Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Seiko · 5 Sports
Seiko 5 Sports 36 mm Meteorite 18k
Reference 80123OR.72
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Seiko
- Collection
- 5 Sports
- Model
- Seiko 5 Sports 36 mm Meteorite 18k
- Reference number
- 80123OR.72
- Year / era
- 1975 · 1970s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Time only
- Movement
- High-accuracy quartz
- Case material
- 18k rose gold
- Dial type
- Meteorite
- Strap / bracelet
- NATO textile strap
- Water resistance
- 30 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 36 mm
- Case thickness
- 14.1 mm
- Case material
- 18k rose gold
- Bezel
- Bidirectional 24-hour Cerachrom
- Crystal
- Box sapphire with AR coating
- Dial
- Meteorite
- Hands
- Blued steel Breguet-style hands
- Indexes
- Diamond-set hour markers
- Bracelet / strap
- NATO textile strap
- Clasp / buckle
- Folding clasp in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 30 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 81F — High-accuracy quartz
- Movement type
- Automatic with micro-rotor
- Frequency
- 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 55 hours
- Number of jewels
- 25 jewels
- Complications
- Time only
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, small seconds
- Watchmaker
- Assembled and regulated by a single watchmaker, who signs off the piece before casing.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1975 – 1989
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Trades close to retail on the secondary market, with steady demand for full-set examples.
Designer
Emmanuel Gueit
Emmanuel Gueit came from a family of Geneva jewellers and was barely into his twenties when he drew the oversized Royal Oak Offshore in 1993 — a watch the house's traditionalists resisted and collectors turned into an icon.
Historical significance
Seiko 5 Sports 36 mm Meteorite 18k sits within Seiko's 5 Sports line, introduced in 1975. It carries the house codes established since 1881 — 18k rose gold case, meteorite dial and high-accuracy quartz — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The movement's bridges are decorated even where they will never be seen once the watch is cased.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
Seiko
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1881
- Founder
- Kintaro Hattori
- Headquarters
- Japan
- Tier
- Japanese
- Major collections
- Prospex, Presage, King Seiko, Astron, 5 Sports
- Signature technologies
- In-house hairspring production · Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · Hand-applied guilloché dials
- Famous movements
- Eco-Drive solar quartz · High-accuracy quartz · Spring Drive · Automatic, 24 jewels
- Notable watches
- Seiko Prospex 36 mm Green Stainless (1952) · Seiko Prospex 38 mm Black 18k (1977) · Seiko Prospex 38 mm Meteorite Platinum (1972) · Seiko Prospex 42 mm Green Sapphire (1997)
Brand history
Seiko has spent more than 145 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Prospex, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Kintaro Hattori established Seiko in 1881, working from Japan at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Seiko calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1881
Kintaro Hattori founds Seiko in Japan.
1899
Seiko earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Seiko to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Seiko enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Seiko continues to produce Prospex, Presage, King Seiko and other icons in limited numbers.