Power Wheels Magazine A Notch Above
The Seiko Caliber 6309 automatic movement is famous not only as a rugged and reliable workhorse for the Japanese watchmaker’s extensive mechanical wristwatch model lineup, but also for its military pedigree. It powered the legendary 1976-1988 Seiko 6309 “Turtle” Diver’s Watch that was widely used by U.S. Navy SEALs and Special Forces in the post-Vietnam era.
Despite being a civilian casual/dress watch, our 1983 Seiko 5 6309-5230 TV Case is often referred to as the “Seiko 5 TV Military” primarily because of its retro “TV Screen” case design, which is actually a 36 mm rectangular cushion-style stainless steel case with rounded corners that mimic the design of a vintage cathode-ray tube television. The “Military” moniker refers to its 24-hour markings around the dial’s silver-tone outer ring.
Its white dial has a polished stripe that runs from 9 o’clock to the day/date window on the 3 o’clock position. Lume-lined pencil-style hour and minute hands point to polished stick-style indices while a slender seconds hand sweeps around crisp perimeter markers. Hidden lugs and a half-depressed pull-out crown at the 4 o’clock position maintains the “TV Screen” persona of this Seiko 5.
Inside its celebrated “TV Case”, its 17-jewel Seiko 6309A movement pulses at 21,600 beats per hour (BPH) or 6 beats per second or around 3 Hz. It’s an automatic-only movement that cannot be hand-wound by the crown and it doesn’t have a hacking feature where the seconds hand stops when the crown is pulled out. (Hmm… How do the Navy SEALs and Special Forces synchronize without a hacking movement? – Ed.)
We can only assume that the Navy SEALs and Special Forces operators who got used to the 6309 “Turtle” that they used in service wore a TV Case Military as their casual/dress watch when they’re out about town as civilians. After all, it’s chic, stylish and friendly-looking compared to the all-business military-spec “Turtle” that they wrap around their wrist during an “operation”. We know we would…
Model: Seiko 5 TV case
Reference No.: 6309-5230
Month/Year of Manufacture: March 1983
Type: Casual/Dress Watch
Movement: Self-Winding/Automatic
Caliber: Seiko 6309A
No. of Jewels: 17
Diameter: 36 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Lug-to-lug Length: 40 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Weight: 88 grams
