Thanks guys!
I was initially after the blue dialed Kakume. But it appears out of the 6138 family the panda is the most sought after, so I thought why not go for the big fish first.
As some mentioned Seiko's are on the up side now value wise, and I wanted to catch the Panda before it again reaches levels I'm not willing to pay at the moment.
I was lucky that this one popped up on eBay, the price was quite steep but after a bit of negotiating with the seller we agreed upon a price both sides where happy with.
One really has to do some DD before dipping into vintage seikos. I was used to this from the speedmaster hunt, and albeit there's a lot of information out there on the 6138's I was missing a reliable source like speedmaster101.
Some of the Info out there is just blatantly wrong.
Especially when it comes down to dials, as the aftermarket for those is huge with seiko.
When you are looking for a Panda, there are some easy clues what to look out for on the dial to spot original from fake/aftermarket:
1. The O in the AML Seiko Logo is always oval and lays on its side.
2. The "Chronograph Automatic" Text and the Seiko Logo are centered on the left side, draw an imaginative vertical line from the S to the C and A ( think like MOY-Test on some of the connys).
3. the Date surround is silver and the insides of the cutout are painted as well (on most of the aftermarket ones it's just a stamp through the metal).
4. color of the date disk should be an off white, not a bright one.
5. there should be tritium Spots on all hour markers.
6. the hour markers have black (not sure if onyx) stripes on top of them (there is some controversy about that).
7. Concerning the Hands, those should be straight, syringe and not tapering down to the front. The subdial hands should have a visible metal "disks" in the middle where they are mounted. Chrono second hand is square base with orange tip (can be faded heavily, I've seen almost white ones).
8. The dial it self should have a vertical linen pattern.
The subdials do not have concentric circles! If they do, that's a dead giveaway for an aftermarket dial!
That's all I can think about at the moment, don't hold me accountable for it, it's just what I gathered and what helped me score the example you see above.
Now it's hunting season for the Kakume. JDM non JDM? Tritium or not? Black or Silver hands?
So much fun with the seikos!
View attachment 413816
Have a nice day!
Cheers,
Max
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