Don't think it will wake me up: Seiko Bellmatic 17 Jewels

A morning kiss will do a better job: Seiko Bellmatic 4006-6080

Back in the early 1990's, I was an Overseas student in Australia. I remembered I had this huge size electronic radio alarm clock to wake me up every morning. Well it was very very loud... "PA.... PA.... PA....PA...." for a good 5 Minutes before transmitting the morning news.... I guess it did a superb job as I was never late to class.... Either because I was staying up the whole night rushing for my assignment or I was woke up by the heavy pounding on my door by my annoyed neighbours. In reality, the radio alarm was not really that useful.... I was still in my dream and zzzzZZZZZZZZ with pillows soaked in my saliva.

This is a March 1976 Seiko Bell-Matic. Seiko Bell-Matic is the first automatic watch with alarm function. The Seiko Bell-Matic line was produced from late 1966 to 1978 in a variety of case and dial variations. There are 2 types of Bell-Matic, the one with 4006 and the one with 4005 movements. The 4006 automatic movements are with day and date function. 4006 calibres come in 17, 21 or 27 jewels variants. The 17 jewels being the most common, then the 27 and the 21 being the rarest of the three. And while most Bell-matic featured the day and date there were a few models that featured the date only. These were identified as a 4005 movement and were only manufactured before 1970. 

This 4060-6080  comes in gold dial and with a stainless steel case that measuring 36mm excluding the dial. These case styles are commonly know as "cushion" case and are a nice size to wear and have a good presence on the wrist. This watch used the acrylic crystal.  The gold dial worth a little bit of mentioning. It has a circular O ring where the hour markers were set in. The O ring is with micro-lines circular pattern. There is also an internal, rotating, gold chaptered ring marked with black characters. This bezel is used to set the required alarm time.

This watch has luminous gold hands and a blue-black coloured sweeping second hand. The 2 crowns are very eyes-catching. 

The most outstanding feature on these watches is the mechanical hand-wind alarm. The alarm is wound and set using the crown and engaged using the alarm button at 2 o'clock position. In addition to these functions the crown also serves to set the time and the alarm button can quick-set the date. There is no quick-set feature for the day. The day can be set by turning the crown from 10:30PM to 1AM, repeating this back-and-forth until the desired day is reached.

This watch still retain its original stainless steel bracelet with signed clasp. 

The backcase design is plain and with all the essential information only. For wearing, I still prefer the plain and flat backcase. This is still a Made in Japan Seiko. 

Seiko 4006 movement cannot be hand winded. It has a frequency of 19,800 A/h and a power reserve of 42 hours. The alarm worked by a mechanical hammer pounding on sounding spring and it is for a good 10 seconds only. If you are an antique watches lover, the ring tones give you the pleasure of nostalgia....

For lazy bone like me, I don't think this Seiko  Bellmatic 4006-6080 alarm function can do its job. Despite the fact, it rings and vibrate gently. A gentle kiss by a Japanese AV actress will be much more sufficient and a great way to kick start a fresh day.......