Seiko 5 Actus: The Start of the Affordable Timepiece

I present to you, the Seiko 5 Actus. It is the ancestor of modern-day Seiko 5 series.

I managed to find this JDM Actus locally, although in a bad shape. A quick polish and a movement regulation made this into a great daily watch with an incredible history. Only issue now is its missing bezel haha.

The Seiko 5 Actus was the beginning of the quality affordable watch. Cheap, nasty watches have always been around, as well as expensive, quality watches, but the average man wasn't able to afford a quality timepiece.

Seiko came up with this, the 5 Actus line (subsequently shortened to just "Seiko 5) named after the 5 attributes (acts) that the watch needed to have. While these are disputed, the general consensus is this:

1. Diaflex (unbreakable mainspring),

2. Diashock (Seiko's shock-resistant design, equivalent to the Swiss "Incabloc"),

3. Automatic winding,

4. day/date indication, and

5. Water-resistant.

This was one of the earliest options for the common man to have an automatic watch, so Seiko was proud of emphasizing it by hiding the crown of the 5 series in part of the case as users of these movements will not need to wind the watch up while wearing it.

Seiko 5 was the first, and then came the Orient 3 Star (also known as Tri-Star and Standard) which had its own attributes: quality, design, and price; and the Citizen Eagle 7 (the "7" came without acts but the number is higher so it was good for marketing), all competing in the same category with similar attributes and price.

All three lines are still going strong and are the perfect alternative to the nasty fashion watches, for those with eyes to see.