The automatic movement within the 5606 Lord-Matic - like the 1973 Seiko 5606-7000 "Nippon Telegraph and Telephone" award dress automatic here, on its original stainless-steel LM-signed bracelet - was considered by Seiko to be such an excellent movement it would be subsequently re-worked and placed within Seiko's legendary (and quite accurate) Grand Seiko’s.
 
But why do we call this Seiko a "Nippon Telegraph and Telephone"?  On the back of this watch, engravings in Kanji Japanese denote this watch was given to a loyal employee of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in 1973.  This is the second such Seiko dress automatic we've sold in recent years, with the first one here.
 
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) is a large Japanese telecommunications holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and is ranked 55th in the Fortune Global 500 as the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of revenue and the third largest publicly traded company in Japan after Toyota and Sony as of mid-2022.  
 
During a post-WWII era, Japan moved from light to heavy industries and in 1952 NTT was established as a state monopoly to take over the Japanese telecommunications system operated by AT&T during the U.S. occupation of Japan, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (as it was then known, 日本電信電話公社) was privatized in 1985 to encourage competition in the country's telecom market, a decision that made Japan the first Asian country and second worldwide (after the U.S.) to deregulate its telecoms market. 
 
As part of this privatization, the NTT was reorganized as a hybrid public-and-private venture, which was traded on the stock exchange but governed by a law mandating more than one-third of the corporation was required to be owned by the Japanese Government.
 
In the modern era, the NTT is a conglomerate employing more than 300,000 people across subsidiaries that include mobile network operations, energy, finance, advanced technology and IT infrastructure and integration services.  The Japanese company’s footprint is global, spanning Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa, the United States and the European Union. 
 
NTT continues to innovate and recently announced new advancements in microchips and optical and wireless communications networks.  In 2023, the company was ranked 56th in the Forbes Global 2000.
 
The Lord Matic finds its genesis in the Lord Marvel (first made in 1956), with the LM series eventually positioned beneath the King Seiko, but with a sophisticated new automatic movement and high quality case design and finishing.
 
By 1968, the LM line had greatly increased in popularity and its movement, the 5606, became one of the most ubiquitous Seiko mechanical movements of the time - the 5606 also formed the basis of higher beat variants fitted to many of the automatic King Seiko and Grand Seiko models of the early to mid 1970’s.
 
Seiko’s Lord Matic’s were produced at the middle of their lineup, price wise, between 1968 and produced through the 1970’s.  Of unique note, not only does the Lord Matic 5606 have a hacking feature, it can be wound via both its automatic movement and by hand.  As with all 560x automatic movements, care must be taken not to change the day/date between 9 and 3 o'clock positions, as gear damage may result.
 
This Seiko 5606 comes on its original stainless-steel bracelet, and with nylon strap, springbar tool, and rugged travel case.