On the block – 28

A weekly series of posts highlighting interesting Grand Seiko watches on the market

For this week’s “On the block”, where I highlight three interesting vintage Grand Seiko’s on the market in Japan, I’ve selected two watch from Yahoo Japan auctions – both of which you may be able to obtain for a bargain basement price, given that they have some mechanical issues; and one from an established dealer.

For those of you not familiar with how to purchase from Japan (very nearly all sellers there will not ship overseas), do check out my detailed article on ZenMarket.

Yahoo Japan auctions

We start this week with one of the very last vintage Grand Seikos released – the 5646-7040.

Grand Seiko 5646-7040
Grand Seiko 5646-7040

The 5646-7040 is one of the rarest of the late vintage Grand Seikos – perhaps just a couple turn up on Yahoo Japan auctions per year.

Continue reading “On the block – 28”

Vintage Grand Seiko collection

Some may feel it is a little early for a #GSWednesday post, but it’s gone 2am in Tokyo already, so why not get started 🙂 Featured here is almost the entirety of my vintage Grand Seiko collection. I left out the dodgy black dialed 57GS’s, and a rather scrappy 5722 cap gold, which left me with a nice round 60 to share!
After a lot of research, I believe there were 122 distinct models released in the vintage era, so I’m basically half way there now! I’ve come a long way from the original plan which was just to get a single example of each movement that was used. I doubt I’ll ever complete the full set, but as they say – “never say never” 😂
OK. So who can name every single model pictured here? 😉

#Seiko #GrandSeiko #グランドセイコー #セイコー #vintage #vintagewatch #seikofam #watchfam

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Grand Seiko 5646-7010

Grand Seiko 5646-7010 with blue dial and faceted crystal.
Here’s another piece from the vintage Grand Seiko collection that I’ve not shot in over a year. This is one of the NOS “full set” pieces I have that is complete with its original box, strap, buckle and all paperwork.
The one question mark re this piece however is the crystal. The seller claimed that this was a Wako limited edition, and hence the faceted crystal. Not entirely sure whether that claim is based on fact, and hard to verify given this is from 1973, but it would be nice if it were!
I needed a shot of this in portrait orientation for a little project I have been working on that will be revealed for Grand Seiko Wednesday tomorrow. See you then… #Seiko #GrandSeiko #グランドセイコー #セイコー #vintage #vintagewatch #seikofam #watchfam #watch #watchphotography

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Grand Seiko Chronometer “First” / 3180

It suddenly dawned on me that whilst I’ve posted quite a few shots lately of the rarer Grand Seiko Chronometer “First” / 3180 variants, it had been quite some time since I shot the more common “raised logo” dial from the collection.
There seems to be an almost insatiable demand for these watches at the moment, with good examples now selling in the upper 300 to lower 400k Japanese Yen range. That would have been unthinkable just six short months ago, so if you come across one of these at a good price, don’t hang about!
#Seiko #GrandSeiko #グランドセイコー #セイコー #vintage #vintagewatch

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On the block – 27

A weekly series of posts highlighting interesting Grand Seiko watches on the market

For this week’s “On the block”, where I highlight three interesting vintage Grand Seiko’s on the market in Japan, I’ve selected one watch from Yahoo Japan auctions, one from Rakuten, and one from an established dealer

For those of you not familiar with how to purchase from Japan (very nearly all sellers there will not ship overseas), do check out my detailed article on ZenMarket that I posted back in November 2016.

As always, I will illustrate this post with images of watches from my own collection. Click through the links provided to see the details of the watches actually available for sale.

Rakuten

Starting off this week with a watch that is listed on Rakuten – an early “Grand Seiko” dialed 6146-8000.

6146-8000 Grand Seiko dial
6146-8000 Grand Seiko dial

For the first few months of their production, the 6145- and 6146-8000 had different branding on the dial to all subsequent 61GS series watches, in that underneath the “GS” Grand Seiko logo was the text “Grand Seiko”. There are four different models with this dial, with both the 6145- and 6146-8000 being available in steel and cap gold cases. Also of interest on the dial is the fact that the Suwa factory logo underneath the text is of a different design to that found on the later watches. Continue reading “On the block – 27”

Grand Seiko 4580-7010 VFA

Thought it was about time I shot this watch when it was showing “Grand Seiko Time”, which, for those who haven’t yet noticed, I now do my best to use when shooting any of my Grand Seiko collection.
Scroll back through my feed if you hadn’t noticed it before 🙂 These days, “Grand Seiko time” is religiously set as 10:08:42 – every single official photo of a Grand Seiko will have the hands set to this time, even when the running seconds hand is on a sub-dial on the chronographs – but back in the 1960’s and 1970’s it was actually often 10:08:43.

I take a bit of artistic license with the exact minute hand position depending on the angle I’m shooting at and the height of the hand above the dial. At this kind of angle I have it between the 9 and 10 minute markers, otherwise I think it looks a little too offset.
Wishing you all a happy #GSWednesday, with a photo featuring what I consider to be the greatest three hand watch ever made – the Grand Seiko 4580-7010 VFA.

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Grand Seiko Chronometer “First” / 3180 AD dial

Close up of the logo on the Grand Seiko Chronometer “First” / 3180 AD dial. See previous post for the full dial shot and background to this rare piece!
#Seiko #GrandSeiko #グランドセイコー #セイコー #vintage #vintagewatch #seikofam #watchfam #3180 #gs9 #gs9club

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