Many Seiko watches from the 1960’s and 70’s have rightly gone down as legit design classics, building a considerable following amongst watch collectors.
Conversely, some truly gorgeous watches from the era were produced by the same company have quietly slipped below the radar for the simple reason they were designed for the typically slighter of wrist, ie: women - like this svelte full-serviced 1975 Seiko 2205-0649 Lady Sports automatic women’s diver here.
And it’s a shame, because many of these smaller watches feature exquisite details – the Seiko 2205 was made by the Japanese company from at least 1970 through the late 1970s. The most popular were the 2205 divers – the earliest counterparts of the 150M full-size divers (such as the Seiko 6105 and 6309) - which featured a variety of dial colors.
Seiko entitled the slim watch line the "Lady Sports" line, and it's target demographic was young women, and the Japanese company rolled out its marketing campaign during summer of 1971 with the catchphrase, "Oh! Adventure." The campaign focused on the enjoyment of, "a sense of freedom and active fasion, [and] womens sports are always there." Read more about this campaign in one of Seiko's monthly sales campaign literature, here.
The Seiko Lady Sports line featured a wide variety of design and color. And Seiko's plan with the Lady Sports line was hardly novel - the Japanese watch manufacturer discovered the secret to manufacturing mass-produced stylish and affordable watches.
And it made them exceedingly well...
This emerald Seiko 2205 comes on a stainless-steel mesh bracelet, and with nylon strap, springbar tool, and rugged travel case.
1975 Seiko 2205-0649 Women's Automatic Dive Watch
DIAL: Crisp black Seiko-signed dial, no imperfections; date function at the 3 o'clock position works as designed. Lume shines.
CASE: Stainless-steel case measures 29mm (31.5mm including crown) x 33.5mm, with matching caseback; 13mm lug width. Bezel insert is largely intact, with some limited wear, and bezel rotates as designed.
CRYSTAL: Slightly-domed Hardlex crystal, no scratches, or cracks.
BAND: This 2205 automatic diver comes on a stainless-steel mesh bracelet, which will fit up to an approx. 7.50 inch wrist; it also comes with a black nylon strap.
MOVEMENT: Seiko 2205 calibre Hi-Beat automatic movement, which can also be manually wound and beats at 28,800 BPH, manufactured in February 1975. We have performed a full service on this Seiko diver.
CROWN: Unsigned stainless-steel crown.