You still living in a trail of human wreckage, or have you retired?
Why? You looking for a date?
Introduction
Ok so I’ve just had a quick look through this week’s auctions, and I think it’s going to be a very brief newsletter!1
Apologies, but that’s just sometimes the way things are. After all that excitement last week (which I’ll cover in the post credits scene), I guess it was probably too much to hope for a repeat performance!
Given the paucity of suitable listings to include this week, I’m actually going to detail all of the redialed watches that have bids on. Usually I just have the general summary at the end of every newsletter to remind you to watch out for these, but I guess there’s no harm in detailing them once in a while.
Also, we have what I think is a new colour this week as well!
Ok time to crack that whip and get started…
Indiana Jones
Grand Seiko 5645-7010
The seller describes this watch as being “dead stock”, but I have to be honest - I really don’t think it’s possible to tell if this is true from the photos. If you’re happy to take him at his word, and that the case has not been repolished, then it’s worth a look at.
Although there was no change in either the model reference or dial code, this is actually an example of the second variant of the 5645-7010, where the dial has a silver sunburst finish, as opposed to the matte white dial that the reference launched with.
Also existing as 5646-7010 day-date references, these 56GS variants is actually not as rare as you might think, considering it only ever made a single catalogue appearance in 1972. The white dialed watches were launched in the supplement to the second volume of the 1970 catalogue, and remained (in the case of the 5646-7010) a staple of the range all the way through to Grand Seiko’s final appearance in the second volume of the 1975 catalogue.
Strictly speaking, one might hope for the original strap to be included with a watch listed as being “dead stock”, but the seller mentions the strap had degraded (they do this!), and has replaced it with a new Seiko strap, retaining the original buckle.
One final thing that ideally you would want with a dead stock watch is of course the original caseback protection sticker, something that is missing here.
Grand Seiko 4520-8000
The 4520-8000 is one of the more popular vintage Grand Seiko references, and this is one of the better examples to turn up in recent months.
With highly sought after references such as this one, I consider it well worthwhile being very patient and waiting for an excellent example to appear, and then being prepared to maybe pay a little over the odds to secure it. And I doubt I’m the only one with that view, which makes me think there will be quite a few people joining the bidding on this one.
It’s a shame the seller wasted so many photos on the strap and (incorrect) buckle - it would have been better to have a few more detailed shots of the lugs - but based on what is presented, I think it’s clear that the case of this watch has only ever had a very light touch, and certainly has never seen any attempts to refinish it.
Highly recommended if you’ve been patiently waiting to add one of these to your collection.
Inner and outer boxes for a 56GS on a steel bracelet
Wracking my brains and I can’t recall seeing this particular box being sold with its outer box in the past.
I’m sure there are some examples, but suffice to say, the outer box is extremely rare.
This is the box that the steel cased 56GS references with bracelets would have been supplied with. Note that as far as I am aware, it is not correct for the 18K gold references.
I’ll be personally keeping a close eye on this one, and hopefully not too many people will be after it!
Grand Seiko 5646-7010 cap gold case
Ok so it’s not the best example of this reference that you might ever see, but it’s been a while since I’ve included one, and since it’s a quiet week, it gets a feature.
If you are shopping around for one of these, the essential detail that you should always be on the lookout for is that the flanks of the case retain their original vertical brushing, as can be clearly seen in the photos in this listing -
What you can also obviously see here is that the case does have more than its fair share of dings and scratches, which is a shame, because without them, the watch would have come highly recommended.
As with every 56GS listing, do check the description carefully to see if there is any mention of the day/date mechanism working properly. If it’s not specifically called out, assume the worst and that you’ll need to get it fixed. Here, fortunately, all is well.
Case and crystal for the Grand Seiko 5646-7020
With its extremely high profile off the wrist, it’s probably not surprising that almost all examples of this reference that you come across have significant knocks and gouges in both their cases and crystals.
Oddly enough, this week we not only have a pretty decent example of the reference up for grabs, but also the service case and crystal as seen here.
The smart buy would definitely be to chase this hard, and then wait for a really beaten up example with a clean dial to be listed and nab it for a bargain.
Grand Seiko 5646-7020
Here’s a great example of what to be careful with regarding this reference.
In the lead shot, the crystal looks to be pretty good, but from closer up, and another angle -
- we can see there are some pretty significant scratches on the facets and chips on the edges.
This is actually one of the better condition crystals that you will find on these, and also note how sharp the caselines (particularly of that long bevel across the lugs) are. The watch has been shot in very harsh light, so I would anticipate that the scratches will be more obvious than when it’s on your wrist.
Personally I would not recommend picking this one up and then swapping it into that dead stock case - wait for a much worse one to turn up and you’ll save yourself hundreds of dollars!
This one is good enough to consider on its own merits.
Inner and outer boxes for 45GS/61GS
Remember that the “Hi-Beat - 36000” boxes are a lot rarer, and more desirable, than those without that line of text embroidered in the underside of the lid. This one’s at 15,500 Yen already, and will go higher.
Certificate for 615x- Specials
Oddly sold with an Omega guarantee, there will be quite a few people chasing this one I’m sure.
It’s a shame that for the Specials Grand Seiko didn’t tie the certificate directly to the watch by including the case and/or movement serial numbers, but at least they did make some effort by creating a “special” certificate for the range.
The fact that there are no serial numbers on the certificate of course means there are loads of collectors out there who have a watch this could be paired with.
I’ve no idea of the value of the Omega certificate, but suspect it won’t impact the bidding much.
It’s not a vintage Grand Seiko, but I like it
Seiko Quartz Superior 3883-7000
When it comes to the Superiors, people tend to gravitate to the later twin-quartz 9983’s for obvious reasons, but I’ve gotta be honest with you, the first Superior as we see here is actually my favourite of them all (well, barring the crazy rare 18K gold ones).
And yes, even though the “Morpho Butterfly” dialed variant of the 3883-7000 gets all the attention, I’d take the “regular” one over it every single day of the week.
The watch presented in this listing is in fabulous condition - you’d be very hard pressed to find a better example - although do check the images carefully there are some scratches on the bridge between the top lugs.
Just to give a sense as to how much rarer the 3883’s are compared to the 9983’s, over the last 10 years there have been around 230 listings for the former, and around 600 for the latter.
Irina Spalko
Grand Seiko 5722-9990 with black dial
The “redone” black dialed 57GS’s are probably the most common of all the coloured redials. Rather annoyingly, they actually look pretty great, which perhaps is why when Grand Seiko “recreated” the 57GS in the modern era, they included a black dial variant, the SBGV011 -
Grand Seiko 5722-9990
Just as with the legitimate watches, examples of the black dial variants of the 57GS can be found both with transitional features, such as the first listing this week - where we have a 5722-9990 case but with a 5722-9991 style dial, and the “pure” variants where the dials and caseback codes match up to those seen in the catalogues.
Turning this on over, we find that it is another transitional featured redial, with the 5722-9990 dial and a 43999 caseback. However, not only is the dial faked here, but the watch has almost certainly been put together from multiple donors, because you will not find legitimate examples of this combination dating from January 1964.
Grand Seiko 4522-8000
A pretty poorly reprinted (redrawn even?!) dial on this one.
Grand Seiko 6145-8000 with burgundy dial
I can totally understand the attraction of these pieces, and can’t help but wonder if the person behind this dial has visited Wako and paid close attention to one of the prototype dials from the vintage era that never made it into production?
Grand Seiko 6246-9001 with black dial
Closing out this week’s bad guys (or rather, girls) with this striking black redial of a 6246-9001.
As is so often the case (sorry, pun not intended) with the watches these redone dials find themselves in, the case has been polished to death.
It does kinda make you wish Grand Seiko had issued these with black dials back in the day though, doesn’t it? Do let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Post credits scene
The first Grand Seiko with split 12 index, carved logo, linen dial
To say bidding was intense on last week’s featured lot would be an understatement.
By the close, five different bidders had taken it from 1,350,000 Yen all the way to 2,106,000 Yen. To put that into some context, the only previously known example of a first Grand Seiko with this linen-finished dial sold last December for 588,000 Yen.
No doubt the owner of that watch - whom I believe was actually also involved in the bidding for this one - would have been delighted to see how much this second example ended up hammering for.
And yet, despite what some people may consider a very high price, I still think this was an absolute bargain. Personally, were I to own one of these, I wouldn’t let it go for $40k.
Ok, that’s a wrap for this week. Turned out to have a lot more content than I originally thought, so I hope you enjoyed it!
As always, please do share your thoughts (and corrections where needed!) in the comments below, or feel free to start a new thread in the chat!
You know what, going back over it now, I think it actually turned out to be an interesting week!
Hope the financial writers are paying attention, this is how you work a lull
Post credits scene
Really dressed things up this week
It was about to be 56 city and some sweet boxes