When one brings up high quality vintage Seiko, Grand Seiko and King Seiko are almost always the first to come, due to high finishing standard and technological development – however, the first Seiko with a high-beat mechanical movement was housed in neither of these two lines, but rather the Lord Marvel - like this 1969 Seiko 5740-8000 "Yokohama Tire" Lord Marvel 36000 Hi-Beat mechanical award dress watch here - during the 1960s.
 
Why do we call this Lord Marvel, "Yokohama Tire"?
 
On the caseback of this Seiko Lord Marvel dress watch the casual observer will note the engraved English initials "YRC," an acronym for the Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a major global manufacturer of premium tires, industrial products, and aerospace components headquartered in Tokyo.  Below this, engraved in Kanji Japanese is the message, “20 Years of Service Award, Mitsuo Taguchi.”
 
Established in 1917, YRC (横浜ゴム株式会社) is a Japanese manufacturing company based in Hiratsuka, Japan, and one of the oldest and most recognized tire brands internationally. The company was founded in a joint venture between Yokohama Cable Manufacturing and BFGoodrich, and in 1969, expanded to the United States as Yokohama Tire Corporation.
 
Along with manufacturing plants across Japan, YRC operates an extensive global network through subsidiaries like Yokohama Corporation of North America (YCNA) and Yokohama Off-Highway Tires.  In addition to passenger, commercial, and off-road tires, YRC produces golf equipment, marine hoses, and aerospace products (such as lavatory modules and water tanks for aircraft).
 
With over $7 billion in annual revenue, Yokohama employs nearly 35,000 in 43 countries.  It’s also the official tire supplier of the Super Formula Championship since 2016. It was the official tire supplier of the Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 race from 1983 until 2019, with an exception in 2016, when Pirelli was chosen for the tire supplier that year. The company was the supplier of the World Touring Car Championship and World Touring Car Cup from 2006 until 2019.
 
In the U.S., Yokohama was a tire supplier in the American Le Mans Series, including PTG (from 2005 to 2009) and Alex Job Racing.  It was the official tire supplier of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, and has participated in Red Line Time Attack, Nitro Rallycross and Stadium Super Trucks.  In September 2025, Yokohama was announced as the official tire supplier for the FIA Extreme H World Cup and will use a prototype tire based on the GEOLANDAR X-AT.
 
But on to the watch itself - during the 1960s era, most mechanical movements operated at 18,000 beats per hour (bph).   As usual, the Swiss watchmaking world sought to dominate this field, but shortly after their first entry – the Girard Perregaux in 1966 - Seiko launched its manual winding caliber 5740C in 1967. 
 
The Seiko 5740 was the first Japanese 36,000 bph movement, and the second in the world.  Of interesting note, the 5740C was the precursor to the caliber 44 used inside the King Seiko Chronometer.
 
Seiko would manufacture the Lord Marvel 5740 from 1967 through 1975, and the high beat 5740C – like the one here – is considered as the 3rd generation Lord Marvel model,  representing the peak of the line.
 
As noted by Worn & Wound, “[The 5740-8000 Lord Marvel] is a quintessential dress watch, with clean lines, understated elegance, and of course a beautiful and technologically advanced in-house manual wind movement.”
 
This Lord Marvel 36000 comes on a leather strap, and with nylon strap, rugged travel case, and springbar tool.