The Seiko 8M26 is one of the company's more unique watches (which says a lot) - like this matte olive PVD mid-1988 Seiko Avenue 8M26-7030 chronograph, only released in Japan, combined with a quality directional compass - debuting in 1988, and was released in a variety of variants.
The Avenue represents an era when Seiko was rapidly expanding its quartz offerings, developing each with more and more complications - the 8M26 has a literal laundry list of these, to include time, stopwatch, alarm, and timer.
And add one more - we've added a compact compass to the watch, which slides on the strap before you start your adventure, providing a rather useful and neccessary tool for orienteering the journey. All great outdoor adventures start with one step - and it always great to know what direction to take that first step in.
Its possible Seiko intended this Avenue variant for military forces, given its military-sized nature, green/black PVD coloring, fixed lugs, and hook hole between the chronograph buttons.
While this Avenue does what all watches should, ie: tell time, the most interesting feature on the Avenue is the small subdial and functions mentioned above, which give the watch its "dancing hands" nickname. Function is changed by turning the crown either way which moves the red subdial marker to the desired feature - in clockwise order these are: Time, Time alarm, Alarm set, Timer, '0' hand micro adjust alignment, and Stopwatch.
When the Seiko 8M26 Avenue debuted in 1988, it won the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) foundation’s Good Design Award program, sporting their famed “G Mark” symbol. The JDP G Mark award program is a uniquely comprehensive platform for design evaluation and advocacy, and honors exemplary design in many areas – all with the potential to drive industrial growth and enrich lives. The award program has a distinguished history and has grown to an unmatched scale over its more than 60 years in existence.
This 8M26 Avenue comes with three nylon straps, rugged travel case, strap compass, and springbar tool. The watch functions are set in an atypical manner, and a PDF of the instructions can be found, here.
JDM 1988 Seiko Avenue 8M26-7030 Chronograph
DIAL: Detailed matte dark olive dial, with crisp legible writing. The selector on the feature selector at the six o'clock position remains a vibrant red. Lume on hands retains its shine following exposure to strong light.
CASE: Matte olive PVD-coasted stainless-steel case measures 37mm (w/o crown and lanyard, 45mm with) x 42mm, with matching caseback and fixed lugs - bezel writing intact and readable. Case lines remain sharp.
CRYSTAL: Seiko-correct Hardlex crystal, no deep scratches or cracks.
BAND: The Avenue comes with three 18mm nylon straps - a floral strap; black strap; and beige strap. All feature stainless-steel hardware combined with a range of hardware (stainless-steel, black, and matte black).
MOVEMENT: Seiko 8M26 four jewel quartz movement, operating at 32,768 Hz, manufactured in April 1988. All functions work as designed.
CROWN: Unsigned matte black PVD-coated stainless-steel crown.
CHRONOGRAPH PUSHERS: Matte black PVD chronograph pushers depress with satisfying click – no stick.
COMPASS: New stainless-steel matte black compass measures 30mm in circumference, and will fits up to a 18mm wide strap. Slightly domed acrylic crystal.