Vintage Watch | Seiko 5740-0080 Pocket Watch (True High Beat)

Seiko 5740-0080 Pocket Watch: True High-Beat 36,000 VPH, Textured Dial, Original Leather Jacket

By the late 1960s the wristwatch had already won the everyday, yet Seiko still built this compact open-face pocket watch around something unexpected: Calibre 5740C, Japan’s first serial true high-beat at 36,000 VPH — ten beats a second, faster than the familiar 28,800 “hi-beat” class. This October 1967 Seiko 5740-0080 pairs that smooth sweeping seconds hand with a mint textured silver-white Roman dial and ships with its original Seiko leather jacket and burgundy braided cord. Pocket pieces were still carried then — jacket breast pocket, waistcoat, desk drawer — and this one makes that story easy to keep living.

Why collectors seek the Seiko 5740-0080 pocket watch

Reference 5740-0080 cased the Lord Marvel–family high-beat movement in a polished stainless open-face dress case. Collectors hunt it for the rare mix of pocket-watch form and cutting-edge 1960s Seiko mechanics: 23 jewels, hand-wind, centre seconds, Diashock, and that rapid heartbeat you can see in the sweep. The textured “snowflake” / linen dial with printed black Roman numerals is the look people remember — and on this example it remains exceptionally clean.

This Seiko 5740-0080 (October 1967)

Caseback confirms 5740-0080, stainless steel, serial 700260 — dated October 1967. Published size for the ref is about 38 mm across, ~10.5 mm thick, and ~55 mm overall with the pendant bow. The dial is a fine-grain silver-white texture with black Roman numerals, dark spade / leaf hands, and a thin central seconds hand under a domed acrylic crystal. It comes complete with the original embossed SEIKO leather jacket and burgundy braided cord with tassel — the protective set that helped these dress pocket watches survive.

Seiko 5740-0080 condition & what you receive

Merchant emphasis is on a mint dial — crisp texture, no aging — and a bright polished case. The caseback shows normal fine hairlines from pocket life, and the original leather jacket has honest vintage creasing; both are expected character, not defects that spoil the piece. You receive the watch with its original Seiko leather jacket and burgundy braided cord.

Specification:

Maker: Seiko

Model: 5740-0080 Pocket Watch (Lord Marvel calibre)

Era: 1967 Oct

Case Diameter: 38 mm

Thickness: ~10.5 mm

Overall (with bow): ~55 mm

Case Condition: Polished stainless · fine hairlines on caseback · bright front

Dial Condition: Mint textured silver-white Roman dial · no aging

Crystal: Domed acrylic crystal

Movement: Cal. 5740C · 23 jewels · hand-wind · true high-beat 36,000 VPH · centre seconds

Accessories: Original Seiko leather jacket · burgundy braided cord with tassel

An October 1967 Seiko pocket watch with Japan’s first serial true high-beat, a mint textured Roman dial, and the original leather jacket still protecting it.