Seikomatic SilverWave J12082, ca 1961-64

A couple of years after the presentation of the Laurel Alpinist, the first sports oriented watch made by Seiko, the japanese manufacturer had to fill a important vacuum in their ranges : a diver’s watch. While the first swiss manufacturers to propose a diver’s watch chose to develope a case with an outer rotating bezel (Rolex, Blancpain), Seiko chose another technical solution which would become popular in Japan (Citizen Auto Dater, Orient King Diver) : an inner rotating bezel triggered by the crown.
The SilverWave was born, as a declination of the Seikomatic or the Sportsmatic. We will focus here on the Seikomatic J12082 version.

Presentation

The design of this SilverWave is absolutely jawdropping. The case is simple and elegant and leaves room for the dial and the inner bezel. There is only one crown to set the time and adjust the bezel, in opposition to the 2 crowns generally seen on watches with an inner bezel.
The watch only displays time and as usual on most Seiko, you can’t wind the mainspring manually.

The dial & hands

There were 2 versions of the dial, the most popular is the rarer one with the crossed pattern, something which is quite unique I think. The SilverWave mention is written with a cursive font and will be kept until the quartz era SilverWaves from the 80’s.
The second version of the dial lacks that crossed pattern but has a “Water 50 proof” mention just under the SilverWave name.
Each hour marker has a luminous square on its inner side.
The inner bezel has a standard 60-minute scale and can be white or black.
The hands are Dauphine with luminous matter at their centres. I think they are the same than the ones on the Alpinist and the Weekdater 6206-8990.

The case

The case is made of stainless steel and has a screwed back.
The back has the SilverWave logo which reminds of course the great wave of Kanagawa from Hokusai. The crown is quite big so you can handle it easily (too easily maybe, when you’re diving ?) and is common to several Seiko models with an inner bezel (Seiko 6217 for example).
The crystal is an acrylic glass, pressed on the case and held by the outer bezel. Its profile is particular and maintains the inner rotating bezel in place. There are 18 mm between the lugs.

The movement

The Seikosha 603 movement is the one usually found in the Seikomatic, in its 20 jewels version. It’s a simple calibre, reliable and cheap to maintain.

In conclusion

This Seikomatic SilverWave is a milestone in the production of the Seiko. They are not so easy to find, especially in good condition, even in Japan. Many of these J12082 have wear, sometimes even heavy wear with faded bezels, stained dials and broken crystals.

But if you can find one, I swear you’ll smile the first time you’ll wrap it around your wrist.