{"product_id":"seiko-lord-matic-as08261","title":"Seiko Lord Matic","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eJapanese watchmaking giant Seiko’s output reads like the stuff of a complicated history textbook — or an engaging novel, depending upon one’s point of view.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eA web of product lines, multiple, competing factories, war — all is present and accounted for! One thing that’s clear is that the Lord Matic line was introduced in 1968 as a successor to the Lord Marvel line. In contemporary advertising campaigns, Seiko was clearly positioning the collection at working-class men with upward mobility — those who would someday have the means to purchase a King Seiko or a Grand Seiko.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhat’s less clear is where the Ukiuo-e watches fit in —  Lord Matic timepieces whose standard dials have been replaced with those featuring beautiful portraits of Edo-period kabuki actors. While some believe that these dials were added at the factory, there seems to be a consensus that they were added by a Japanese retailer (or retailers) as a sales tactic. Copied from commemorative postage stamps celebrating the 175th anniversary of 18th-century artwork, these dials are, regardless, beautiful, intriguing, and perfectly emblematic of multiple disciplines of Japanese artistry. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis particular Lord Matic ‘Ukiuo-e’ from circa 1976 features a 36mm stainless steel case with an acrylic crystal, a polished, faceted bezel, a stainless steel 'beads-of-rice' bracelet with a signed blade clasp, and Seiko's \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e5600-series automatic winding movement made in the Suwa factory powering it within \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e(Suwa Seikosha produced Grand Seiko watches while Dani Seikosha produced King Seiko watches, but both produced the Lord Matic line.)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe standout feature of this piece is no doubt the dial with Tōshūsai Sharaku’s colorful ‘Lady Smoking’ along with applied indices and a matching ‘baton’ handset.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis piece is quite simply a beautiful piece of artwork in addition to a handsome, automatic, everyday watch.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" mce-data-marked=\"1\"\u003eSomeone else will have the same idea — so dont miss it!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seiko","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40139970019415,"sku":"40991271","price":900.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0809\/1255\/products\/AS08261_40991271_SEIKO_LORDMATIC_5601-9000-6.jpg?v=1678895400","url":"https:\/\/www.analogshift.com\/products\/seiko-lord-matic-as08261","provider":"Analog:Shift","version":"1.0","type":"link"}