Any serious Seiko watch collector will know about this model as its on most peoples radar. The Seiko Pan Am gets its name for being the first Seiko digital GMT watch. It can actually track 3 time zones and dates. This watch was favored by pilots in the late 70s into the 80s for its ease of use to track and change time zones. The yellow / lemon screen colour also aided in readability within the cockpit.
With all this said this is a watch that I always have wanted to own. Its a Seiko first watch (GMT) looks really cool and with all the history and stories of them I have been looking on and off for years. As with most of my watches I cant just go out and buy a working example. My requirements are to find a good example that is not working and attempt a repair. Its the repairing of watches I love the most and in many respects my collection is the byproduct of my hobby of repairs.
I found this watch on a Japan auction site. The write up was very vague and not suggesting it works or does not. It was £80 buy it now plus fee’s and shipping to the UK.
I would not normally gamble with this much money on a watch like this especially with nothing to go on and only a few poor photos like the one above and below.
What I did notice was the screen looked okay to me and the glass looks relatively unmarked. This is a model from 1978 so as I am typing this in 2024 this watch is 46 years old.
I purchased the watch and waited for it to arrive. When it did this is what it looked like.
What a difference a photo makes! I was relieved to see the watch was in much better shape than I had anticipated and it looks like a very clean example. This watch is worthy of getting the cameras out and filming for my channel.
If you want to see the full restoration of this watch then please click the link below.
Without wanting to spoil too much from the video the first thing I did was to put a new battery inside. When I did this the screen lit up but it was very dim.
With much cleaning and tinkering inside and stripping down the module and cleaning everything this is how the watch turned out. I do implore you to watch the video, its actually become one of my most watched videos of my entire channel!
This watch also features on my Vintage Digital Watch Collection video from April 2024
All Comments