Does it do anything?

It tells the time. Might help with your punctuality issues.

Introduction

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide guidance on which vintage Grand Seiko auctions on Yahoo Japan might be of interest to collectors. I also detail those “dodgy” listings that you need to avoid.

What you will notice is that this isn’t just a simple list of auction listings - in discussing the merits (and demerits) of the listings I often branch off into a bit of background that I hope will be useful in helping you to learn some of the nuances of collecting vintage Grand Seiko.

For those paid subscribers who are reading one of these newsletters for the first time, you can access the archive of all the previous newsletters on the Substack website (or the iPhone and Android apps).

Going forward, I will be unlocking these newsletters a week after sending them out to paid subscribers. The main benefit is of course alerting paid subs to the auctions that they might be interested in bidding on (and avoiding), but I feel the educational value post-close of the auctions is only fair to share to all.

With “Golden Week” around the corner, it is perhaps unsurprisingly a little slow this week, with not a great deal to recommend - nothing new of note at the dealers, and nothing outside the sphere of vintage Grand Seiko that I have my eye on, so it makes for quite a short newsletter (for I think the first time in ages, I’ve not even hit the email length limit!).

Important note for UK and EEA subscribers -

Yahoo Japan is now actively blocking connections from the UK and the European Economic Area due to the prohibitive costs of adhering to the GDPR regulations for a relatively small number of users.

To get around this for the purposes of this newsletter, links to the auctions detailed will be provided through one of the Japanese proxy companies - FromJapan.

Whilst I have been a customer of FromJapan for many years, I do not receive any benefits from using these links.

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James Bond

Grand Seiko 4522-8010

Last week saw a dodgy redialled 4520-8010, this week we have an honest example of its 4522 calibered brother.

I was chatting with a collector friend about this reference earlier in the week, and he commented

“I know there are possibly a number of GS “sweet spots” for value/price, but I still think this reference is one of the very best at its current price point. I just adore it…”

I couldn’t agree more!

Listed by the company that only ever provides four photos, we are somewhat limited in our ability to assess the quality of this one, but the case does appear to retain its crisp flanks, so I don’t believe this one has been over-polished. The only real negatives to highlight are what appear to be a couple of small circular stains on the dial - one between the four and five o’clock indices, and a smaller one just above the date window. Without a comparative shot from another angle it’s not possible to be certain these marks are on the dial, but this type of spotting is common on the reference.

This one will of course do considerably better than the 208,000 Yen that last week’s redialled 4520 made, but whatever it closes at, you can be assured it will be great bang for the buck!

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Grand Seiko 6245-9000

As I often mention, one of the things you need to take into account when purchasing from Yahoo Japan is that you will almost certainly want to factor in getting the watch serviced when it arrives.

However, there are some sellers who have the watches serviced prior to listing, and here is one such example. Whilst the regulation could no doubt be improved upon the stated +20 seconds in 24 hours, one would hope that the service this month would mean the watch would give you a few years at least of reliable - if not quite up to “Grand Seiko Standard” - timekeeping.

The 624x-9000’s from 1966 are certainly more desirable than the later 624x-9001’s, and it’s really all down to the lion medallion caseback. Prior to the introduction of the 62GS, the exact same reference number was used for the Seikomatic Chronometer, which was - as far as I’m aware - exact same watch save for the dial.

The seller responded to a question as to the second digit in the serial number, and it’s very prescient of the asker of that question to make the enquiry. It is hard to ascertain exactly when the Seikomatic Chronometers were phased out and replaced by the 62GS, and this example dates from February 1966, which is about as early as I would like a Grand Seiko dialed 624x-9000 to be (I have seen Seikomatic Chronometers from as late as April 1966).

Condition-wise, do note that there are a few minor spots extending from the center of the dial roughly out towards the index at nine. Given it is relatively common to find 62GS’s with pretty much perfect dials, this might be sufficient to put many people off. The case is in good condition for one of these, with clearly defined sharp edges, but does show signs of light polishing.

In a busier week I probably would have skipped over this one, but not everyone is out for a perfect watch, and examples such as the one shown here are perfectly acceptable watches for many!

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The first Grand Seiko with raised logo AD dial

AD dialed examples of the first Grand Seiko do not turn up very often, so it’s not surprising to see strong interest in this listing already.

What is interesting about this one is the date of the watch though, which I think many bidders will not be aware of the significance of. The serial number of the case indicates production in October 1961, which would make this - by far - the earliest example of an AD dialed first Grand Seiko I’ve ever seen.

Most AD dialed variants that I’m aware of date from August 1963. The earliest I’ve seen prior to this one is on a watch currently in my collection, which dates from April 1963. However, that one I know for a fact didn’t start its life with an AD dial, because the dial is stamped on the back with a production month of July 1965 (yes - really!).

Of the remaining examples that I have serial numbers for, three are in cases indicating a production date of May 1963, and all the rest are from August 1963.

I’m pretty confident stating that this watch was not originally produced with this dial. Unfortunately the serial number of the movement is not shared, so it’s not possible to say whether the entire movement, dial and handset come from a later watch that has been put into an earlier case, or that the movement belongs to the case originally, but the watch has at some point in time had a dial swap (very possibly at a service many decades ago by Grand Seiko themselves).

I suspect that many bidders won’t be aware of the asynchronicity of the watch’s components, but it is something to take into consideration if you are interested in acquiring such a rare variant of the first Grand Seiko - that dial really is something to behold on the wrist.

As is so often the case, the crown is incorrect (I believe it’s from the first King Seiko), but apart from that the only remaining negative to highlight is what looks to be minor moisture damage at the dial periphery near the 12 minute marker.

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Grand Seiko XAB271 bracelet for the 615x-8000

Here’s a rare opportunity to pick up what looks to be a full length (with the watch head it will fit a 19.5cm wrist) bracelet for the 6155- and 6156-8000 Specials.

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Grand Seiko 5646-7010 with patinated dial

A beautifully even lemon patina on this 5646-7010. You know I love ‘em, and more and more people out there are taking to them these days.

It will be a bargain, and simply gorgeous on the wrist. I may chase this one myself!

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Grand Seiko 4420-9000 late dial

I wish I knew where this guy was finding these! After a pair of late dialed 44GS’s (and a dodgy redialed early dial one) last week that went for 321,000 Yen and 280,000 Yen, the same seller turns up this week with another one.

If you’re interested in it, compare to the two that sold last week, and place your bids accordingly!

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Franz Oberhauser

Grand Seiko 6156-8010

The redone dial on this one would I’m sure fool quite a few, not least for the reason that something that is usually the most obvious tell - the alignment of the print at the bottom of the dial to the minute track - is actually very good indeed in this instance.

However, redone it is.

Here’s a genuine one for comparison - see if you can spot the issues (feel free to share your observations in the comments below):

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Redone coloured dial summary

As usual, I close with the usual reminder to steer clear of any vintage Grand Seikos with coloured dials similar to the above. This is not a comprehensive photo - there are many references that get this “treatment”, and several listings typically appear every week.

See you all next week - and don’t forget, if you see a vintage Grand Seiko from any source that you are contemplating purchasing, and would like me to have a look over it for you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.