A brief history
As detailed in one of my newsletters in the series on the Seiko catalogues, the 614x-8050 Grand Seikos were interesting in that they never appeared in any of the regular Seiko catalogues of the era.
They were launched in the December 1972 issue of the monthly Seiko Sales dealer magazine, where a total of seven variations on the same theme were presented across two pages.
Four day-date 6146-8050’s and three time and date 6145-8050’s debuted, all featuring the same case design (rather similar to the case used on many of the VFA’s), vertically faceted crystals, and presented on bracelets.
White, blue, and green dialed references were available in both movement choices, but for the day-date 6146-8050, a fourth colour was added - a rather fetching graduated brown dial that fades to almost white in the middle.
It is one of only two brown dialed vintage Grand Seikos. Interestingly the other reference, the 5646-5010, which has a textured graduated dial, made its sole catalogue appearance in the 1973 Volume 1 catalogue, that would have been distributed at about the same time as the December 1972 issue of Seiko Sales.
It won’t surprise anyone to learn that of the seven 614x-8050 references, the watches with white, blue, and green coloured dials clearly were a lot more popular than the brown dialed 6146-8050. A quick check of sales on Yahoo over the last decade show that just one out of every twenty-five of the 614x-8050’s that have sold are the brown dialed reference offered for sale here.
Condition and price
As always, I would encourage you to examine the provided video closely in order to make your own assessment as to the condition of the watch.
As I have said in previous “for sale” listings, I strongly believe that the videos I present of the watches I offer for sale provide more clarity on the condition of a watch than anything else out there. Short of having the watch in hand, and examining it through a 10x loupe, there is no better way to get a truer understanding as to the quality of what you are purchasing.
Please note that below I do not discuss the movement below, because that will have a full strip-down, clean, rebuild, lubricate and regulation immediately prior to shipment. The movement (subject to the usual abuse/water damage constraints) will be guaranteed for one year.
Case
What is clear is that the case of the example presented for sale has definitely been gently polished at some point in the past, however, having highlighted that, it is worth mentioning that any polishing that has been done has been carried out with due respect for the case facets and edges, and in particular the faceting of the lugs is still very much in evidence.
Crystal
The faceted crystal retains its original sharp edges, with no signs of chipping and almost no scratching - these crystals are very prone to getting dings and scratches, and you will often find examples where the crystal on one of these -8050’s has been polished to remove signs of damage, but the knock-on effect of that polishing is to dull the crystal edges and reduce the refraction differences between the flat and angled facets.
Dial
The brown graduated dial is in superb condition, with only the most minor signs of wear at the very edge near the indexes at 1 and 2. To show what I mean by minor, here’s a screen grab from the original uncompressed video at 4 seconds -
Caseback and bracelet
The caseback medallion has largely worn down on the raised text -
These medallions are made from a very thin layer of 14 karat gold, which is then stamped from behind to create the raised Seiko, GS, and Suwa logo details, prior to being adhered to the caseback.
Because the detail on the medallion is raised, and because through the stamping process the gold becomes even thinner, these portions of the caseback medallion wear through first, hence forming the voids that we can see here.
The original bracelet that will be supplied with the watch is an extremely rare item in its own right, and the vast majority of 614x-8050’s that we see today have become separated from their bracelets and are sold on straps. So rare in fact is the bracelet that there are instances in Japan of just the bracelet selling for over 100,000 Yen.
As will be evident from the above photo, this bracelet is missing some links, and will not fit (without an extender) for those with large wrists. It can be challenging to suggest what wrist size a watch may fit, since different people have different preferences for how “snug” they like their bracelets. I have lined up the final set of springbar holes in the clasp with zero on the ruler in the photo, and trust that this will enable collectors to assess whether the bracelet will be of sufficient length for them.
Price
The watch is priced at US$2,000. This price includes a full service immediately prior to despatch, and fully insured worldwide courier delivery via FedEx. (The watch will be sent off for service on receipt of cleared funds, and the turnaround for the service is approximately 2 weeks.)
Should any collector prefer to purchase the watch without the bracelet, the bracelet can be removed, and the price would drop to US$1,800. And before anyone asks, no - I will not be selling the bracelet separately!
As is the norm these days, this newsletter will first be distributed to paid subscribers, who can take 10% off the above two options (so $1,800 with the bracelet, or $1,620 without). Should the watch not sell in the next seven days, the newsletter will then be forwarded to all subscribers, and no discount will be offered.
If you have any questions regarding the watch, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
SOLD - Grand Seiko 6146-8050