Why are 52 King Seiko Specials, special?

For the sake of not annoying everyone else in /wt/ with this rather long series of links and quotes, I've made it a Pastebin.

The short version of the story is that Daini Seikosha was already aware that high-end production watch production at Seiko would soon be switching to quartz at the time they were designing the 52xx series movement. Since they knew this would be their last kick at the can in designing a mechanical movement, they treated it as an opportunity to create a design that would be a statement to posterity of what Daini Seikosha was capable of, and they decided to adjust and regulate them to a much higher standard than they were theoretically supposed to based on Seiko's internal brand hierarchy (i.e. to well beyond normal Grand Seiko levels). There was a particular drive to to really make those "Special" King Seikos really special because the quartz wristwatch was a Suwa Seikosha initiative and its adoption for high end production watches at Seiko was treated as a sort of...slight by the staff at Daini Seikosha, as had been the decision to make Grand Seiko (branding developed by Suwa Seikosha) the top brand rather than King Seiko (which had been developed by Daini).

The end result is that the 52xx King Seiko Specials, and especially the 5256's made in the last 6 months of high-end mechanical watch production at Daini verge on being stealth VFAs (the highest accuracy standard Grand Seikos were ever adjusted to).

The long version will consist of quotes and links:

http://www.thewatchsite.com/16-seiko-reviews/16117-king-seiko-special-5246-6000-chronometer.html

"I strongly believe that 52 King Seiko special chronometer quality exceeded Grand Seikos.
The brand name "King Seiko" was the symbol of Daini-Seikosha.
In the '70 era, the quartz watch sale became very rampant. At that stage, Daini Seikosha thought that the 52 caliber was the last chance to produce for mechanical watches, and thus, they felt that they should produce a superior caliber to remain part of the watch history.
- Durability
- Thin caliber
- The function with day and date change quickly at 24:00
- One piece case for perfect water proof
(Honestly speaking the water proof ability was a weakness. Almost people take a bath and swim with the watch. So it is hard to find no stain dial on the 52 King Seiko special.)
The 8 bps movement was more durable than the 10 bps movement. This could be due to that 10 bps 45 caliber needed more frequent maintanence..
Thus, Daini-Seikosha produced the new caliber based on the experience. 52 caliber!!
Based on selection of only high precision parts, 52 King Seiko Special chronometer was born!!
This caliber design was so great that it was modified to become the famous 4S caliber after about 20 years.
Because of this superb caliber, Daini-Seikosha named it "Special " (as to more superior) than normal King Seiko .
Lastly, I think 52 King Seiko quality exceeded those of the Grand Seikos.

Seiya" (the Seiya of Seiya Japan who investigated this stuff by finding and interviewing ex-Daini employees)

https://monochrome-watches.com/seikos-affinity-to-hi-beat-movement-part-two/

"The 52 caliber series may have lagged in the frequency race, but it held its own in terms of accuracy and precision. The models with the ‘Special’ label (see photo above) were said to be at a standard near or even equal to the GS ‘AA’ standard. The whole fascination with accuracy and Hi-Beat movements at that time was bordering on becoming an unstable obsession for Seiko; so these 52 calibers may have lost out on the frequency race, but won back their fame by their durability."

http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=Seiko_5200

"The 5200 family was introduced in 1970 as perhaps the last Seiko automatic movement of the classic period. It was designed and produced by Daini Seikosha, one of two different watch companies under the Seiko Group umbrella. As the transition to quartz began, many at Daini thought this would be their last chance to design an automatic movement, and competition between Daini and Suwa Seikosha led to aggressive engineering. The finished product was thoroughly modern, with up to date features like hacking, hand winding, integrated automatic winding, and a micro regulator."

http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=King_Seiko_52KS

"With Seiko leading the race to bring a quartz watch to market, it became clear to many inside the company that the days of mechanical watches were over. Daini Seikosha and Suwa Seikosha were in-house rivals, battling to produce ever-better King Seiko and Grand Seiko models for the company. But by the end of the 1960's, that race was at an end.


Suwa produced a final line of high-end watches, the King Seiko 56KS and Grand Seiko 56GS beginning in 1969, leaving Daini to develop perhaps the last high-end mechanical watch to be made by the company. This was the King Seiko 52KS, and Daini worked to make it special. In fact, some models left the factory with "Special" and "Very Fine Accuracy" ("V.F.A.") adjustment, making them some of the most accurate mechanical watches ever produced.


A King Seiko Chronometer with movement 5245A or 5246A was produced in 1971 and 1972. This was replaced by a 5256A King Seiko without the "Chronometer" designation for 1973 and 1974.


The 52KS started with an exceptional movement, an automatic Seiko 5200 slowed to 28,000 A/h but still bearing the "Hi-Beat" name. Daini paired this with an exceptional case, the one-piece "6000", which reflected the best of their styling abilities. Although conventional 52KS models with removable case backs were also produced, it was the one-piece 5245-6000 and 5246-6000 (date-only and day/date, respectively) that are best-remembered. Only a few of these were made, but they are highly prized today."

http://www.network54.com/Forum/621198/thread/1261479872/Don,+just+found+this+post+form+TZ-UK+where+the+poster+comments

"Postby Dibetu on Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:34 pm
Here a couple of pics of the January 1972 made King Seiko Automatic Chronometer Officialy Certified High Beat Special.
Some experts think that this was the absolute highlight of mechanical watchmaking from the House of Seiko: The 52 special movement. Quartz watches were becoming popular and this calibre was produced in the Seiko Daini factory that was in competion with the Seiko Suwa factory in terms of innovation and success. They thought it would be the last ever mechanical calibre to be produced as Quartz was conquering Earth. So they spared no time, money or effort to make a "Special" calibre, the 52. The Special was put on the dial of these King Seiko Watches that were available in a 3 hand, 3 hand date and 3 hand day date. The cases used were the typical high end Seiko in full stainless steel of superb quality. This one runs as smooth as a mechanical watch can and was adjusted to plus 1 second per two days. The day and date change instantly at two seconds past midnight in a fraction of a second, there is no slow change and click like in most mechanical watches. "