Seiko 6139

A little bit of history

In this race for the first automatic chronograph, the Japanese giant also seems to have its importance. It is, however, much more difficult to determine precisely when Seiko presented its first automatic chronograph or when the manufacturer made it available to the public in shops.

According to some sources, the company launched its 6139 automatic chronograph on the Japanese market in May 1969. However, it is not known whether this "launch" was simply a press event (in parallel with Zenith in January 1969), or whether the samples in question were delivered to Japanese shops at that time.

Seiko did not seek to compete with other brands and be the first to bring out an automatic chronograph. For them this product was just one product among many. Quartz was, in their eyes, more important and paramount to demonstrate their ability to produce such a caliber.a bigger battle than mechanical movements was being fought, the future was bright and well quartz, cheaper to produce, in the future, smaller, more robust and more accurate.

Seiko continued the development of automatic chronographs, replacing the 6139 and 7015 of the 1970's with the current 6S series and 8R series.