You had a few drinks, you saw a watch you liked... 8-O
Apr 11, 2015 8:54:49 GMT -8
Groundhog66, dasher, and 2 more like this
Post by Thomas on Apr 11, 2015 8:54:49 GMT -8
I bet most of you have been there. You've had a few drinks, you see a watch you like, it's more expensive than you can afford, or it's a pink and gold quartz dress watch, but it listed as "or best offer"!!
So, you know, just to "be in the game", you make a low offer, knowing the seller will never accept it...
Huh? Two boxes?
Oh, okay, I see. Let's open the "box box" first, or it would be anti-climatic to do it after seeing the watch.
Alright, one step closer.
What an unusual Seiko box! It's like very light cardboard. Seems cheap and flimsy. I suppose when you buy a junky watch, you get a junky box!
Well, the inside box looks much better! Hard to imagine a pink watch coming in a black box like that!
In fact the box is pretty darn swanky! Awfully fancy for such a crummy watch, but at least the pink and gold would go with the inside.
Speaking of which, it's time to look at the watch now.
If you can read the label you see that it is a bit of an oddball movement, a low-beat, handwind 5722.
I can see it now, in its free watch travel case.
And there it is.
Like I said, it's a bit of an orphan, the 5722 being freshly renumbered from the 430 and 43999 movements coming before it, and it was only made for a year or so.
Let's take a closer look, okay?
Ha-ha, joking aside, it is actually a very interesting model. The 1965 Grand Seiko 5722-9990, marked as a Chronograph, but not COSC certified, its engine is an 18,000 bph, 35 jewel, hand-wind, diashock, "chronometer grade" movement. This is one of the earliest Seiko attempts to compete with their Swiss counterparts in watch-making supremacy.
And it's good looking too, with a pearl-silver sunburst dial, faceted, applied steel markers, sporting highly readable, faceted “bamboo-shoot” hands. hour markers and a nicely "chiseled" case design. The 130th Anniversary Grand Seiko SBGW033 is styled after this model (but costs a little more).
Here is the early style "W Seiko" signed crown, used before they went to the "GS" signature.
The common side.
And the case-back, showing the original 18k Gold Lion medallion that was used to denote “chronometer-grade” watches in 1965, and was not used for regular Grand Seikos at that time. This was subsequently replaced by a "GS" emblem for the later 5722 models, which also lost the "Chronometer" designation on the dial.
It came on an 18mm strap, but as the lugs are really 19mm, I found a properly wide, shiny black, cowrocodile strap for it, and put it on.
It wound up smoothly, and the quick-set is crisp, but it reached "full-wind" in only a dozen turns or so, so I think I'll wear it this weekend and see how the accuracy and power reserve end up.
Oh woe is me, the sacrifices I make for this obsession!!
I hope you enjoyed the show, thanks for looking in!
- Thomas
