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 full serviced 1975 Seiko 5740-8000 "Matsumura-Gumi" Lord Marvel 3600 Hi-Beat mechanical here - during the 1960s.
 
But why do we call this a “Matsumura-Gumi” Lord Marvel?
 
On the caseback of this Seiko Lord Marvel are Kanji Japanese engravings, which denote this dress watch as an "Effort Award" gift to a loyal employee of the Japan-based Matsumura-Gumi Corporation, an engineering construction business that provides housing, earthquake, and electrical engineering, among multiple other services, worldwide.
 
Founded in 1894, the Japanese company has participated in construction projects throughout all of Japan, and, as part of a larger umbrella group all over the world.  As of 2026, the company engaged in construction contracting, planning, design and supervision; construction consulting services; real estate sales, brokerage, leasing and management; manufacturing, repair and rental sales of construction machinery; and renewable energy power generation and sales.  At present, it employs nearly 1,000 employees.
 
In 2020, Matsumura-Gumi joined with five other Japanese companies to form Prime Life Technologies Inc. – Panasonic Home, Toyota Home, Misawa, and Mitsui & Co.  Prime Life Technologies' mission is to "realize unimaginable lifestyles with technology that paves the way for the future." 
 
With Panasonic's lifestyle update technology and Toyota Motor Corporation's mobility technology as its backbone, the company combines the housing, urban development, and construction technologies of its five group companies to create new value and services for lifestyles throughout the city.  As the only construction company in the group, Matsumura Gumi contributed to the "urban development" advocated by Prime Life Technologies. 
 
As of 2026, the group employs approx. 20,000 employees in a global network of 10 cities in the U.S. Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Finland. The group has constructed multiple apartment complexes throughout the U.S. in California, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, and Florida.
 
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.
 
In response, Seiko launched its manual winding caliber 5740C in 1967, which became the first Japanese 36,000 bph movement, and 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 and 1975, and the high beat 5740C – like the one here – is considered to be the 3rd generation Lord Marvel model and represents 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.