just wondering why...

great watches ... that might just not make the top spot on your shopping list?

what are your thoughts on those? I find they are not unlike the A-T's ...

cheers, Al

 

No pics.

Next!

 

The vintage GS remind me a bit of Connies



Even have a medallion on case back



They come up from time to time on sales forum here . . .

 

I think many people think they are great watches but it seems to me they only really appeal to a niche group. I'm fortunate to have GS AD down the street to see them in person, but I've never felt compelled to buy one.

 

I so want a vintage grand seiko...a 69 or 70 ..... These are top watches ... I think grand seiko is the opposite of a modern submariner...top quality reasonably priced and understated...

 

Big fan of the early ones, and like some of the newer ones including the GMTs, they're just too darn big.
my 43999:

 

Tragically under loved... The problem is they could be the best watch in the world, and look amazing and at the end of the day they are a Sieko. Hard to explain the value proposition in the west to someone that you just dropped 10k on a Sieko.

I'm saying this and I love these watches, and most of the rest of the line. The design on the high end stuff is sublime, the lower stuff ranges from quirky to tribute to iconically Sieko. SKX FOR LYFE!

 

I bought a tiatnium GS SBGR059 last year because I wanted something reasonably smart and low-key for travel in dodgy places and fell straight down the rabbit hole. Love it -- best-finished watch I own. And it triggered a cascade of of love for late 60s 36,000bph Seikos -- most of which are from the 45 series, which beat all-comers at the last Neufchatel Chronometer competition. Oh, and an SKX011 beater which keeps claiming wrist time.

The vintage GS and King Seiko serious bang for your buck: they're technically and qualitatively big-league watches, but you're generally playing in the sub-$1,000 region. Unless you are looking at a 6159....

The SBGR :

The 4520 went straight off for a service, but here's a King Seiko 4502:


Given the shortage of spares, it's worth stocking up on donors -- a 4522:



and the SKX011...

 

i personally love the new Grand seiko high beat GMT but its out of my price range. what a fantastically built watch

 

Love 'em and there's a dandy for sale here but I blew my acquisition budget for the next few months.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/pri...apped-36-000-bph-6146-8000.34793/#post-419971

 

Plenty has been discussed about them. Do a search. Overall everyone agrees on their merit as great Watches, with one guy that I remember of stating he had one and let it go because it was not balanced or something. He posted pics too. I guess there's a taste for everything.

In any event, and in all seriousness I do think some of them suffer from a slight imbalance, but not all. Some models are very very beautiful. The ONE I had just didn't sit well with me but I don't really blame the watch, it was great, just to coarse and tool like, thick and heavy to be elegant, and too crafted with the dial design etc to be a tool.

Ps: I love the ones posted above, specially the orange/ pink 011 face and the 4502

And the vintage from @peatnick is perfection. mine was a modern high beat with the off white dial

 

I love my vintage grand seiko. Very elegant and historically interesting. I expect to keep it until I give it to one of my daughters.

I have a modern one that I like, but don't love, I'm not sure why. Too shiny? The face is amazing and the blue hand mesmorizing. But I'll probably part ways in the next several months. I also have never fallen in love with the AT either.

 

Have read from a few watchmakers the build is good but some have been known to have cheap screws that are commonly broken or threaded during services. Think AL also commented on this once also.
Think this was modern more than the earlier models.

 

Just look at that Snowflake above, gorgeous!

Owning a modern Hi-Beat myself, I'm already over the barrier of buying a 4000€ Seiko and enjoying the watch very much. I dare to say that build quality is slightly above OMEGA maybe except the bracelet.

 

Welcome to Omegaforums haha. GS: similar to perfect Japanese whiskey (scotch): it's great, taste the effort, amazing. Enjoy.

Recently got back from an intense biz trip to Tokyo, fully expected to return with a GS. Did not. Spent a few large on laminated white steel woodworking tools instead. Wooden spoons for everybody this Xmas!

 

Very good strategy.

For the vintage watches, getting spare parts can be a bear, or frankly downright impossible. In general the Japanese seem to cut off making spare parts once a movement is discontinued much sooner than the Swiss do. Sometimes a donor watch is the only option. I don't service a lot of Seikos, but have done some King and Grand Seikos, as well as chronographs and Bellmatics (along with a few more valuable divers). Photos from a Grand Seiko with a 4522A if I recall...wear on pinion leaves here was pretty severe:



Even the pallet fork jewels were worn:



I found the mainspring in the 36,000 watches to be quite strong, so there are a lot of forces on the parts - regular service is highly recommended.

As for build quality, yeah okay nicely finished where it's visible, but feel "cold" to me personally. I've not serviced any modern versions, but the engineering in the vintage stuff seems overly complex for what it does. On the 4522A the date change that uses that "Z" shaped spring is one example, as is the hack mechanism that I think uses 3 different levers.

Aesthetically they just don't click with me personally, in particular the newer models. Although many brands use different fonts on their dials, Seiko has honed this practice to a level beyond what my eyes can tolerate, and honestly I can't get buy it.

So for me vintage is usually out due to the lack of parts, and modern doesn't appeal to me, at least for what they are charging. Too many watches I would be spending that kind of money on before Seiko made it to the top of the list. Having said that even though it's not a GS I would love a good condition, all original, 62MAS if anyone is selling!

Cheers, Al

 

I don't especially like the Gothic font, and admit to a (mostly irrational) bias against spending that much money on a watch with the name Seiko on it. In part because Seiko has done such a good job with their affordable line (e.g. SARB, SARG series) that it's harder to see the value proposition for me. The same argument can be turned against plenty of my purchases, I'm sure, but that's what's kept me from looking hard at the GS to date.

 

That is my favorite dial for a grand seiko