Seiko SUS 7T32 - "Big Red"!

(Note that all images expand to full-size if you click on them)

Recently bought from a fellow Seiko enthusiast in Germany, this is an almost mint-condition watch that was made for the Japanese domestic market (JDM) and which originally sold - in 1998 - for over Y30,000. That's around AUS$400 at today's rate of exchange.

Although I've referred to it as "Big Red", the overall diameter is under what I consider to be the maximum for my wrist - that is, anything larger than 40mm.
This SUS has a dial of 28mm in diameter and is 38mm across the widest part, including the crown.
So it sits on my wrist very comfortably.

Case, bracelet, crown and pushers are all satin stainless steel and the bracelet, which is signed, is of the type fitted with a security clasp that has to be lifted before releasing the catch.

The dial is a beautiful cherry-red and is enhanced by the silver hour batons and the white hands - the hour and minute of which have a luminescence embedded down the centreline.
Date window is at the 4:30 position.
The movement for this watch is the well tried and proven Seiko 7T32 quartz calibre and it keeps perfect time.

All the registers are printed in white characters and there are four sub-dials, also printed in white.
These are for 30-minute timer (at the 12 o'clock position); parallel time, alarm and for stop-watch timing beyond 30 minutes (at the 6 o'clock position); seconds (at the 9 o'clock position) and somewhat of a rarity, a telemeter dial in the central position which is read using the stop-watch sweep second hand.

This register can be used to determine the distance that a thunderstorm, for example, might be from the wearer: click the stopwatch when you see the lightning flash, stop it when you hear the thunder and then read off the kilometres on the telemeter.
Very useful for golfers who want to finish a hole before being hit by lightning!

A very attractive watch and so very easy for my eyes to quickly read the time, with the clear white hands against that lovely red background.

UPDATE
I have discovered that the alarm (the small dial at the 6 position) has an alternate use.....not one officially mentioned:-

When in the "setting the small hands to the current time" mode (crown 2 in the first out position), instead of actually aligning those hands with the main hands they are set to whatever time one wishes to monitor anywhere in the world, then that little dial becomes a second time-keeper and gives the watch dual-time capability.

It does mean that the alarm use is nullified - unless you wish to be "alarmed" at some odd hour - but, in my particular case, it allows me to have that little dial show the current time in Vancouver, Canada, where my son is located.
So this watch really has one more function than those originally stated by Seiko.

Citizen Bullhead

SOLD - November 2011.

I bought this watch nearly two years ago and really did so just for the sake of having an example of the bullhead style in my collection.

It's been worn occasionally and sits nicely on the wrist, but I'm not carrying on a love affair with it........I don't find it an attractive design. The crown and pushers sticking out the top remind me of an insect!

The dial is immaculate but is in a rather dull brownish shade, although the overall effect is quite pleasant, with the white markers, white minute & hour hands, splashes of reddish/orange with the other hands and a bit of greenish-blue showing on the 30-second dial on the right.

The automatic movement includes a day/date complication, its positioning being somewhat unusual when compared to the vast majority.

The case is all stainless-steel, with a sort of "helmet" shape and it does sit very nicely and unobtrusively on the wrist.

I really like the (original, signed) bracelet design.......I think it's cool and very 1970s.

The case-back advises that the watch is water resistant and that it is made of stainless steel.

A very original item - it hasn't been mucked about - and runs perfectly, keeping good time.

Just a shame that I don't find it particularly attractive.

Seen in 1983, bought 26 years later - Seiko's 7A28

SOLD!
In April 2013 I received an offer from a gentleman in England, who was looking for a nice 7A28-7039 as a wedding present for himself.

 

 

The image in the background of the above photograph comes from a 1983 edition of National Geographic, a magazine to which I subscribed for several years in the late 1970s and through to the mid 1980s.

When I saw that Seiko chronograph I fell for it hook, line and sinker but to buy one back then would have been an extravagance, what with a three-year old daughter, a brand-new baby son, a single income and a mortgage on our new home.

The years passed and life's events changed until one day last year, whilst culling some old magazines, I happened upon that issue of National Geographic and as soon as I saw the advertisement I determined to track down a nice copy of the featured watch.

And I did, and that is it, sitting on the back cover of the magazine and posing for the photo above.

The watch is Seiko's 7A28-7039 and my example comes from March 1983, completely original right down to the bracelet which, after 27 years, is showing some minor signs of wear in those areas which are recessed and filled in black.

Other than that it is in excellent condition.

The dial is unblemished, the three main hands (hour, minute and sweep stop-watch) all without blemish, although the lume on the hour & minute hands, and on the hour indices, will only glow for about 15 seconds after being held under a light.

The 7A28 runs perfectly, keeping accurate time. I have never adjusted it since it was received in August 2009.

It wasn't a cheap purchase, coming as it did from a collector in Japan via an intermediary here in Australia, but I got exactly what I wanted, and that's the main thing.

A Selection of 8M32 Seikos

(Click on any image for a much larger view)

These aren't recent acquisitions; I've had them for a while but had never featured them here and, with the recent purchase of the "Golden Belle" (see last update) I had thought it time to add some more of my collection to the blog.

Around June last year (2009) I came across a Seiko model I had not seen before - the "sports timer", or 8M32 type.

There were several versions- one was aimed at timing soccer games, another was intended for several different sports and a third was designed for use by yacht-racing aficionados.

They all had several things in common - the same type of quartz movement; no sweep second hand; multi-function timing capability and a very colourful face.

The first one I acquired was the Soccer model, a handsome piece with its original leather watch-band and in excellent condition.

It is an 8M32-801B, from August 1989, and still retains the hologram sticker on the rear of the case.

Some time later I came across the mother of all 8M32s, the 8M32-8030 Sports timer from 1990, a watch that allows several different sports to be timed accurately, with countdown times provided for Water Polo, American Football, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, Hockey, Rugby and Soccer.

Finally, this 8M32-7009 from 1991, the "USA Olympic" model.

Why it is marked as such, I have no idea, as the previous summer Olympics were held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea and the next were to be held in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992.

(Winter Olympics were also held in those years but neither were in the USA)

This watch is a very attractive item, with the gold highlights contrasting nicely with the shade of blue used on the dial and the dark blue around the outside face of the case. It is matched to the original black leather band.

Like the Sports Timer, this model also allows for several different sports to be timed namely Soccer, Field Hockey, Handball, Basketball, Water Polo and Boxing.

I don't wear these watches as I find them impractical for every-day use: they don't have a sweep second hand; the minute hand looks like a second-hand and is not easily seen at first glance and there is no day/date readout.

So, whilst attractive and certainly interesting, they are more for the display cabinet than the wrist.

Another 7T59 comes along.

SOLD April 2015

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water..........another watch is bought and added to the collection!
Say hello to a 7T59-6A00 from October 1991.

This little beauty was advertised on eBay as cosmetically excellent but running erratically - "stops and starts" was the term used, plus "good for parts". And that was the reason I bought it, thinking that as the case and bracelet were in excellent shape I could transplant the movement from my other, somewhat less pristine, 7T59 (see previous blog entry - December 6th. 2009).

However, after I opened the parcel this morning, adjusted the date and time (the watch was stopped), it has kept running. As I type this, more than 10 hours have elapsed and the 7T is running nicely, keeping good time.

I am hopeful that whatever the malfunction might be (or have been) can be easily corrected so now I will just wait and see if it stops and, when or if it does, then I'll have it looked at.
In the meantime, it will provide company for it's worse-for-wear sibling!

UPDATE: Sunday 15th. August.

It did stop....about 14 hours after I initially set it running.
So what I did was to remove the case-back, the internal shroud which acts as a positive contact on the battery and then the battery from its little hole.
I checked the voltage, cleaned the battery surfaces and also made sure that the negative contact in the bottom of the socket was okay, reassembled and then, following the instructions, shorted the positive of the battery to a point marked 'AC'. The back-plate was then screwed back on.
After going through the sequence for resetting the time, the watch has now been running for more than a day so I am hopeful that it has now returned to its normal state. We'll see.


UPDATE to the UPDATE - Monday 28th. November 2011
I'm pleased to report that this watch has been running constantly, keeping excellent time, for over a month now.
I had removed the battery late last year, then shelved the watch.
This weekend I decided to see if I could get the 7T59 operating reliably, so did nothing more than clean contacts, lightly (very lightly) lubricate the moving bits and then bought and inserted a fresh battery.


Hey Presto!
Running beautifully ever since.

The Seiko 7T59 - Analogue perfection in a quartz chronograph

(All photos - Sony DSC-F717)

This movement type (the 7T59) was only produced between 1991 and 1993. I have no idea what the production quantity was, but although it was encased in a variety of styles, it must have been one of Seiko's lowest outputs.

The technology is incredible. As far as I can determine - and I certainly welcome corrections - this is the only quartz analogue chronograph to (a) have nine hands and (b) give timing to 100th. of a second. No other analogue has that capability.

So for the technology alone, this movement became a "must have" for me.

I was not leaning towards one particular style - there are a variety to be had, but as the watch is pretty rare on the "for sale" sites, one takes what one can get!
So when this one popped up - in France - I was very enthusiastic because I really liked the combination of very dark gunmetal finish to the stainless-steel case and bracelet coupled with the gold-tone highlights. To my eyes it makes a very attractive combination - not overly utilitarian yet still with slight "dressy" characteristics.
The watch is not pristine - far from it.

This has been used as a regular wrist-band at some stage in it's past life, evidenced by the small ding on the bezel at the 6:30 point and some similar wounds on the case-back.
At least the crystal is clear of any gouges or major scratches - there are some fine scratches on it but nothing that is significant.

The bracelet is the tell-tale to the fact that this watch was a favourite. There is wear on the section that would sit under the wrist and make contact with desks and tables and bench-tops etc. For me, this just adds to the patina and provides some personality to the watch.

This is so comfortable to wear - I hardly know it's on my wrist - and the time-keeping is very accurate.

I love it and, when I don't wear it, the 7T59 holds pride of place on my shelf.

Citzen's 8110A chrono - in Green & Burnt Orange!

With a face like that it has to be from the 1970's........and, of course, it is. October 1974, to be precise.
As with most of my previous acquisitions I was attracted by the design and colours - the hexagonal sub-dials with their graduated colouring from yellow to orange; the emerald-green dial; the octagonal case. All worked for me, baby!


However, upon arrival of the watch I noticed that the dial was more blemished than I was led to believe and that the 12-hour hand (sub-dial at 12) was inoperative.
Other than those glitches, the watch operated correctly, keeping good time, and was all-original, including the signed stainless-steel bracelet.

Apparently the Citizen 8110 movement is considered to be somewhat ordinary by those who know watches (and I'm not one of them and don't pretend to be), and can be a pain in the posterior to work with.
However, a local watchmaker, whose expertise I have used in recent months, is taking a look at this blast-from-the-past in order to bring the non-functional sub-dial back to life, although the blemished main dial will have to stay that way.

But irrespective of the few scratches and aging, nothing can take away the nostalgic charm of this 1970's design.
It evokes mini skirts, flares, cassette tapes and ABBA! Groovy!