Seiko’s 5 Sport series – like this full-serviced 1969 Seiko 6106-8120 automatic diver here, Seiko’s very first 70-meter Sport Diver watch – were popular and quite reminiscent of the late 1960’s and 1970’s chic.
 
Seiko debuted its 6106 dive watches in 1967 as its first “Sport Diver”...sport diver, that is.  The Seiko 6106 series - just like its subsequent 6119 little brother - was a line of 70-meter diver watches; the line was aimed at “light” water sports that gained in widespread popularity during the late 1960’s and 1970’s (hence the 70-meter dive rating); however, these dive watches did not feature diving bezels.  Throughout 1968, the 6106 - in particular the 6106 here - was the face of Seiko's new sport diver line (see the vintage June 1968 Seiko catolog here for more). 

As noted by Worn&Wound, Seiko’s marketing ads boasted about the 6106’s diving capability, that was “Proof," all the way down to a whopping 229 feet (!); other ads made the line seem like the choice for surfers.  Granted this makes for some shallow diving, but not in the era these debuted. Regardless, it was a popular offering and affordable.
 
The Seiko 5 collection was introduced in 1963, with the beefier Seiko 5 Sports line following subsequent in 1968 – every watch in the Seiko 5 range is designated to have a mechanical movement, a day-date display in a single window, water resistance, a recessed crown and a robust bracelet or strap.  Up to the present, Seiko’s 5 elements still hold up and cement the 5 as one of the most significant lines in Seiko history.
 
On to one of the best features of the 6106 – the dial.  These dials, regardless of color, sparkle in the light and were finished better than many of the Swiss watches from the same period.  Couple this with very little writing on the dial and raised applied hour indices, and you have a dial that’s purposeful and sparse.
 
Even today, Seiko's 5 Sports line continues to win plaudits - as noted recently in GQ Magazine, "Regardless of where a budding collector might be headed, the first question they all have is the same: Where do I start?"
 
"My answer is the Seiko 5 Sports line.  These watches check all the boxes: They’re affordable, distinctive, and, despite costing a fraction of what most mechanical sports watches do, are built to last.  The famed Japanese watchmaker launched the 5 Sports line in 1968, and revamped it in 2019 when it released watches...at prices that seem to be missing a zero."
 
"For the aspiring collector who has never owned a watch, the attractive price point of a 5 Sports may be all the convincing one needs.  And for the burgeoning horologist who already owns a timepiece or two, these watches come with the history, the quality, the sophisticated design, and the functionality that make them every bit as essential as any Swiss brand to a well-rounded collection."
 
Another indicator of the love remaining for the Seiko 6106, aside from GQ's imprimatur?  In 2023, Seiko re-issued this Sport Diver as a limited edition to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the original one here, the Seiko SRPK17 sport diver, powered by a Seiko 4R36 automatic movement.  Could you just go out and pick up one of the re-issues?  Sure!  But we're guessing you're here because you’d rather have the OG watch the re-issue is based on – each and every time – and we’re not wrong, are we?
 
Seiko made literally hundreds of Sports diver variations during this time period, with the Japanese manufactures’ Suwa and Dani factory seemingly in competition with one another to see which could devise the most compelling models.
 
This Seiko 6106 Sport Diver comes on a stainless-steel vintage Japanese Bambi bracelet, and with nylon strap, rugged travel case, and spring bar tool.