Vintage Watch | Seiko World Time 6117-6400 GMT from 1970

Seiko 6117-6420 World Time (Aug 1970): White Dial, City Ring Working, Fully Serviced

A vintage Seiko 6117 World Time is Seiko’s last mechanical world-timer: city names on an inner ring, a red 24-hour hand, date at 3. This one is reference 6117-6420, white dial, made Aug 1970. The dial has not aged. The case is good and unpolished. The inner city ring turns as it should. The movement has been fully serviced and is running smooth.

What is a Seiko 6117 World Time?

Seiko’s first World Time was the 6217, around the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, at 18,000 bph. In late 1969 Seiko replaced it with the 6117-6400 family and kept it in production until 1976. New cushion case, new hands, Caliber 6117B. Two market numbers share the watch: 6117-6400 and 6117-6409. White dials are coded 6420T, which is why this reference is sold as 6117-6420. Black dials of the same case are 6400T. Aug 1970 sits early in that run.

How the Seiko 6117 GMT city ring works

Hour and minute hands are local time. The red hand is a 24-hour hand and completes one turn a day, so noon and midnight are not the same mark. With the crown at rest, turning it moves the inner city ring. Line your city up with the red hand and the printed names — Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, New York, Los Angeles — show the hour there. Second crown position quick-sets the date. Third sets the time. On this example the inner ring indexes cleanly. Start, stop and travel reading all work.

Condition of this 6117-6420

White dial, no aging, original red GMT hand, applied markers intact. Case unpolished, only light use, edges still readable. Size is the 6400 cushion, not the earlier 38 mm 6117-6010: about 41 mm across, 20 mm lugs, roughly 44–46 mm lug-to-lug. Caliber 6117B has been fully serviced. Winding is smooth, the hack works, and it is keeping time as a serviced 21,600 bph automatic should.

Seiko 6117-6420 specification

Maker: Seiko

Model: World Time 6117-6420

Complication: Mechanical GMT / world time, date

Era: Aug 1970

Case: Stainless steel, unpolished, good, light use only

Case Diameter: approx. 41 mm

Lug to Lug: approx. 44–46 mm

Lug Width: 20 mm

Dial: White, no aging; original red 24-hour hand

Inner city ring: Working perfectly

Movement: Automatic Caliber 6117B, 21,600 bph, hacking, date at 3; fully serviced, running smooth

Searchers looking for a vintage Seiko 6117 World Time, a white-dial 6117-6420, or an early 1970 Seiko GMT with a working city ring will land on this page. Unaged dial, serviced movement, ring that actually turns.

Shown on a blue strap. NATO or any Kyoto Series leather colour on request.