The Seiko 6139 "Pogue" automatic chronograph – a historical movement in its own right, like this full-serviced 1972 Seiko 6139-6005 "True Pogue" chronograph here, on its original Seiko H-link bracelet – was the world's first automatic chronograph, beating out the likes of Zenith’s El Primero and Heuer’s Calibre 11.
Those who know vintage Seiko - in particular 6139 chronograph's - know these Seiko 6139 "True Pogue" chronographs seldom come up for sale.
Back in the 1970’s, Heuer and Zenith had taken hold of the entire sports watch industry by racing to become the first to produce an automatic chronograph. It has been widely debated who won, but in the background of this skirmish, Seiko quietly created one theirs at the same time, beating the Swiss at their own game – the Seiko Ref. 6139.
During the early months of 1969, Seiko put the final touches on its revolutionary 6139 chronograph - in fact, the Japanese company first began putting the 6139 in automatic chronographs as early as January of the same year.
Seiko published its first advertisement for their new automatic 6139 chronograph in February 1969, easily beating the Swiss - however, the company was concentrating on the release of the world's first quartz watch, the Astron, which would completely disrupt the watch world as it was known at the time (again, much to the chagrin of the Swiss watch industry, we're certain). We possess 6139 dials dating back to November 1968, indicating Seiko beat all other rivals to produce the world's first automatic chronograph. Period.
The watch world recognized this recently, with an early model Seiko 6139 - January 1969, well before the Swiss - garnering nearly $20k at auction.
But back to the True Pogue - we all know Omega was the first watch on the moon, mostly because Omega won’t let us forget (ever). However, the first automatic chronograph in space was the more humble and less publicized Seiko 6139-6005, named after US astronaut Colonel William Pogue, who wore his on the 1973 Skylab 4 mission-despite not obtaining NASA authorization–to time Apollo spacecraft engine burns due to his familiarity with the watch and trust in its capabilities…trusting the lives of himself and fellow astronauts to the reliability of his Seiko. When asked about his 6139, Pogue confirmed the story and sold his in a 2008 charity auction for $6k.
As noted, this is an example of the elusive "True Pogue" dial variant, which earned its sobriquet due to the fact it was the variant worn by the legendary Colonel Pogue, and as such, highly sought after by vintage Seiko collectors.
True Pogue variants were gold-dialed 6139-6005's made from 1971 through circa 1972, and feature the following:
- "Seiko Automatic" just below the 12 o'clock position;
- Spanish/English day language wheel;
- "Water 70M Resist" at the 9 o'clock position;
- the Suwa factory symbol and "17J" above the 6 o'clock position.
This True Pogue comes on its original H-link bracelet, and with nylon strap, rugged travel case, and springbar tool.
