Watches for sale.

After eight years, I am thinning out the collection a bit more, and have for sale on eBay the following items:-

Seiko 7A28

 

Citizen Cosmotron

Bulova Accutron

Please feel free to make me an offer.

A modern "Bellmatic"? Seiko's Cal. 8V36

SOLD November 2015.

Here's an interesting modern take on the genre of analogue watch with an alarm capability.

Back in the 1970s Seiko introduced the brilliant Bellmatic (Cal. 4006) - a completely mechanical watch, with automatic movement and a hand-wound alarm that actually had a tiny striking-arm make contact with the internal "chassis" of the watch. I have two of these watches and they operate perfectly and the alarms work - and are usuable for reminders whilst the wearer is concious (or daydreaming).
But unless one is a light sleeper and has the watch sitting right outside one's earhole then it could not be depended upon for a wake-up call.

In the 1980s the mechanical Bellmatic faded out of production and a replacement model (Cal. 7223) was introduced. (I have one in my collection but have not yet featured it here).
This was also an analogue but with a quartz-controlled movement and an electronic alarm, still set in an identical fashion to that of the original Bellmatic.
However, the alarm on this watch, whilst more piercing than the mechanical device in the Bellmatic, would still be hard-pressed to wake a sleeper.
Good for reminders, such as appointments etc. but not an ideal alarm clock.

Now, some 30 years after the original Bellmatic, comes this 21st. century version, the 8V36. Ultrasonic Alarm.
Still an analogue watch and quartz-controlled, this version not only does away with mechanical strikers but also eschews electronic chirps.
The 8V36 uses an ultrasonic motor to vibrate the watch. There is no sound emitted at all.

Does it work?
Yes, it certainly does, but.........it still wouldn't wake a sleeping wearer unless he or she was susceptible to having their sleep disturbed by an alighting blowfly.
This latest incarnation of Seiko's analogue alarm watch is eminently suitable for reminders but I wouldn't rely on it if I needed to wake up to catch a flight or make an important meeting.

That aside, the watch presents a very attractive face.
It is encased in a titanium & base-metal enclosure which features a snap-on back-plate.
This particular item, a very recent purchase from a collector in Singapore (many thanks, William), still has its protective plastic film on the rear plate and the entire watch presents very close to mint condition.
Speaking of the back - you may notice the oval shape which projects about 1mm from the surrounding flat surface.

This is to ensure that close contact is maintained with the wrist so that the ultrasonic vibrations are efficiently transmitted.
The case is 42mm lug-to-lug, 39mm diameter and with a dial 30mm in diameter.
A fixed bezel (titanium) decorates the face of the case. Two unsigned stainless-steel crowns protrude from the right-hand side at 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock.

The dial is finished in a plain white with the hour and minute indices in black. Arabic numerals denote the hours.
There are four hands - three cover the regular time-keeping requirements of hours, minutes and seconds whilst the fourth - the long red hand - is used to set the required time for the alarm.
The hour and minute hands are "lumed".

On the left, at the 9 o'clock position, is a 24-hour dial with a silver hand within a silver ring. I'm not sure why this feature is included because the alarm is confined to a 12-hour cycle; set it for 6:00 AM and it will also sound at 6:00 PM if activated.
Maybe it was to give symmetry to the face because on the right, at 3 o'clock, is a little display, again with a silver hand within a (smaller) silver ring and a red and black quadrant.
When the second crown (at 4 o'clock) is used to activate the alarm the hand snaps from the black, OFF position to the red, ON position.

The core of the watch - the ultrasonic motor - is recessed behind the little circular window at the 6 o'clock position. This window is also framed with a silver ring, somewhat more decorative than the plain circles used for the other two.
Behind a flat metal probe that projects into the window from the right is a disk and when the alarm operates this disc can be seen moving. Well, it moves so fast that it just appears as a silver blur.
This is the rotating section - the rotor - of the tiny motor and when the alarm is running for its 20-second alarm time it does so in bursts of approximately 1 second each.
When activiating the alarm - by pulling the second crown out - the alarm gives 3 bursts to confirm to the wearer that the alarm is now active.

The 8V36 is set off by a very nice Seiko (signed) black calfskin strap with a signed silver buckle.

A different watch, certainly very wearable and I could imagine it being of use to someone needing to keep appointments, although the cynic in me says that  in 2012 that person would most likely be using their smart-phone for the same purpose, thus rendering the 8V36 little more than a curio.

Seiko "Railroad" 7N49

 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This is a very fine example of a Seiko "Railroad" watch with the 7N49 quartz-controlled movement. Full model number is 7N49-9A00 and it was manufactured in August of 1991.
It measures 40mm diameter across the case (including the crown) and 40mm between lug-pin centres.
The watch comes complete with its original stainless-steel bracelet.

CONDITION
The stainless-steel case is in very good condition, with only very minor light scratches from normal usage, these marks being virtually invisible to the naked eye.
The stainless-steel case back is in similar condition, as is the original stainless-steel bracelet.
The dial is in excellent condition, showing no sign of spotting or discolouration, the white face being unblemished and with the characters clear and bright.
All hour characters are printed on the dial and are backed by luminescent "dots".
The "Seiko" wording is a raised sign in silver.

The hands are in perfect condition, with the hour and minute hands finished in silver with luminescent material down the centre. The sweep second hand is a thin, straight, item finished in red. At the '3' position is a combined day/date display window framed in silver.The crystal is unblemished - there is not a mark on it.

OPERATION
All of the functions operate perfectly and the watch keeps accurate time consistently.
Day and date operate perfectly.

Bond......James Bond. Seiko's G-757

SOLD March 2015.

This watch is a bit special because the display, and the "movement" (the G-757), is colloquially referred to as the "James Bond Octopussy" watch and although it was encased in several different styles they all featured the same functions.....albeit without the special capabilities of the watch used in the movie!

Prior to purchasing this watch I had but two digital items in my collection: one is  the Seiko shown here and the other is a very recent purchase, an inexpensive Casio A178W which has a large numeric display, dual-time and alarm.
I bought the latter because my son is travelling overseas for the next couple of years and, wanting to be able to check the local time at his locations, I wanted something that had a dual-time capability that I could wear frequently. Rather than use either my Seiko Navigator or World Timer items I opted to buy the Casio for the enormous amount of AUS$44!
I don't normally wear digital watches because I have trouble seeing the small LCD figures, but the Casio sports 9mm-high characters.

However - back to the Seiko.
When I saw this G-757 I was attracted by the rarity of the design in such great condition and, as a bonus, the fact that it came in its original box (plus tag) and was complete with all links in its (original) bracelet.

The condition of the nearly 30-year old "Octopussy" is quite remarkable - the dial is pristine, with all LCD segments intact and operating perfectly, including the graphic  analogue display in the top-left quadrant; the light works perfectly; all the buttons operate smoothly and without any undue pressure required; the alarm chime is loud and clear; the glass crystal is scratch-free and the stainless-steel case, back and bracelet are undamaged.

Because of its scarcity and condition the watch was not inexpensive but then if it had been in any state less than as described I would not have been attracted to it.
I look upon it as another worthy example from the Seiko company.

Seiko 8V22 World Timer

(All images enlarge when clicked)

SOLD MARCH 2015
I had not heard of the 8V22 movement until browsing the web and seeing this watch for sale.
What attracted me was the dial, a very colourful design which makes the watch stand out in a crowd.
That, coupled with the gold-plated case and bracelet, certainly makes for an eye-catching time-piece.

The movement is quartz-controlled and whilst it does not have a day or date complication it does have multiple functions, all of which can be seen referenced around the outside perimeter of the external rotating (bi-directional) bezel.
Reading clockwise (pun intended!), they are TIME, ALARM ON, ALARM SET, 0 MATCH, DUAL TIME, WORLD TIME.
The bezel is rotated so that the function required is at the 12 o'clock position and then the functions are operated by using the buttons at the 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock positions.

The first three settings are pretty obvious and are used to set the local time, set the alarm on/off and the alarm time setting.
Incidentally, local time will be displayed when the bezel is positioned at either the TIME or ALARM ON functions.

The next, 0 MATCH, is used to align all three main hands (hour, minute, sweep-seconds) with the 12 o'clock position. In other words, it matches them all at zero.
The 24-hour hand, in the dial at 6 o'clock, can also be zeroed.

DUAL TIME allows the wearer to set the time for any location marked around the inside perimeter of the bezel and to then check that time (after returning the watch to it's normal TIME state) whenever required just by rotating the bezel again to DUAL TIME.
For example, if one was living in Canberra (same time-zone as Sydney) and was keeping a Skype appointment with someone overseas in let's say New York, then the DUAL TIME would be set for NY time and the wearer would simply rotate the bezel to DUAL TIME now and then to keep tabs on the time in that city.

WORLD TIME can be similarly used.
Once the time is set for the wearer's location then simply by rotating the bezel to the WORLD TIME function and pressing one of the buttons, the sweep second hand can be moved with each press to any of the locations shown. The hour and minute hands then move around the dial to show the current time in that location and the little 24-hour hand also moves around, indicating whether it is AM or PM.
Very simple, very neat and very cool!

As briefly mentioned above, the case and bracelet are gold-plated and the case-back, a screw-on item, is stainless steel.

This watch was made in October 1991, according to the serial number, so is now more than 22 years old.
It has stood up very well over that period, with negligible scratches to the bezel, none at all on the glass crystal and sports a pristine dial.

The areas showing the most wear are limited to the case-back and the "SEIKO" signature on the clasp, at the point at which the wearer's wrist would have been resting on tables, desks etc.

When all is said and done, a nice example of another "world time" Seiko to add to the others in my collection which have this function.

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.

Seiko "World Time" - A 6117-6400 from 1970

(All images may be enlarged to full-size by clicking on them)

SOLD March 2015
This little gem is a very recent acquisition, coming my way via Ebay and at what I consider to be a very reasonable price. In fact, when I won the auction I must admit to being a bit concerned as to what I'd actually bought, considering that final low price.

But any worries were put to rest when the watch arrived and I was very happy to remove the case-back and find a pristine 6117 17-jewel movement tucked away inside a perfectly clean interior.

The watch is 100% original other than the crystal (acrylic) and left the factory in February of 1970 - being the 274th. on the production line.

The dial is almost unblemished, displaying just a couple of spots under magnification. When viewed by my naked eye they are almost invisible......but then my eyesight is pretty blurry unless I wear my glasses!

As the name implies, this is a timepiece which allows the wearer to see what time it is in various major cities across the globe.
This is done by rotating the "city ring" or time zone (the one with the light blue and black names on it) where you are located via the crown in its normal un-pulled position.

The idea is to then line up your city/time zone with the red hand (which moves once around the dial in 24 hours) and then the time at any other location  - including GMT - can be determined quite readily by reading off the time opposite that city or time-zone.

This is a different arrangement to that used on Seiko's later 6117-6409 "Navigator", where the 24-hour internal bezel is moved so that GMT (or the local time at any place on earth, so long as you know it to start with) can be monitored by aligning that time with the red hand.

So the "World Time" 6117 was more for the international traveller who jetted across several time-zones to various locations whereas its "Navigator" cousin was aimed at those who wanted time at two locations - theirs and somewhere else in a different zone.

In addition to the 4 hands (sweep second, minute, hour and 24-hour) the dial displays a date-only window at the traditional 3-position.

The case is crafted from stainless steel, with the crown slightly inset at the 4-position.
Case-back is also stainless steel, as is the attractive and very comfortable folded-link bracelet, which tapers from its connections with the case to a slightly narrower width at the clasp, which is signed.

In the few days that I've been wearing this watch I have found it to be very accurate, gaining less than 30 seconds over that period of time.
It runs beautifully, looks great and is a very nice example of another timepiece from Seiko's great 1970s range.

For the ladies - a Seiko from 1977

(All images may be enlarged by clicking on them)
Apart from the "unisex" Citizen titanium-encased item I bought a couple of years ago I had never owned a ladies watch until very recently, when I saw this mint item advertised on Ebay.

From November, 1977, it has a quartz-controlled movement, cal.4326, in a stainless-steel case and a bracelet, with signed clasp.

Apart from the fact that it was original, and complete with its 1977 price-tag (Y20,000 in '77. That was about AU$260), I was taken by the green dial and the simple silver indices and hands. It also has a day/date readout, with the day in Kanji and English.

When I saw the watch I thought that it would make a lovely gift for my wife so I bid and ended up winning it for the very reasonable sum of AU$77 plus postage.

The watch is not worn every day, my better half saving it for special occasions.

Orange is for Safety!

(All photos enlarge when clicked)

SOLD February 2016.
For some reason, when I saw these two Seiko quartz watches for sale - and it was several month's apart that they were acquired - I was taken by them.
I think it was a combination of the striking dial colour coupled with a rather attractive (to my eyes) design of the entire watch, including the bracelet.

The first one - on the left in this opening photograph (taken against a background consisting of a high-visibility orange woollen pullover) - is a model 7546-603H, from (I think), 1988 - March, to be precise.
The outer bezel, which has 12 flat faces around its perimeter, can be rotated so as to give some idea of elapsed time, I presume. Yet there is no stop-watch or countdown facility as part of the design, so I am at a loss to understand why the rotating bezel.

The dial has large, bright luminescent markings for the hours, thin luminescent hour and minute hands and a black sweep second hand.

At the 3 o'clock position is a day and date window and at the 4 o'clock position sits the screw-in crown. Once released from the thread the first click allows the setting of day/date - turning it in one direction changes the day and in the other direction the date changes. The day readout is available in English and French.


The second watch is a 6923-600A, from November 1983, and it is also a bit unusual in its design.

Where the first one has a rotating bezel, this one has a fixed bezel but around its perimeter are a series of "windows" through which one or another set of numbers can be seen.
Above the crown you will see a small black button, which can be moved to sit either immediately above the crown or slid upwards to a second position.
When in the first position, the windows provide a quasi-24 hour time, with 24, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 being seen around the perimeter.
In the second position - with the black button slid up to the 2 o'clock location - the windows provide a 60 minute or 60 second count, with 60, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 appearing in the cut-outs.

This watch also has luminescent markers at the hour points around the dial, luminescent hour and minute hands (wider than the first watch therefore easier to read at a glance) and a black sweep second hand.

At the 3 o'clock position is the day/date window and the crown is also at this traditional spot.

If you are observant you will have noticed that this watch has some damage done to the bezel at the 12 o'clock position.
That is a result of a motorbike accident I had in April 2010 - not long after I bought the watch, in fact - and it suffered some asphalt-rash in the incident. So whilst it will never be a sellable item, I don't really mind because I now wear it as an everyday, ready-for-anything timepiece.

So there you have it - a couple of watches for everyday use which keep accurate time, are water-resistant, can take a few knocks yet are quite colourful and a bit out of the ordinary.

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.

Railways, railroads and Seiko.

(Click on any image for a much larger view)

There was a time when timekeeping for the operation of railways/railroads was ultra-critical - literally a matter of life or death at worst. In "dark areas" (no signals) trains operated on warrants which gave them permission to be in a location at a certain time - or within a window of time.
Therefore it was essential that the timepieces used on railways/railroads be accurate and easily read.

Enter the railroad timepiece, be it clock or watch.
In many cases they displayed a 24-hour scale in addition to the conventional 12-hour face and some variations had a 12-hour scale but with an addition of a 60-minute scale.
Their dials were very distinctive, with large, clear numbers and indices, usually black and red on a white face.

Nowadays the timepieces used are electronic and highly accurate but watchmakers have continued to produce examples of the type with the traditional face, albeit controlled by the magic of a quartz crystal and powered by battery.

I bought a nice example of a Seiko model - the 7N43-9A00 from August 1991 - which features the traditional  face, with black hour numerals, a sub-scale of 24 hours in red, period-style minute and hour hands and a red sweep second hand.
Something that the old-timers didn't have were readouts for day and date, which this modern version includes.

Size is a mere 36mm across the case (not including crown) and a dial diameter of 30mm.
The watch comes on its original Seiko stainless-steel bracelet.

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.

Oh dear.....I've bought another watch! Bellmatic 4006-6030.

I couldn't resist this "Belle" when I saw it advertised for sale on the Seiko & Citizen Watch forum. 

It wasn't specifically because the case is actually gold-plated, not just "gold-tone", but was due more to the fact that the bracelet is an original "coffin" Seiko model, with alternating gold-tone and stainless-steel link sections. These are not common.

So, as I only have one Bellmatic left in my collection, I thought that this would be a nice addition.

The watch arrived today and once the date and time were set and the watch given a couple of gentle shakes, away she went and now, some 10 hours later, is still running sweetly.

The dial, crystal, hands, case and bracelet are in very good condition and the entire item makes for a very handsome timepiece that just screams "1970s"!

 

My thanks to the gentleman in the USA from whom I bought the "Belle"; I'm delighted with it.

This watch was sold in 2013.

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.

Old Gold restoration.........update.

Within the past week I have enquired about three types of refinishing for the watch case and bracelet:-

• Gold plating (as per the original finish)
• PVD
• Powder coating

I also considered anodising but quickly learned through a bit of preliminary research that brass (the watch case) cannot be anodised.
The PVD route is not possible either - not because the application can't be done to what I have but because the cost for a "one-off" is too high and also because there is no-one here in my area who can do it.

So I thought about a powder coating as an alternative to anodising and PVD.
It's practical, it can be done locally, it is reasonably inexpensive and the choice of colours is broad. But.....I would have to disassemble the bracelet completely - break it down to it's individual components so as to avoid any likelihood of having the coating affect the flexibility of the bracelet.

The decision, therefore, is to go to gold-plating and to reproduce the original coating, albeit this time in 24- carat. (That is the only plating they do......24 carat. The original is 9ct).
Cost to undertake this is AUS$120.

The only thing I need do is remove the stainless-steel clasp (already done), as the plating will not properly adhere to stainless-steel and could cause uneven plating on the bracelet and the case.
At this time I have also polished the brass case to a smooth and relatively blemish-free surface. The bracelet (base metal) will be chemically cleaned by the plater.

The question is - is the cost worth it for a 1970's-style Seiko of somewhat kitchy styling?
Well, like all hobbies, value is in the eye of the user, I s'pose.
There is no way I would ever expect to recover the cost of refurbishing this old dear if I ever came to sell it but then that isn't really the intention behind an interest or hobby, is it?

I think it will be nice to see Madam 1973 back in all her finery!

UPDATE - 13th. July
Another option has entered the arena - black chrome.
Thanks to a chap in Melbourne who is investigating this option for one of his watches, I am now looking at this as a possible alternative.