KMII
[Montblanc Moderator]
50201
Let me answer as best I can…
As we are generally not talking about pricing on WPS I never researched this aspect. Google might have the answer 🤷🏻♂️
As far as I know GS back in the day was primarily a JDM and Asia product - the first official sales in Europe came with the opening of the Paris boutique (please correct me if anyone knows better).
Am I a fan of the reissue? Very much so - love the idea of a thinner, hand wound hi beat watch and I feel they did a great job with it. If I was currently not on a small watch buying moratorium I would definitely have gone for one 👌🏻👍🏻
As for Taro Tanaka, he was a Seiko product till retirement and while not limited to GS (he was instrumental in designing some very key Seikos, too) he did not - to my knowledge work for other brands or categories. He did restructure the Customer Service Department of Seiko after they closed down the internal design department in the 1970s. Once they realized their mistake and reopened it, he was already retired.
Hope this helps.
Grammar of Design meets Hi-Beat - a review of the Grand Seiko 4520-8000
Last last year I determined for myself that high frequency watches were definitely one of my collecting topics - and after taking some time to compile a list of high frequency calibres (those beating at 36.000vph or above (here: the overview - and thanks...
Thanks a lot, Alkiro!
Glad if you learned something new and enjoyed the article! Like with all things vintage the exploration is half the fun. Luckily GS is fairly well documented in the meantime, so one has good sources to consult
With 122 distinct models you need to be Blomman to cover it all ;)
And then there are countless other vintage brands...
Observatory confusion, and number of models
Great review of a wonderful watch! Just wanted to pick up on a couple of points. "6185 (A and B, VFA and Observatory Chronometers, date)" " Cal. 4520 (no date), 4522 (date) and 4580 (VFA, Obervatory Chronometers)" " or one of the just over 120 Observatory...
Thank you so much for the corrections and clarification!
Very much obliged. Will correct my initial post immediately - when my children allow Btw. your posts on the subject matter have been instrumental in me making the jump into the vintage GS field, so much obliged! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Update - AOC's with Neuchatel certificates DO exist
Hi all - I was doing some research on a GP Observatory Chronometer that is currently up for sale, and came across this thread from earlier in the year. Just to update my above post with new information that has come to my attention over the last few weeks...
Thanks a lot for this additional information, Gerald!
Looking forward to what else you will uncover in relation to the topic - very fascinating
Wow, KMII, when did you have time to do this research, man!
Wonderful work, wonderful writing. Even the SEIKO people would appreciate such a depository of knowledge - they are notorious for NOT recording things..... You are doing for passion and I admire it and you get my 100% respect. Some uses people like you ju...
While you're here... :)
Hi Ken - While you're here, would you be able to provide an accurate translation of the attached image? It's the text for the AOC that appears in the January 1970 issue of the Seiko Sales newsletter. It would help to clear up exactly what claims were bein...
Thanks for your kind words, Ken!
But you do me too much honour. I just thought it would be interesting to summarise some bits for our community - luckily there are quite some enthusiasts who have put together lots of knowledge already. Always much easier to do a little contribution when ...
Nah, your summary is great...
... so, it is really a reference post all the Seiko fans to bookmark! My writing is just too long, boringfully (is this even a word?) long, so even I am lost while reading LOL! Let me know anything I can be of help for the quest of the knowledge!
If being recommended for bookmarking, then...
... probably a few other small things should be addressed. I'd be most interested to see any examples of watches that disprove any of the below With regards the vintage Grand Seiko era, the final catalogue that the watches appeared in was volume 2 of 1975...
You seem to be an inexhaustible fount of knowledge, Gerald!
I have added the corrections in the post above
57GS
Ok so I've just checked through the last 100 examples of the 5722-9991 to be sold on Yahoo Japan. The latest production date I could find was from March 1968.
Seems like I wrote much more profound stuff all those years ago 😊👍🏻🙏🏻
A bit more challenging now with two children 🤷🏻♂️
Very good thread. Thank you
I still have a question : do you know what the black line on the hands is made of?
thank you for this post... a few basic questions, if you know or can find out...
What was the retail price of the 45GS when it came out in 1969? (in US dollars and in Japanese yen if possible) Was it considered a basic or high-end/luxury watch? [I have no what a luxury watch cost in the 1960s for reference such as Patek, Omega, etc] W...
Let me answer as best I can…
As we are generally not talking about pricing on WPS I never researched this aspect. Google might have the answer 🤷🏻♂️ As far as I know GS back in the day was primarily a JDM and Asia product - the first official sales in Europe came with the opening of ...
