Seiko - 1990 7T34 Flightmaster

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The Japanese domination of the watch market was complete by the end of the 1990s, the Swiss watch industry was still licking its wounds after a punishing decade that saw the number of Swiss watch companies drop from 1600 in 1970 to 600 in 1983.

After the Japanese had taken over the wrists of the masses, they took aim at replacing the watches on the wrists of professionals, namely divers and aviators. This can be most acutely seen with the adoption of Japanese watches by Western militaries, with the South African Airforce and British Royal Airforce selecting Seiko watches for their aviators in the late 1980s.

Military watches begin as a list of specifications from a military branch, manufacturers then tender their offerings that satisfy these spec lists to these branches. This method doesn't allow for a lot of creativity in their design, Seiko tackled this problem the way they tackled many, by simply making more models.

This Seiko Flightmaster is an early civilian model that would become known as the 'Flightmaster', packed with more functions than anything the company had made for the military.

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