The watch Seiko King Quartz 0853-8025 from 1976. An early King Quartz, since the King Quartz model debuted in 1975. This watch with hammered finish features a crisp white textured dial with a subtle tactile pattern. The L-shaped indices add to the character.
The case is in very good condition with only minor signs of wear, and the crystal shows light surface scratches that blend into its vintage character without compromising clarity. Paired with its original bracelet, which is remarkably comfortable to wear and adjustable to any wrist size, this King Quartz is a solid low-maintenance piece for your collection.
Details In the sweltering heat of Daini Seikosha's Tokyo workshops during the summer of 1974, engineers worked over circuit boards no larger than a postage stamp. They pursued the quartz dream Seiko ignited four years earlier with the Astron, the world's first quartz wristwatch. This was not about raw power but precision on a budget. The result was the Caliber 0853, a high-grade analog quartz movement for the King Quartz line, Seiko's upscale tribute to the mechanical past in a quartz future.
The 0853 was a feat of miniaturization: a 32.768 kHz tuning-fork resonator, the heartbeat of quartz accuracy, vibrated to divide time into 10 beats per second, surpassing the 5 beats of Seiko's earlier Cal. 39 series. Integrated circuits, etched with micrometer precision, controlled the stepping motor driving the analog hands, while a date-and-day wheel advanced at midnight. Powered by a single silver-oxide battery (SR44), it offered monthly accuracy of plus or minus 10 seconds, modest today but revolutionary for an affordable luxury watch, outpacing many Swiss automatics reliant on balance wheels and escapements.
By 1975, the 0853 powered the first King Quartz models. The 0853B variant appeared by late 1976 with minor tweaks for smoother operation. It remained a workhorse in watches priced up to a million yen until the King Quartz line ended in 1985, overtaken by twin-quartz models boasting 20 seconds per year.
