Teddy Baldassarre
The Seiko Pogue SSC 947: Your Guide
There are some watches out there that have achieved a rare sort of infamy and the Seiko Speedtimer 6139, also known as the “Pogue,” is one such watch. It is named after Colonel William R. Pogue who wore one during NASA’s Skylab missions. It was also the first automatic chronograph to travel to space. It’s become an icon because of its historical bona fides, but also because of it’s positively ridiculous (read, charming) colorway that fits so well in the ‘70s decade in which it was conceived. Key aesthetic tenets of a Pogue are the red and blue bezel insert and a certain yellowish-gold dial. It’s the sort of gold color that’ll have you conspiracy theorizing that this watch was in the Pulp Fiction briefcase. All of this backstory and preamble is to intentionally bury the lede and tell you that Seiko has, today, brought the Pogue back…sort of. Say hello to the Speedtimer Solar Chronograph, SSC947 which follows in the recently established design format of the solar Speedtimer range – the 41.5mm case size version of which the current Pepsi bezel SSC913 is a personal favorite. I remember when the line was announced and really loving the execution from the compact pushers to the great case size to the overall thinness due to the lack of a mechanical movement. And look, while the Pogue owes much of its fame to the fact that it housed an automatic caliber, we cannot just expect brands to issue 1:1 remakes of classic models. Seiko needs to innovate. It found a ...
