Seikomatic-R 8346-900

Year: 1967

Reference: 8346-900

Movement: Seiko Caliber 8346, automatic, quick-set date, hand-winding

History

The 83-series movements occupy a curious blind spot in most accounts of Seiko's 1960s output. Early in the series' life, the caliber was notable mainly for its slim profile. It didn't fully come into its own until 1966 with the 8305C, by which point it had gained both a hand-winding facility and a quick-set date — a meaningful combination for the era.

By 1967 the 83-series was at its peak, but it had little runway left. The 56 and 61 series were already in development, and by the late 1960s they had taken over Seiko's automatic output entirely. Pre-1968 Seiko catalogues are scarce, and the marketing history of these watches through the mid-to-late 1960s remains genuinely difficult to pin down.

Seiko also marketed the same reference as both a Seikomatic-R and a Business-A — the latter targeting younger professional buyers, with period advertising emphasizing the word thin. Two brand names, one watch.