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An original vintage early 1970s Seiko watch advertisement for a range of Seiko dress and sport diver automatic watches, under the slogan "Seiko, the new international sport."

 

Dimensions: Approx. 8.25 inches wide by 11 inches high.

 

Easily discernible, Seiko rally divers obtained their nickname from the distinctive checkered pattern on its bezel inserts, which resembled a checkered racing flag.  The Seiko rally series began with the 6106 models, followed shortly thereafter by the 6119s, with a overlap in production between both.

 

The 6119 duplicated the aesthetic of the 6106 and was meant to improve the design on the 6106 – based on the popularity of the 6106 – and also came out with numerous new variants.  Of note, the 6106 models were produced sans the “Seiko 5”-signed dial and only came in two colorway variants, unlike the plethora of variants the subsequent 6119 came in.

 

Seiko debuted its 6106 dive watches in 1967 as its first “Sport Diver.” Notably, the 6106 was Seiko's first dive watch...sport diver, that is.  The Seiko 6106 series - just like its 6119 little brother subsequent - was a line of 70-meter diver watches; the line was aimed at “light” water sports that gained in widespread popularity during the late 1960’s and 1970’s (hence the 70-meter dive rating); however, these dive watches did not feature diving bezels.

 

As noted by Worn&Wound, Seiko’s marketing ads boasted about the 6106’s diving capability, that was “Proof," all the way down to a whopping 229 feet (!); other ads made the line seem like the choice for surfers.  Granted this makes for some shallow diving, but not in the era these debuted.

 

Regardless, Seiko's 6106 and 6119 "saucer" sport divers - like all the other watches in this advert - was a popular offering and, most importantly, affordable...as shown by the prices on this ad.

Early 1970s Seiko "The New International Sport" Automatic Watch Advertisement

$69.99Price
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