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Introduction
Finally back home on a Friday, and quite a lot of watches to cover in this week’s newsletter.
Which must be the shortest introduction ever!
Jason Dessen
Grand Seiko 43999 SD dial
For once, an example of the highly coveted SD dialed variant of the 43999 turns up where most things check out.
There are still three caveats though.
The case on this one looks to have had some pretty heavy polishing in the past, although it’s hard to ascertain the full extent given the rather odd selection of angles the watch has been photographed from for the listing.
At first glance, I was expecting the crown to be original, but closer examination reveals a rather odd marking on it -
Finally, without any photos of the movement, we can’t be certain that the movement serial number will be in the correct range (this being a watch from the first month of production, it should certainly start with the digits 30).
Talking of production, with a case serial number of 3800375, this is the earliest example of the Grand Seiko “Self-dater” that I can ever recall seeing. I would have been willing to overlook the average condition of caseback medallion, pick this one up, and fix that crown issue with a spare that I’ve been holding onto for a rainy day, were it not for the general condition of the case.
Grand Seiko 5646-7010 with patinated dial
A collector friend who has just added - to his rather extensive collection - an absolutely mint example of a 5645-7010 sent me a wrist shot with the remarks -
“This thing is perfect. No frills. Not extravagant. Nothing extra. Just perfect.”
“Very pure. Simple elegance.”
and
“This should be everyone’s entry level vintage watch.”
And you know what - I think he summed up the reference perfectly.
Whilst the 5646-7010 offered in this listing is nowhere near the condition of the one he acquired, by now you all know I’m an absolute sucker for the way some of these dials can patinate, and in this instance the entire dial has gone a wonderfully even shade of yellow, with no additional blemishes in sight.
Love it.
Grand Seiko 5645-7010 with patinated dial
And here’s another one, although…
Even though this one is generally in much better condition and has a similarly coloured dial, I wouldn’t usually have bothered to highlight it. The reason is that unlike the previous example, where the patination is completely consistent across the entire dial, here we can see that there is an additional stain extending around the minute markers on the left hand side.
There are enough of these patinated 56GS’s out there that if you do find them attractive and are looking for one, you can be patient and pass on those with minor defects has seen here, and wait for a better example to turn up.
Just included for comparison purposes.
Grand Seiko 4420-9000 early dial
A great example of what I would refer to as an “honest” watch.
“Honest” in that it’s clearly showing a few signs of age and use, but it would appear that noone has ever made any attempt to hide those signs.
To be absolutely certain, it would be preferable to be able to check the watch out in person, or at least have some higher resolution shots to go by, but on the basis of what we can see, the case looks great.
It may seem counterintuitive to highlight blemishes when praising a case, but look past the super sharp edges, and concentrate on the actual scratches and minor dings, and you will notice that those are sharply defined as well.
If you are prepared to overlook the slight blemish on the dial at the 58 minute marker, and pick up a fresh crystal to replace the rather scratched original, this would make for a superb daily beater 44GS.
Grand Seiko 5646-7000
Not a reference that gets featured very often around these parts, because let’s be honest - it’s not exactly the most sought after vintage Grand Seiko out there, is it? But regardless of the desirability of any particular reference, when a good one such as this turns up, it deserves a call out.
Just one small spot on the dial to the left of the “Automatic” text, but that’s really nitpicking. This won’t go for a huge sum, but whoever does land it I’m sure will be very happy indeed.
Just check out that case -
Note from the description that the movement has the all-too-common issue with the quickset day/date, but that’s an easy fix these days with plentiful supply of the (aftermarket and more robust than the original!) replacement part required to rectify the problem.
There are probably at least a dozen references that any collector has higher up his want list than this one, but just think about it - once you’ve got those dozen, you’ll be after one of these, and kicking yourself that you didn’t pick up a great one when you had the opportunity!
Grand Seiko 4420-9000 late dial
Possibly a very similar companion piece to the early dialed 44GS above, but a big dollop of “caveat emptor” plopped on this one due to the absolutely appalling images that could be hiding all sorts of issues.
Tough call - are you prepared to take a risk with this one? I think you might well be rewarded, but it’s on you!
Grand Seiko 43999 SD dial
If you look carefully, it’s possible to tell even from this lead shot that this is the SD dialed variant of the 43999 - you can just make out the extended dial code to the right of the index at 6.
This one comes somewhat more highly recommended than the earlier example for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, and most importantly, the case looks to be in much better condition. Even though the watch has been shot from quite some distance, we can still resolve the strong caselines down the flanks -
As for the crown, it’s a tough call, but I suspect this one will be legit.
The crystal you will definitely be looking to replace, but no worries on that count as they are in plentiful supply, so you can pick one up at the same time you win the auction!
Under that crystal, the dial looks to be in very good condition - these do tend to weather the test of time very well indeed - but it’s possible there might be some minor issues that are simply not going to be visible amongst those scratches and fractures.
Sadly, no movement shot to validate, so a bit of a risk there, but it’s a pretty cool case serial number, that’s for sure.
I guess the only thing that has really got me pondering having seen this listing, is -what would the value of an otherwise identical 43999 whose fourth digit of the caseback serial number was a “0” rather than a “1” be?!
It’s not a vintage Grand Seiko, but I like it.
Citizen 9010-095014
The blue “dialed” variant of Citizen’s first digital watch seems to be the rarest of the three (they also come in green and dark grey).
Here’s the full set -
All three of those work - they’ve just had their batteries removed.
The great news for me is that I’m sure nobody reading this newsletter would stoop so low as to want to acquire a digital watch - let alone a digital watch from Citizen.
So fortunately, none of you will be going into battle with me for this one. Will you? 😛
Jason Dessen
Grand Seiko 43999 SD dial
After an absence of a couple of weeks, our “friend” is back with his usual wares, and his usual fatuous “We cannot determine whether the dial has been redone or rewritten, so please look at the image to make your decision” disclaimer.
You know what to do!
Grand Seiko 6145-8020 blue dial
This one sticks out like a sore thumb due to the incredibly deep hue of the blue dial, which as we probably all know, by now should have desaturated almost completely.
Close examination of the dial code reveals that indeed, this is a redialed watch. Note the pointy “A”s in Japan, which is the dead giveaway -
The first Grand Seiko with carved logo dial and split 12 index
It was a toss-up really as to which half of the newsletter this one was going to be featured in, but at the end of the day, the combination of an incorrect second hand and the wrong style (not to mention, aftermarket) caseback medallion dropped it into the relegation zone.
Those looking for the carved dial variant of the first Grand Seiko will mostly gravitate towards the early variants - in production only up until late 1960 - with the index at 12 o’clock manufactured from two individual metal pieces.
This example sadly is not in the best of conditions - the dial is heavily stained, and the case is rather poor. If it wasn’t for the two issues already highlighted, it would probably have just squeezed into the protagonist section, but would have been a very soft recommendation.
I would also recommend not purchasing an example of the first Grand Seiko without knowledge of both case and movement serial numbers. Here, they are hidden, so there is no way to know whether or not they would be in the correct ranges for this variant. They probably are, but better to be safe than sorry with these.
The first Grand Seiko with raised logo dial
Again?
This is the third time this watch has been listed by the seller, with the two previous auctions being canceled with final bids of first 217,000 Yen, and then 253,000 Yen.
As I said before - if you want your watch to reach its true potential on Yahoo, you have to be prepared to put the effort in and present it properly.
Whilst I still think this would be a good pick-up (and maybe at the third time of trying the seller will just accept wherever it lands), it gets relegated to the antagonist section this week because we just shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of behaviour from sellers!
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.