Welcome to the new monthly summary newsletter

Introduction

Whilst I am very much enjoying the structure, distribution and interaction available having now permanently moved over to the Substack world, there are a few downsides since Substack is primarily organised around providing writers with the ability to publish newsletters to their readers.

Newsletters very much fall into the “read once, discard” category of publishing, which isn’t ideally suited to what I’m attempting to do here.

When viewing Substack in a web browser it is possible to present to subscribers a series of tabs at the top of the page where newsletters can be categorised by tagging them when they are published. If you read my Substack solely from the emails, or only ever check the app, then you won’t get to see these categories, so here’s a screenshot to show you what the “front page” of the Substack looks in a desktop browser -

For those viewing my “stack” in the Substack app, there is currently no way for me to display those categories. As an illustration, the following is a screenshot of what you see when you visit the front page in iOS -

Unfortunately (for me!), this means that there is no way to present a “for sale” page within the mobile Substack app - I am currently trying to get into the routine of listing a new watch available for purchase every Monday. Additionally, it means that for those who solely interact with the the publication via the app, it is very difficult to access the reference articles that I have published, such as the scans from the vintage Seiko catalogues detailing every single vintage Grand Seiko reference, or the primers that I have written to provide some insight into specific areas of collecting vintage Grand Seiko.

It is entirely possible that there are recent subscribers who only ever use the Substack app, who are not even aware that such (what I hope are!) useful reference material is available here.

So, going forward, and starting this month - today in fact, because you’re reading the first one! - I will be publishing a monthly summary newsletter that I hope will serve as an introduction to “The Grand Seiko Guy” on Substack, and will become the new pinned article, taking the place of the reference index to the Friday newsletters.

This new monthly newsletter will contain a number of sections, including a (much!) shorter introduction than you are reading here; an update on the currently available watches available for purchase; reminders of the reference materials available; and highlighting any articles of interest that may have been published in the previous month (and boy do I have a doozy of an article in the works to be published later this month).

So without further ado, the following is the content that you can expect to see in these new monthly summary newsletters.

I would very much encourage you to provide me with any feedback you have - use either the comments section at the bottom of this article, the chat functionality on Substack, or simply reply to this newsletter if you’re reading it in an email.

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Watches for sale

On most Mondays I am now publishing a newsletter to paid subscribers detailing a watch available for purchase.

As a thank you to my paid subscribers for supporting the Substack (plug - it is just $5 a month or $50 a year), they have a 7 day window of opportunity to purchase the watch at a 10% discount on the listed price. Following that 7 day exclusive period, the newsletter is then automatically forwarded to all subscribers.

Should a watch hang around for a while and I’m still looking to find it a loving new home, I will use this monthly newsletter to announce any permanent price reductions. Any reduced prices are the prices for all subscribers - no further discounts at this stage for paid subscribers, although it is worth noting that any discount will always be more than the 10% that paid subscribers originally had available to them.

The following are links to newsletters detailing the watches that - at time of publication - are currently available for purchase. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me should you have any questions about the watches, or if there is something specific you are looking for that you don’t see here. This is just a small fraction of what I have in the collection.

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Originally listed at $1,700, now priced at $1,400

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Originally listed at $2,800, now priced at $2,400.
SOLD pending funds

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Originally listed at $13,500, now priced at $11,500

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No price reduction on this one!

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Currently available only to paid subscribers at a listed price of $12,000 prior to their exclusive 10% discount - free subscribers will receive the newsletter on this watch next Monday (October 9th).

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Reference articles

I have published a number of reference article here, which can be easily found should you be viewing Substack in a browser. For ease of reference for those who read primarily in the Substack app, here are some links to those articles, along with a brief description of their content.

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Each Friday I publish a newsletter highlighting auctions of interest on Yahoo Japan for collectors of vintage Grand Seiko. These newsletters have been published for over two years now, and the article above serves as a reference to every listing ever featured (and that is a lot of watches!). I typically get around to updating it once a month.

The Friday newsletters that are linked to within this article go out to paid subscribers first, and then after a one week delay, are automatically forwarded to all subscribers.

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An index page to a long series of articles covering every instance of a vintage Grand Seiko being featured in the Seiko catalogues of the time, as well as detailing every known legitimate vintage Grand Seiko that does not have a catalogue appearance.

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Primers

An occasional series of articles providing a “deep dive” into a specific area of interest for those who collect vintage Grand Seiko.

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Thanks for reading!

Ok that’s it for this month.

As mentioned earlier, I would very much welcome any and all feedback. Unlike many who publish on Substack, I’m not by an stretch of the imagination a professional writer - I just felt it would provide a more connected and interactive way to share my passion for vintage Grand Seiko than a simple website, and to date, I’m very happy with the way things are going.

I hope you are too!

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