Been quiet lately due to RL commitments.. however as always, I have been on the hunt for Interesting watches with some form of history and this brings me to the Seiko Lord Marvel J14038 (steel case) and the J14039 (14k gold plated)

@bigsom has been a source of inspiration on this and i would like to thank him for it.

Owning Grand Seikos are a joy and it would seem natural to look into older vintage GS as a another form of collecting. However, vintage 44GS/57/62GS... Their prices have gone up quite Abit. While I think they are still fun to collect (at a reasonable price point) I decided to delve deeper which brings me to the 3180, the first Grand Seiko.

Looking at market prices and apparently many redial models left me in want, so I decided to get a SBGW253 just to cover that. Lovely watch which hits home on many attractive points....

But it wasn't a real real vintage GS... So I decided to look into it Abit further and found the first carved dial Seiko.

J14038/J14039

I swore to never wear gold but these burnished gold is so nice. They go under the radar and in some lighting looks almost rose gold.



Hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did.

 

Thoroughly great set of pieces. I hope to find an early steel LM myself at some point. Thanks for sharing!

 

Love these!

 

Beautiful photos man! These carved dials are just really lovely. The markers for these were also planted by hand.

 

So Japanese...hard to put my finger on why - but yet so clear. Awesome.

 

A friend said the same thing. The design language is so clear and distinct.

 

great video on Seiko's history and the Marvel/Lord Marvel

 

Good stuff! And one of my favorite vintage Seiko model lines.

This NOS example has the original tags and wax/plastic button, which reads "OF BEST QUALITY" on one side, and, like the case back, "SPECIALLY INSPECTED" on the reverse.

 

Awesome. Is there an S on the crown?

 

yeS!

 

incredible !!!

only 1 of the gold LM has its original crown... pity about that >.<

 

I think you'd love a carved dial if you enjoy the later mk4+ dials. Also if you don't mind smaller watches a mk1 carved with S logo dial!

 

I'm sure that you are correct. I've flirted with the carved dial versions previously, but never landed one. I actually prefer, in some respects, the variety of the "regular" Marvel line. This is not a great photo (from the original seller):

 

looks silver gilt as well... very very very rare to find Seiko with black dials....

 

For a S logo marvel especially (ie I would be wary of any black dialed marvel).

That said S logo marvels (pre LM) are such cool watches and there are a lot out there. Just have to be ok with 30-31mm some of the transitional cases I believe get up to 33mm. The really nice ones are the S logos with SD markings.

 

was educated on the SD markings on that Seiko video i posted. So much going on which people didnt know of....

I had the Seiko Silverwave with SD as well.... didnt realize it was SD until yesterday

 

Been very quiet recently as I have somehow achieved Nirvana with my grail acquisition last year.

However, I got back into the hunting game after reading up on the intricate craftsmanship & history of the Lord Marvel 1st Gen with the carved dial. Learnt alot from online materials and selfless & kind sharing from @sdre and @bigsom. I am blessed to be part of this community.

With patience and a stroke of luck, i was offered this Lord Marvel 1st Gen Mk2 dial. I am enjoying it so much and now to pair it with a nice and supple taupe epsom leather strap!

 

Sunny day brings out the beauty of the Lord Marvel!

 

Stunning dress watch! One of these has to be added to my collection someday.

 

Thanks for posting up this info and the pictures - I recently spotted a Lord Marvel in a job lot of broken Seikos in Japan and then turned up yesterday. Amazingly, the Lord Marvel is in very good condition, dial is almost unblemished - its the J14068, a mk3 with different lugs.





Looking forward to getting this one running - missing a jewel and likely dried solid.