Seiko delivery

Two Seikos in the mail today, demonstrating my eclectic preferences, for better or for worse.



First, an early 60s Sportsmatic J14103D. Definitely a budget piece, but illustrating the nice watches that Seiko was making at the time. What caught my eye was the uncommon gray sunburst dial, and the virtually unworn condition, with most of the fragile protective blue cellophane still present on the case-back. A reminder that it need not be expensive to step into vintage watch collecting.



The other will be more recognizable, a 1964 Olympic year monopusher chronograph, ref 45899, Seiko's first chronograph, IIRC. These are among my favorite Seikos so I took a chance on this one, which had a scratched crystal and poor photos in the listing. It cleaned up nicely.

They both look nice! The Sportsmatic reminds me of the Skyliner but looks more elegant with the thinner inner bezel. The chronograph looks nice but I was surprised to see how much people ask for it on eBay.

The monopusher prices are strongly condition-dependent. The most desirable are the early ones with clean dials, original and undamaged Bakelite bezels, and the Olympic torch case-back. Examples with these features are limited. Later models came with metal bezels, and are also nice.

That 45899 looks great! Congrats!