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Spinakerr
·Hi all - I thought I'd post up some images of this GS as there's not too much on the internet on them, and I wondered how many others were on OF.
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I picked this up two years ago in a rather strange turn of events. I was only just starting to get into vintage Grand Seiko and was meeting a few collectors at a pub the night before a vintage watch fair (remember those?). One of the attendees had a truly fine 61GS, a VFA I think (he'll come and correct me!) and I spent a bit of the evening working my way through the back catalogue of references on the interwebs.
The next day at the fair another Seiko fanatic introduced me to a friend who had a 56GS for sale at a reasonable price. It was polished but had a great clean dial, so I started chatting to him about it. As we spoke, another dealer came out form his stall and asked if I knew what this watch was, a Grand Seiko. He knew nothing, I knew a fraction more maybe, and I took a look. The dial stunned me but I knew zero and we agreed to meet back in London.
After a visit in calmer circumstances and having realised this was a very special watch, I asked him what his price was. London dealer, brick and mortar shop, all papers etc... I was worried the figure would be astronomical...
"£400. Take it." I pretty much floated out of that transaction!
So what is it? Grand Seiko 6146, 6 denoting the day and date version, in a tonneau case rather than the popular crisp 'Grammar of Design' style. I found a few old listings in Japan and just loved it, but not much more info was out there. Several other Grand Seikos had this dial pattern, resembling cross weaves of tatami mats or kimono fabric (take your pick for romanticised Japanese interpretations) - recent issuances include the SBGA387.
I had to get a new rotor from Japan but fortunately they did come up, and after working its way through two watchmakers its now perfect. Medallion is a bit worn, but I started wearing it. The first I saw it in a sunset wiht the NOS crystal I had to stop and stare. Cpmpletely smitten.
After a few IG posts, Gerald from thegrandseikoguy and Paul from vintageseiko got in touch - it turns out this may be the first example of a GS being sold outside Japan, as I still had the papers and a bit of the story of previous ownership.
https://thegrandseikoguy.com/2019/12/17/a-vintage-grand-seiko-originally-sold-outside-japan/
They also exist with a blue dial, and the pattern emerges on some other vintage & modern GS - whatever the case, I'm consistently thrilled with it and hope one day to visit the GS museum in Japan who said they would be interested in documenting it to fill their records.
Any other Kira-Zuri dials out there?
[I picked this up two years ago in a rather strange turn of events. I was only just starting to get into vintage Grand Seiko and was meeting a few collectors at a pub the night before a vintage watch fair (remember those?). One of the attendees had a truly fine 61GS, a VFA I think (he'll come and correct me!) and I spent a bit of the evening working my way through the back catalogue of references on the interwebs.
The next day at the fair another Seiko fanatic introduced me to a friend who had a 56GS for sale at a reasonable price. It was polished but had a great clean dial, so I started chatting to him about it. As we spoke, another dealer came out form his stall and asked if I knew what this watch was, a Grand Seiko. He knew nothing, I knew a fraction more maybe, and I took a look. The dial stunned me but I knew zero and we agreed to meet back in London.
After a visit in calmer circumstances and having realised this was a very special watch, I asked him what his price was. London dealer, brick and mortar shop, all papers etc... I was worried the figure would be astronomical...
"£400. Take it." I pretty much floated out of that transaction!
So what is it? Grand Seiko 6146, 6 denoting the day and date version, in a tonneau case rather than the popular crisp 'Grammar of Design' style. I found a few old listings in Japan and just loved it, but not much more info was out there. Several other Grand Seikos had this dial pattern, resembling cross weaves of tatami mats or kimono fabric (take your pick for romanticised Japanese interpretations) - recent issuances include the SBGA387.
I had to get a new rotor from Japan but fortunately they did come up, and after working its way through two watchmakers its now perfect. Medallion is a bit worn, but I started wearing it. The first I saw it in a sunset wiht the NOS crystal I had to stop and stare. Cpmpletely smitten.
After a few IG posts, Gerald from thegrandseikoguy and Paul from vintageseiko got in touch - it turns out this may be the first example of a GS being sold outside Japan, as I still had the papers and a bit of the story of previous ownership.
https://thegrandseikoguy.com/2019/12/17/a-vintage-grand-seiko-originally-sold-outside-japan/
They also exist with a blue dial, and the pattern emerges on some other vintage & modern GS - whatever the case, I'm consistently thrilled with it and hope one day to visit the GS museum in Japan who said they would be interested in documenting it to fill their records.
Any other Kira-Zuri dials out there?
