bought his Seiko 6139 — a version now known by collectors as the Pogue — for $71 on June 13 1972 (equivalent to about $530 today), according to Heritage Auctions. The US auction house sold the watch for $5,975 in 2008.
In a letter Pogue wrote in October 1993, which was included in the sale, he said that, while in space, he wore the Seiko on his left wrist set to US Central Time and his Nasa-authorised piece (an Omega Speedmaster) on his right set to Greenwich Mean Time. He used the Seiko for 19 years after the Skylab 4 mission, on which three astronauts conducted scientific experiments aboard the first US space station (it was Pogue’s only space flight).
Seiko’s new launch is the Prospex “Pogue” Solar Chronograph 1969 Re-interpretation. And it has designed the yellow dial, the hands, and the red and blue bezel to be reminiscent of the original. The piece’s 41.4mm stainless steel case houses a V192 movement.
The new watch costs £600, which is comparable to prices for vintage Pogues on the secondary market. UK auction house Fellows sold one for £637, including the buyer’s premium and fees, in December last year.
Steven Yambo, a watch specialist at Fellows, says there has been a “steady increase in prices realised” for the Pogue over the past five years, with “good” examples now achieving a hammer price of £500-£600. “Although it’s a watch that seems to be increasing in popularity, they still represent good value compared to some other chronographs by the big Swiss brands,” he says. “More and more collectors” are becoming attracted to the quality and aesthetic of the “eye-catching” Pogue, he adds, amid a wider interest in the design aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s.
A spokesperson for eBay says searches for the Pogue on the ecommerce platform increased more than 10 per cent between July and December last year, with an average price of £599 achieved for those sold during that period.
Yambo understands from collectors and others in the trade that “good examples are being snapped up”. “Once they are in someone’s personal collection, they’re not reappearing back on the open market for some time,” he says.
This year also marks the centenary of ‘Seiko’ appearing on a watch dial. The brand’s founder, Kintaro Hattori, established the Seikosha factory in Tokyo in 1892. It created its first pocket watch — the Time Keeper — in 1895 and its first wristwatch — the Laurel — 1913. Back then, dials bore the model name rather than that of the company.
In December 1924, a new wristwatch was launched, featuring an enamel dial, blue hour and minute hands, a seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock and the factory’s smallest movement at that time. It was going to be called Glory. However, Miyadera says Hattori instead “wanted a special name to mark a fresh start” after the company had endured hardship. The Seikosha factory and Hattori’s watch store had been destroyed by fire caused by the Great Kanto earthquake in September 1923.
A temporary factory was built and production of wall clocks resumed in March 1924. “The word ‘Seiko’ in Japanese means exquisite and precision manufacturing, and is also a homonym for a word meaning ‘success’,” Miyadera explains.
Fellows has seen “an increase in bidders” for Seiko watches generally in recent years, as collectors “get value for their money”, according to Yambo. He sees the Pogue becoming a sought-after “iconic Seiko model”. There is “an affinity between watch fans and space exploration”, he says. “It stands to reason, then, that the Pogue’s link to space exploration . . . makes it popular with collectors. I wonder if Colonel Pogue had any idea that using this reliable watch for his work in space would lead to such popularity.”
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