Sold Item - Timesonar Great Deal

[dasher]

Sorry to say I missed this one - these are pretty rare in this condition and in the States (in my opinion).  Being the famous cheapskate that I am, I most certainly would have abandoned all tightwad inhibitions and pounced on this:






Hope there's a few more out there in the wild!


Dan

[seikoholic]

That's stupid cheap.

[donciccio]

Whats the deal with this model?

[arco10]

yes great deal ... for a cool watch
Hello Spencer ...

[dasher]

Aug 19, 2014 11:14:23 GMT -8 donciccio said:

Whats the deal with this model?

They're really darn rare, especially in good shape and especially in the States.  I see them from time to time on the 'bay, but they are usually from a Phillippine seller and I cannot be certain it hasn't been tinkered with in either a good or bad way.

I printed off a bit of info from the old SCWF detailing rarity of chronograph models.  According to the writer (unknown) the rarest Seiko chronos on the market are the 7018, 7015, 23j 6138B, 21j 6139A and the Timesonar 7015, 7018 with expo back & a see through dial.

Dan

[funkster]

Aug 19, 2014 11:14:23 GMT -8 donciccio said:

Whats the deal with this model?

The Time Sonars are a fairly rare find, although until recently off the radar of many, including myself.
The model in the OP is a particularly interesting variant with a smoked see-through dial. Mine is a slightly more subtle black dialed model:

They are a fairly chunky watch - similar to a 6138 in overall size and they sit very high on the wrist - see side profile below:



The Sonars were the first Chronograph watches to feature a display back, which makes for an interesting detail.

i really like mine as far as the design aesthetic but as a Chrono it is pretty basic as there is no minute counter.

still, an interesting and pretty rare watch which is worth looking out for

[ninja01]

Aug 19, 2014 12:09:06 GMT -8 dasher said:

Aug 19, 2014 11:14:23 GMT -8 donciccio said:

Whats the deal with this model?

They're really darn rare, especially in good shape and especially in the States.  I see them from time to time on the 'bay, but they are usually from a Phillippine seller and I cannot be certain it hasn't been tinkered with in either a good or bad way.

I printed off a bit of info from the old SCWF detailing rarity of chronograph models.  According to the writer (unknown) the rarest Seiko chronos on the market are the 7018, 7015, 23j 6138B, 21j 6139A and the Timesonar 7015, 7018 with expo back & a see through dial.

Dan

OK, well that may have been 1 of my old posts @ SCWF from 12 -> 15 years ago.

That was just based on my personal observations of availability in the marketplaces where I had access to buy [like US eBay]. So not a scientific survey. But, yes - I've found that 7018s are hardest to come by & the 7015 Timesonar (and many other 7015s) are a little less hard to find.

However, they do appear more available in Asia than in the West (as one might expect).

Of course, with Philippine & some other Asian sellers - like anywhere, you have to know the seller's reputation. Some are quite good. Especially if they show good clear movement shots, you should be able to see any "tinkering" that may have been done. Get reference materials on the movement and compare visual characteristics & operational features (as described by seller) carefully.

Also, get VERY familiar with all details of any item you wish to buy. Use "database reference shots" [like from the Dr. Seiko database & other resources available on the web] before buying to evaluate whether hands dial features, crown, and other casing features are all correct factory original type.

If there is any doubt ASK QUESTIONS of seller BEFORE bidding.

This of course assumes you start your investigation early, don't wait until the day the auction ends before you start evaluating (as I've seen some folks do!!). I'd get PMs on various sites asking me to "evaluate this auction item" and it would sometimes be quite close to the end of the auction when the message was sent to me. Well, I can't do very much in that case!! - and PLEASE don't consider that an invitation to start sending me those kinds of requests, I'm really quite busy in life as it is!!

That is "due diligence" and should be done regardless of where (which country) you are buying from.

Now, mine came from a US seller, but likely was "tinkered with" in 1 respect. If you see the picture below, check out the color of the calendar wheels:



The center is a light color while the outer calendar ring {date} is dark. Very likely that ring was replaced with one of incorrect color.

However, I did like the look!!

It was described as "non running" but when I got it, it worked perfectly. Likely seller did NOT know these couldn't be hand-wound & had to be "shake wound"... luckily for me   - or it would have gone for a higher price than it did!
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Now, about the price - I've NOT kept up with the market values of these. I will say that the one shown in the OP probably would have gone for about that price when I was collecting them around the years 2000 -> 2002.

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Oh yeah! Final point. I notice in the auction description this is tied to "Actus" product line, but it has NOTHING to do with Actus. No chronograph that I know of in '60s/70s was tied to Actus in any marketing campaign or catalog by Seiko.

[dasher]

How cool is that?? I'll scan what I printed off when I get to work tomorrow and we'll see if you can ID the document.

Thanks for the info and follow-up!

D.