The Elegant Seiko That Doesn’t Look Like a Seiko

Seiko 6222-5010

When you come across a selection of elegant classy watches, like the ones in the montage above, you don’t always expect to see a Seiko, but the physical barrel shaped watch in the photo is a Seiko, and it is elegant and classy.

The Seiko Skyliner 6222-5010 comes from the 60’s, a time when Seiko were kicking goals with their Grand Seiko’s and King Seiko’s. It was a time of great innovation for Seiko as their Suwa and Daini factories competed with each other to produce excellent watches, and coincided with innovations like the Tanaka Design Philosophy, and incredibly accurate movements that rivaled, (and in some circumstances beat) the prevailing Swiss movements.

Interestingly the Skyliner range was considered entry level, and the watches were considerably cheaper than their Grand Seiko and King Seiko offerings. That didn’t stop Seiko from being creative with their designs in the Skyliner range and the watch featured in this article is just one of three or four standout designs using the 6222 or 6220 movements.

Seiko’s willingness and ability to design watches that offer high level design for little money is considered by many to be one of the secrets of their success as a watch manufacturer, and this 6222-5010 is a classic example of their ability to surprise.

The Skyliner 6222-5010 is a 21 jewel, hand wound date watch with a barrel or Tonneau (Tourneau) style case manufactured from stainless steel. The case is 31mm wide (without crown), 39.6mm lug to lug, and 9.3mm thick. The strap opening is 18mm. It weighs just 35gm on a leather strap. The watch is on the smaller side, although this is not uncommon when talking elegant watches.

The case is brushed on top and polished on the sides. The lugs are short and unobtrusive.

The dial is a lesson in simplicity with an almost art-deco style. It is silver, with a sunburst effect. Simple fine lines divide the dial and indicate 5 minute separations without the complication of individual indexes or minute markers.

Unusually the date is located at the 12 o’clock position. It is encased in a circular window with black numbers on a silver background and a polished rim. Another interesting feature of this watch is the font used on the date wheel. One online reviewer described it as “outrageous”. If you are familiar with fonts it is similar to Brush Script. The combination is a small but easily read date function that seems to balance perfectly with the rest of the watch.

We have used many terms to describe this watch – small, light, simple, classy – and all those ingredients point to elegance in a rare but desirable 60’s Seiko.