Officially the oldest Seiko I've ever owned.
Dec 10, 2014 11:58:20 GMT -8
dasher, estrickland, and 4 more like this
Post by seikoholic on Dec 10, 2014 11:58:20 GMT -8
I found a watch lot with a treasure in it. This happens, but rarely with a treasure so old.
I'm not 100% up on these, and really wasn't looking for one, but I saw it in the watch lot auction, and decided to go for it. As far as I know, there were three variations of these - one with a star on the dial, one with an anchor, and this style with the cherry blossom. There is debate about whether these were issued, or if they were private-purchase items families would gift to their sons going away to war. There is speculation that the cherry blossom ones were specifically meant for kamikaze troops, but again this is speculation only.
I've read the yuku.seikoholics article about these, which seems to be the go-to authoritative write-up about them, but there are still questions.
Interesting piece. Tiny. These were double-cased. Mine only has the inner case - the outer snap-together case is missing. This one is in truly fantastic shape though, barely worn at all. The crystal is perfect, which is something considering this watch is well over seventy years old. The movement is complete, and it will run a few ticks, but it desperately needs cleaning. I'm not going to touch it at this time, I'll just put it in the case and think about it.
I'm not 100% up on these, and really wasn't looking for one, but I saw it in the watch lot auction, and decided to go for it. As far as I know, there were three variations of these - one with a star on the dial, one with an anchor, and this style with the cherry blossom. There is debate about whether these were issued, or if they were private-purchase items families would gift to their sons going away to war. There is speculation that the cherry blossom ones were specifically meant for kamikaze troops, but again this is speculation only.
I've read the yuku.seikoholics article about these, which seems to be the go-to authoritative write-up about them, but there are still questions.
Interesting piece. Tiny. These were double-cased. Mine only has the inner case - the outer snap-together case is missing. This one is in truly fantastic shape though, barely worn at all. The crystal is perfect, which is something considering this watch is well over seventy years old. The movement is complete, and it will run a few ticks, but it desperately needs cleaning. I'm not going to touch it at this time, I'll just put it in the case and think about it.
