Reference Cities - Changes over the Years

A Collectible Evolution

---

The most interesting aspect of a vintage world time watch is undoubtedly the choice of reference cities used. It provides a portal back in time, to the geo-politics of a bygone era. The changes made throughout a long production run like this one (more than 13 years in this case) offer even more insight, bringing to life a broader perspective of the political evolution from year to year and across decades. These changes also make the watch and all of its iterations highly collectible.

There were 6 different bezels produced between 1964 and 1976, in 2 different colors, plus a special gold edition. That's 13 different bezels in all.

The bezel started with 26 cities listed, and 26 time zone marker positions (little arrows to align to the GMT hand) - if you include the DL (International Date Line). By the end of the run, SEIKO had increased this to 29 cities (30 if you include the GMT indicator), and 28 time zone marker positions (including DL).

Cities that started on the original bezel but were eventually dropped

Cities that were added after the original version

Dharan is the only city that was added and later dropped. Here is a closer look at each set of bezels and their respective changes.

The Reference, First Version

---

Here is the first cities ring/bezel. It was used on all 6217-7000 watches in 1964 and 1967. Note, the cities text is in all black on the silver bezel, and the text is all white on the black bezel.

Total Cities: 26
Total Markers: 25 + DL = 26

Map of the Cities

---

The Second Version

---

With the Asian Games version of the watch, SEIKO released an updated cities ring/bezel. The changes include:

• Rangoon moves from the outer ring to the inner ring
• Bangkok moves from the inner ring to the outer ring
• Singapore is added to the inner ring
• The inner cities text color changes from black to blue on the silver bezel

This new bezel was used on all 6217-7010 watches, including the lumed versions in 1967. It was also used on the 6117-601X through March of 1968.

Total Cities: 27
Total Markers: 26 + DL = 27

Map of the Cities, August 1966 - March 1968

Additions in Green, Removals in Red

---

The Third Version

---

In 1968 SEIKO again updated the cities ring/bezel, this time mid-production of the 6117-601X. Based on the Image Data, it appears that the 6117-601X production started using the prior series' cities bezel before switching to this new bezel in April of 1968.

The changes:

• GMT added as its own Time Zone position on the ring
• London is stacked with Paris-Rome at the same Time Zone position
• Dharan replaces Reunion
• Mexico City replaced Chicago
• Buenos Aires replaces Santiago
• DL (The International Date Line indicator) is now colored, blue on the black bezel and red on the silver bezel

Total Cities: 27 + GMT = 28
Total Markers: 26 + DL = 27

Map of the Cities, April 1968 - 1969

Additions in Green, Removals in Red

---

The "Error Bezel"

---

The third version of the bezel is the introduction of the so-called "Error Bezel". This is where the reference cities have GMT and London marked as different time zones, instead of stacked one above the other in the same time zone (or just not listing GMT at all). This is in fact correct and not an error. In 1968, the United Kingdom (re)implemented British Summer Time (BST), effectively shifting London to GMT+1 during the summer months. This was something that the United Kingdom had done in the past.

Click here to read more. BST was effective from October 1968 through October 1971, and is accurately reflected on this and future bezels.

Error Bezels account for a minimum production of 276,835, or about 38.921% of all watches in this series. The black error bezel is substantially less common than the white/silver error bezel. This breaks down as:

• 150,813 of white/silver bezels, or about 21.203% of all watches in this series.
• 126,022 of black bezels, or about 17.718% of all watches in this series.

The Fourth Version

---

With the release of the 6117-640X, we get another revised cities ring/bezel.

The changes include:

• Cairo moves from the outer ring to the inner ring
• Moscow moves from the inner ring to the outer ring
• Tehran is added to the inner ring
• The text color on the black bezel changes from blue to red/orange

Total Cities: 28 + GMT = 29
Total Markers: 27 + DL = 28

Map of the Cities, December 1969 - 1970

Additions in Green, Removals in Red

---

The Fifth Version

---

In January 1971 Seiko again revised the Cities ring.

The changes include:

• Dharan is replaced with Mauritius
• Moscow becomes Moscow-Riyadh

Total Cities: 29 + GMT = 30
Total Markers: 27 + DL = 28

Note: Data appears to show that this cities bezel was used in some early watches in 1972, at latest into March.

Map of the Cities, 1971 - Early 1972

Additions in Green, Removals in Red

---

The Sixth and Final Version

---

In early 1972, SEIKO made their final revision to the cities ring/bezel.

The changes include:

• London and GMT are moved to the same Time Zone position
• Rome moves from the inner ring to the outer ring
• C. Verde Is. is added to the outer ring
• Azores moves from the outer ring to the inner ring, replacing Iceland

Total Cities: 29 + GMT = 30
Total Markers: 27 + DL = 28

Map of the Cities, 1972 - 1976

Additions in Green, Removals in Red

---

Rarity Index

---

Based on cataloged production numbers, here is a list of bezels by production rarity across the series.

NOTE: the rarity of a specific bezel is based on the following calculation:

(((colorExamples / modelExamples) * modelProduction) / totalProduction) * 100

• colorExamples = Total Count of this specific Bezel Color in data set
• modelExamples = Total Count of this specific Model in data set
• modelProduction = Minimum Production for this specific Model
• totalProduction = Total (minimum) Production of all watches in this generation

Related Articles

---