====== Seiko SVBA ======

{{wst>author|[[Foskett, Stephen|Stephen Foskett]] ([[https://grail-watch.com/|Grail Watch]])}}

**SVBA001** was the last mass-market [[railway watch]] produced by [[Seiko]]. Produced from [[1987]], it was adopted by the Japanese National Railway due to high precision and magnetic resistance. A long-life model, **SVBR001** with a 10-year battery was added in [[1998]].

===== Overview =====
Seiko had produced [[railway watch]]es since [[1929]], with the [[Seiko Type 19|Type 19]] becoming famous across Japan and seen in every railway cabin. It remained in production until November, [[1971]], when it was replaced by the [[Seiko 61RW|Type 61RW]] using [[Seiko 6100|Cal. 6110A]]. In [[1980]], the railway was given the choice of a quartz and a mechanical offering, [[Seiko 75RW|Type 75RW]] and [[Seiko 63RW|Type 63RW]], respectively. The quartz offering was selected, and the mechanical railway line was ended.

[[Seiko 75RW|Type 75RW]] used the mass-market [[Seiko 75|Cal. 7550A]] which offered just 15 seconds per month precision. Although acceptable for the railway, Seiko wanted to offer a more advanced movement. In [[1987]], Seiko began offering the high-performance [[Seiko 7C|Cal. 7C11]] in a new railway watch. It also offered enhanced magnetic resistance to 16,000 A/m and five-year battery life. Using Seiko's new model nomenclature, this watch was known as SVBA001 and would be the new standard railway watch in the 1990s.

The movement was updated in [[1998]] to the new [[Seiko 7C|Cal. 7C21]] which boasted 10 year battery life. This watch was known as SVBR001. SVBR005 was offered in [[2014]] as an 85th anniversary model and SVBR007 in [[2019]] for the 90th anniversary. Seiko also offers the updated mass-production model, SVBR003.


{{tag>Watch_models Pocket_watches Railway_watches Quartz_watches Seiko_models Seiko_railway_watches}}