Type 19 Railway Watch, Second Setting Diaflex, 1966
A Seiko Type 19 railway watch in a chrome-plated brass case, made in May 1966, with the Precision dial and the Second Setting stop-seconds mechanism.
Seikosha introduced the Type 19 in 1929 and the Japanese Ministry of Railways adopted it later that year. It stayed in production until 1971. This example has the Precision dial, signed Seiko, Precision, 15 Jewels, with Diaflex printed above the subsidiary seconds at six. The Diaflex mainspring and the Seiko name on the dial both date from 1959, while the movement keeps the Seikosha signature. The white dial carries heavy black Arabic numerals, an outer minute track and blued spade hands.
The movement is the Seiko calibre 9119A, 15 jewels, running at 18,000 beats per hour. Second Setting is the railway feature: pull the crown and the seconds hand runs on to the 60 mark and stops, so the watch can be set to the second against a station clock. The plates have a fine striped finish, and the regulator is marked F and S.
The case is 50.15mm, open face, with a plain polished bezel, a round bow ring and a fluted crown. The snap-on back is engine-turned and numbered 6512064, which dates the watch to May 1966, within the 1963 to 1971 run of the 9119 model. There are no railway issue or discard engravings on the case.
The watch winds, sets and runs correctly. The plating shows no wear-through at the edges, bow or crown, the dial is clean and the crystal has no scratches.
