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Vintage Digital / LCD - Seiko World Times - Collectors & Owners thread

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dapellegrini

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
As I am finishing up (for now) my research on the mechanical World Time watches from Seiko - I am finding myself more and more interested in what came next - in this case specifically the Digital / LCD World Times that Seiko produced from 1977 through some point in the 1990's (to be determined).

I am starting at absolute zero here - I knew nothing about these watches a few days ago, so there is a very high likelihood that my current assumptions are not correct. I am hoping some other owners / enthusiasts can help me get this all straight! Thankfully there are a lot of catalog scans of this watch - helping me get started.

I believe there were essentially 4 watches here - going something like this:
  1. M158-500X - The original PAN AM, Lemon colored LCD
    • 1977 - 1979
    • One dial version has city names abbreviated
    • Another dial version spells out the city names
  2. A358-500X
    • June 1979 - 1982 ?
    • The follow-up to the gen 1, gets an Alarm function
    • Looks like we get a new LCD panel
  3. A239-50XX
    • Nov 1979 - 1982 ?
    • This is a completely different watch
    • Sold along side the A358
    • Had two layer LCD - so you could set the time zone using a world map screen
  4. A7X8-50XX
    • 1984 - 1990 ?
    • This is the 3rd gen of the original watch
    • Gets full city names on the dial/bezel
    • I have seen A708 and A718 versions - not sure the difference?
    • Is this the last LCD world time from Seiko?
Please help me get this correct!

Here's the start of a Google Doc:
docs.google.com

Seiko World Time - Vintage Digital Watches

2nd GENERATION - DIGITAL / QUARTZ LCD Vintage SEIKO WORLD TIME WATCHES 1977-1988 M158-500X 1977 - 1979 A358-50XX 1979 - 198_ A239-50XX 1979 - 198_ A708-5000 1984 - 1988 AUTHOR Dan Pellegrini dapellegrini@gmail.com DATES Created: September 1, 2021 Last Revised: September ...
docs.google.com docs.google.com
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
From what I have gathered it looks like this series ran through perhaps 1991, and was then replaced with the "Age of Discovery" World Timers - celebrating 500 years since Columbus discovered America. Interestingly those watches take on a much more dressy look/feel - with a return to analog dials and gold cases.

As for these digital versions - they are quite cool IMO - but no idea on how long one might reasonably expect these LCD modules to continue to work...
 
#5 ·
For the A239 series, I think this series started a bit earlier then December 1979.

I have Golfer Lanny Wadkins A239 that he was given for being in the Japanese Goldwin Cup in ether 1982 or 1983 (It was a different name from 1971 to 1981 and a different name in 1984)

It has Goldwin Cup engraved at the top and his name on the bottom

This watch is dated November 1979 so for some reason there Seiko seemed to have at least one 1979 model hanging around to be used for this.

Here is a post about it

www.watchuseek.com

Vintage Seiko A239 World Time: My first watch that was...

As some folks know, I have a soft spot for Seiko watches, vintage digital watches and quartz watches. I love Seiko and Casio vintage digital watches because both these companies created digital watches with cutting edge features (for the time) Having seen a friend recently wearing a Seiko...
www.watchuseek.com www.watchuseek.com

The pics were from the original seller, once I replaced the battery the display went back to normal (with a darker display). There are a lot of Timex, Casio, Citizen and Seiko digital watches that have good displays. Most of the time, the thing that kills them is a leaking battery.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Excellent - I have updated the doc to reflect Nov 1979. It seemed to be sold alongside the A358, which I have seen with production dates as early as June 1979 - so there is a chance the A239 also goes further back.

Awesome watch BTW.

The ads / catalog suggests there are a few LCD version - a black map, a green map and a brown/red map. There are also a couple of listings on ebay right now (from Hungary) selling NOS digital units - claiming one is the green map and one is the black map.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
I've started (very early days) indexing sales images with case back info for these digital watches. With only 65 total digital world times indexed so far, it looks like this:
  • M158: April 1977 - January 1979
  • A358: April 1979 - February 1980
  • A239: July 1979 - April 1980
  • A708: May 1984 - May 1988
  • A718: February 1984 - June 1984
You can browse the data here:

seikoworldtime.com

Image Study: Digital Seiko World Time Watches

A summary of SEIKO digital world time watches by model - and a work in progress
seikoworldtime.com

This will get built out like the mechanical watches eventually.

I have an A239-502A in the mail, and recently added the this one to my collection (the A718 at right):

Image


I've also finally put up a first revision/post on the M158-500X:

seikoworldtime.com

The Seiko World Time M158-500X - PAN AM

All about the 1st series of digital LCD world time watch from SEIKO, produced in 1977
seikoworldtime.com

I've also put up the ad/catalog scans that I could find:

seikoworldtime.com

Old Ad Scans: Seiko World Time M158-500X

A small collection of ad and catalog scans of the SEIKO World Time M158-500X
seikoworldtime.com

Those are my first write-ups on these digital world times... If you spot anything incorrect, please let me know. More soon...
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Here's a write-up on the copies of the PAN AM that you can find out there right now with very little effort. If you know of any others please send me links and or photos!

seikoworldtime.com

Counterfeits and Copies of The Seiko M158 PAN AM

As the saying goes, imitation is the highest form of flattery. And the SEIKO M158 had quite a few admirers.
seikoworldtime.com
 
#9 ·
Hi! I stumbled upon this forum while visiting the amazing page seikoworldtime.com.
I wanted to ask a question. I recently acquired a Seiko A358-5000 in pretty good aesthetical condition (Sorry for the picture, is the only one I have since the watch is at the shop). I paid $120 without knowing if it worked or not, because this watch was given by Toyota to a player of Club Nacional de Futbol of Uruguay, after winning the first Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, against Nottingham Forest in 1981. Beign a watch lover and Nacional fan, I couldn't let this pass, so I took a chance. Today I received a call from the place I usuaully take my watches and they told me that the lcd is damaged beyond repair. Is there a place besides eBay where I could get one of this modules? Thank you, and thanks for your very informative page.
Image
 
#10 ·
Hi all. I have an A358, that I purchased new on my first trip to Japan. And it was my " work " watch during my 11 years flying in USAF. Recently the display dimmed had the battery changed and no luck. Would anyone know of or recommend a service or restorer, I can contact. You can imagine the sentimental value my old friend has to me. Thanks.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
@facubolso, That's a cool watch with an awesome story. You can use this document to find the part number you are looking for - then ebay is your best bet. You will likely need to acquire a new, working module to use as a donor.



@t28mech, I think you may be in the same boat as the above - needing a functioning watch to swap modules. Some here may have advice on brightening up a dim LCD, but I've not had any luck doing that.
 
#13 ·
Hi there, this is really for @dapellegrini. Firstly thankyou for you fantastic website and research. I real pleasure to read through. I was going through some parts and was checking against your information and may have found something interesting, a A718-5030 John Cleese, but with a White dial frame.

I thought it may be a faded Yellow frame, but it definitely is not. It has the code A718-503AT. I could not find any reference to it on your website, nor on your 'official' threads. If I am correct, then there was another A718 variation.

Image
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
@xisau - With Seiko it is very common to find variants that are not seen in a catalog. All of the A718's are rare to come by, especially in good condition. They are unfortunately not very valuable, depite their rarity. I am not familiar with this dial frame variant and very interested in including it on the website.
 
#17 ·
@dapellegrini - If you need more images I can supply. It has no case back, that how I purchased it on Ebay. I do have a working module that I can use with it, but it has the documented issue of hanging when the light button is pushed. Has a fix ever been found for that issue ? TIA.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
Photos would be great - let me see what I would need to fit it into the content in terms of photos - and I will let you know.

Bummer there is no case back. There is a A708-5010 case in the service guides - for which I have never seen an actual watch, however given the screen layout here, I would say it is a A718-5030 variant most likely.

These modules are prone to failure and not repairable. Here you can see we tried:
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Thanks for that! I made a cutout of your first pic the other day and updated a couple places on the website. Thanks again! Now to find one with a case back!

seikoworldtime.com

The Seiko World Time A718-5030 - The John Cleese

All about the A718-5030 digital LCD world time watch from SEIKO, produced in 1984
seikoworldtime.com

seikoworldtime.com

Reference Cities - Changes over the Years

A history of changes to the Cities Dial Frames on SEIKO World Time digital watches from 1977 through 1988
seikoworldtime.com
 
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