Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads

Introduction

It’s taken a while, but with 3,159 listings in the Grand Seiko category on Yahoo Japan Auctions at the time of writing, it would seem that we are finally though the holiday season lull with regards the volume of relevant listings, what remains to be seen is whether or not this week we have the desired quality.

Remember last week I said I was in a rush to get the newsletter out as I wanted to catch the high tide? Would be rude of me not to share a quick video from the beach, wouldn’t it!

Bonus photo of a tree at the end of the newsletter!

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Marty McFly

Grand Seiko 5646-7005

First up this week is a listing that was featured in last week’s newsletter, but for some unbeknownst reason, the winning bid of 303,750 Yen was canceled 6 days after the auction closed, so here it is again.

Refer to the earlier newsletter for the details on this one.

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Grand Seiko 6145-8050

Here’s a listing that could be very easily overlooked if you don’t click through from the thumbnail -

- but based on the bidding activity, I rather suspect quite a few interested parties did check!

With the caveat that there are only four photos, and they are of rather low resolution, this does look to be a nice example of the white-dialed 6145-8050.

Although the listing description doesn’t mention the length of the bracelet, it does look to have quite a few of its removable links still intact.

Always a bit of a risk buying from a listing such as this one, so will leave it up to you to decide whether to go for it or not, but it looks good to me.

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Grand Seiko 6146-8000

This one is described by the seller as being “dead stock”, and with the correct inner box, buckle (very possibly the original strap as well), swing tag (well, one of them) and price ticket - not to mention plenty of the original caseback protection sticker remaining - I’m inclined to give him a little leeway with regards the strict definition of the term.

It’s superb.

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Grand Seiko 4420-9000 late dial

Peculiar white balance aside, this looks to be a very nice example of the late dial variant of everyone’s favourite Grammar of Design reference, the 4420-9000.

I wouldn’t be too concerned about the wear on the caseback medallion - this is what happens with these with extended wear as the medallion is stamped, and so the raised portions are thin and it’s very common for them to age like this. The case overall looks good, but there is a significant scratch and also a couple of prominent dings on the bottom right lug. Dial is really clean though, and this would make for a great daily beater - especially considering it was serviced just a few short months ago and is said to be running well.

For the purists - note that this one has the later 45GS crown, not the original 44GS one.

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Grand Seiko 6156-8040

Certainly a more “honest” example of this reference than the one that featured a few weeks back and had a clearly polished case.

Here the case looks to have never been reconditioned - note the sharp edged nicks on the edge in the zoom below, and the retention of the original brushing on the lower case side -

What might work to your advantage is that I don’t really think the seller has captured the beauty of this reference very well in his images. This is certainly one of those listings where I rather suspect that once it is in your hands, you will be very pleasantly surprised by the condition, and if you have wrists that are 18cm or smaller, the original bracelet is a huge plus point with this one.

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It’s not a vintage Grand Seiko, but I like it

Seiko SBWA002

Despite the different lead photo, this is a relisting of last week’s recommendation, to where I recommend you head if you want to read up on it!

Quite why that auction was cancelled I don’t know (the high bid was 536K Yen - perhaps the seller wasn’t happy with the closing price), but if you fancy a second crack at it, now’s your chance.

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Biff Tannen

Grand Seiko 4580-8000 VFA

The weird thing about this one, and why I could not quite believe my eyes when I first saw the listing, is that there is actually an official Seiko technical publication that does mention a 4582 movement (I have it somewhere, I just can’t remember which one it was in, and am not going to trawl through the entire library trying to find it!). To date though, no physical evidence of such a caliber existing - let alone in an actual watch - has surfaced.

Unfortunately, this certainly isn’t the real deal, and it is quite possibly the oddest “Frankenstein” vintage Grand Seiko I’ve ever seen. Just imagine wanting to have a date on your 4580-7000 VFA so badly, that you have someone remove the 3 o’clock index, (badly) cut a hole in the dial, stick on a date window, and then swap out that wonderful 4580 movement for a bog-standard 4522A (OK OK, yes that’s still a wonderful movement in its own right of course, but you know what I mean).

Here you can see just how much of a bodged job the guy did on the date window -

I’m not entirely sure why there is so much activity on this one. The movement isn’t worth a huge amount, the case is in poor condition (although yes, that can be rectified), and the dial is basically wrecked.

Maybe there is some history to the watch that makes it interesting? I mean, sure - it’s entirely possible (even likely) that at some point in time someone might want to make the claim that this was a prototype created by Grand Seiko themselves back in the day to show the concept of a 4582-7000 that never made it to production, but would the date window really have been hacked so shoddily? Personally, I think not. Surely anyone responsible for creating such a prototype would have some pride in their work?

Interestingly, the caseback doesn’t have a serial number on it.

This is not the first time a 4580-7000 without a case serial number has turned up. One sold on Yahoo back in 2018, and then subsequently turned up at Christies Geneva in May 2021 described as “possibly prototype” where it sold for a rather healthy 43,750 CHF.

Of course if could ever be proven that the watch in this listing was actually officially sanctioned and produced by Grand Seiko back in the day as a prototype for a planned but never released VFA reference, then it would make all the difference in the world, and it would be a very, very valuable piece indeed (despite the shoddy nature of the dial).

You fancy taking that risk?

Do share your thoughts on this one in the comments or the chat (where there is already a teaser thread devoted to the listing)!

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Grand Seiko 4420-9000 early dial

Usual guy, usual fake dial, usual advice to avoid everything he lists (warning - he has a lot of vintage GS listed this week).

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Redone coloured dial summary

I close with the usual copy/pasted 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”, so be careful out there.

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Well, almost close with that. Here’s the promised bonus photo of a tree!