Amongst the Champion Series launched in 1963, the Alpinist 850 is famous. But that particular inclusion is only presumed to have been made to make the Champion line more competitive. Remember, despite its fancy looking printed dial, the original Alpinist came with a plain case back stamped print as “Rain proof”, and model number J13033.

The movement was the 17J Seikosha movement used in the original Laurel Alpinist, and the dial marked Diashock 17j beneath the word Alpinist. The second hand with a D shaped lollipop tip.

There were more Alpinists of course, but to be blunt, they were not the cream of the crop in dial (or case) finish as nothing on it was appliqué.

This Champion however, the J13077 - officially the Sea Horse 850 - features more so than the Alpinist, a gorgeous engraved back (not a mountain but a seahorse!), Diashock 17j.. and a 20 micron EGP, electro gold plated case.

This layer is as thick as the cap gold of the later quartzes- a micron is a thousandth of a millimeter. In the days where brass - but in the case of Seiko steel, was the standard the scale would go from gilt (a flash of gold plating) to 3, 5,10 and 20 Micron EGP.

The first two steps were used for basic cheap watches, average priced watches used to have 5 M and the branded quality watches used the latter two, which could be certified by an official stamp like this watch has. At the moment these Sea Horse watches fetch about half the price of an Alpinist whilst the quality of the dial work and the case finish had raised the bar significantly in the sixties. On specs the choice is clear, on historicity the hype may sway your judgment - look again I say..