Unveiling: My 1st Yahoo Japan / Buyee Big Box! >>>
Oct 17, 2015 10:28:41 GMT -8
mikeyt, bobbymike, and 3 more like this
Post by Thomas on Oct 17, 2015 10:28:41 GMT -8
I finally signed up with Buyee so I could buy from Yahoo Japan, and I have seen lots of amazing watches up for auction, but even with the favorable yen to dollar rate, the nice stuff can get VERY expensive, especially with Buyee's fees. First is there 10% Buyee fee, then you pay for packing, "protective packing" for anything expensive, and then postage and insurance. :-\
Here is my first shipment.
Some nice puncture damage, ironically right near the useless "Fragile" sticker.
Some expensive "protective packing".
Wow, there just seems to be layers and layers of bubble wrap!?!
MORE bubble wrap!!
Wait, I see something in that bubble-wrap envelope!
It is something very small, wrapped up in multiple zip-lock bags.
Ahh, there it is! It is a Grand Seiko Chronometer case-back medallion that I bought for the watch that I ended up returning to saitama-jp.
Very nice, but is that IT?? That huge box for one tiny medallion?!?
That would be worse than Amazon for "over-packing"!!!
I have to go back and paw through some of that bubble wrap, there must have been something else in this box!
Okay, I found a heavy bubble=wrap bundle, I'm sure there is something in here.
Yup! This is one of the Audrey Ferreras Jewel Fish watches. I have the three solar divers, and there were also these pseudo-chronograph styled models. They were always described as "quartz", so I wasn't very interested, but I got this one for the minimum bid, 1900 yen!! That's like US$16!! :-O
And, as I took these pictures the watch started running!! And it was doing a two-second tick, like a solar watch that was low on charge?? Holy cow, these aren't battery powered, they're solar!! How cool is that!
And sure enough that case-back reveals the movements a V14J, which is a solar powered design. Now I am much more intersted in these models! Even the seller said in his description that the time keeping of the watch could not be verified because the battery was depleted. I'm glad he was wrong!
Inspired by that find, I scoured through some more of the bubble wrap and found this bundle. It's not as heavy as the other one, but I think there may be something inside...
Yes! Score! I'd say this is a watch, a 1968 Grand Seiko 6146-8000 Hi-Beat in really beautiful condition! An automatic, 36000 bph beauty.
It has a very distinctive looking "cross-hair" dial, with a fetching sun-burst dial texture. Really "sharp"!
Here is the beautiful GS crown.
The other, plain side.
And the case-back.
Now really excited by the possibility of more hidden discoveries, I found this at the bottom of the box, blending in with the cardboard color!!
Hmm, it says Seiko on the sleeve, so that's a good sign!
And it says Seiko on the plastic watch box too!
Woohoo! I see a watch in there, I hope it's a nice one! :-)
OMG! I guess you could say that, it's a 1995 Seiko 4S15 Alpinist, and not just any one, but the elusive "unicorn" green-dialed model!!
I have been looking for one of these for as long as I have know about the Alpinists, and NEVER seen one available. That is one advantage of Yahoo Japan, is that you see watches come up for sale that just don't show up on the US eBay, or the watch forums.
On the other hand I had to spend US$700 to get this, but it is in fantastic, almost mint condition. The original strap is gone, but the original buckle was included, and I have seen the 4S15 bracelets come up for sale from time to time. But the brown strap it's on ain't bad either. :-)
The crown, with my favorite letter on it! ;-)
The other, plain side.
The distinctive Alpinist case-back.
So, here is the total "haul" for this shipment. :-D I'm sure glad I kept digging through all that bubble-wrap!! :-D
I do have another group building up at the Buyee warehouse, more unusual hard-to-find watches that make one part of me glad I signed up for Buyee, but another part of me wailing in dispair, as I have spent very penny I own on watches again!!! :-(
Thanks for withstanding this huge post, if you made it all the way down here, I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
- Thomas
Okay, so is the crystal scratched or not!?!? 
But next Thursday is payday, and I am just going to stop buying for a while, like I did after splurging on the SBDS001 Flight Master.
No pressure to decide what to spend on, just sit back and enjoy what you have. Okay, maybe a little anticipation for that next Buyee Box to arrive!! 
