Spring auction round-up
It’s that time of year again when the major auction houses hold their live spring auctions across the globe.
First up are the auctions in Geneva this coming weekend, followed by Hong Kong and New York (so far, only the Geneva and HK catalogues are out). Whilst there is not a great deal related to our little corner of the watch collecting world, I thought it might be worth going through the catalogues published to date to see if there are any vintage Grand Seiko, or even just Seiko pieces in general worth calling out.
For ease of searching, I will go through the houses one at a time
Christies
Nada!
Geneva and Hong Kong auctions have been published, but nary a Grand Seiko, Seiko, nor even Credor to be found in the catalogues.
Phillips
Credor GBLT997
Phillips have an example of this rather lovely Eichi II in their Hong Kong auction on May 24th-25th. Unlike the recently announced GBLT996, this one is not part of a numbered limited edition, and part of the regular Credor Masterpiece Collection line-up (although obviously hailing from the famed Micro Artist Studio, it is not made in huge numbers)!
Grand Seiko 6185-8021 VFA
At the same auction is this 6185 VFA. Philips might want to get their calipers looked at as there is of course no way this is a 40mm diameter case!
Both the case and crystal on this one have got some fairly obvious marks, but as is almost always the case with auction houses, we could do with plenty more photos to carry out a fuller assessment. Do remember that if you are interested in bidding on the watch, you can contact Phillips for more images, or alternatively attend one of the auction previews and see the watch in person.
Sothebys
Seiko Quartz Anniversary 50th Anniversary
In 2019 Seiko celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of the world’s first quartz wristwatch - the Astron, an example of which is available at Sotheby’s sale in Geneva on May 12th.
This was the third time that Seiko have released a direct anniversary recreation or reinterpretation of the original Astron (the first being the SCQZ002 in 2000, followed by the titanium cased S23617J1 as a 40th anniversary limited edition in 2009), and for the 50th anniversary, they chose to use a solar powered Astron movement.
Anthony Kable has a great write-up comparing the original Astron with the 2000 recreation and this reference over at Plus9Time.
Bonhams
Bonhams have auctions coming up in London (May 22nd) and Hong Kong (May 28th), but to-date, the catalogues have not been published.
Should there be anything relevant at Bonhams, I will post to the comment section of this newsletter at a later date.
Antiquorum
589 lots at Antiquorum’s Geneva auction on the 11th and 12th of May, and not a single Seiko, Credor, nor Grand Seiko to be found. Miserable sods.
And that’s it I think!
Should anything pop up at New York, I will of course let you know.
Tomorrow, paid subscribers will be getting the usual weekly newsletter - for once, being published from home sweet home, so it will be out at the regular time!