Advice on this Seiko Willard

YYTIN · Sep 8, 2021

Hi OF members,

Would need some help on this one that I'm planning to buy today.
Do you see anything to comment ?

Of course the plexiglass would need to be replaced and the watch not having been serviced for a long time I'll have to factor that.
Apparently the watch seller got it from his own father who bought it new from Japan.

2 things appear to me after reading the TBT 2015 article from fratello :
- The crown : to check that it is well engraved with the rotating arrow.
- The hands lumes : which appear to be of a different color than the indexes (but is this not usual ?)

Here are the pics as they come :

Capture d’écran 2021-09-08 à 13.11.25.png

Capture d’écran 2021-09-08 à 13.10.59.png

Capture d’écran 2021-09-08 à 13.10.46.png

Capture d’écran 2021-09-08 à 13.10.35.png

I would appreciate your view on this one ! Thanks

tritto · Sep 8, 2021

Hi YYTIN.
There is nothing obviously off about this one. The minty green lume on the hands is a little odd, but the don't appear to be aftermarket hands and they have aged appropriately. The crown is correct.
If the price is right then I'd say go for it.

YYTIN · Sep 8, 2021

tritto
Hi YYTIN.
There is nothing obviously off about this one. The minty green lume on the hands is a little odd, but the don't appear to be aftermarket hands and they have aged appropriately. The crown is correct.
If the price is right then I'd say go for it.

Thanks Tritto : the price requested is at 1500euros which seems correct as per current standard, isn't it ?

YYTIN · Sep 8, 2021

Update : seems that I've not been quick enough 😲. Another buyer should get it by Saturday, if not I'm the next on the list.
If it ends up with me I'll post it here 😀

ConElPueblo · Sep 8, 2021

It's really hard to evaluate in photos as the case can be refinished a lot of times without it being obviously apparent. The hands have been relumed.

YYTIN · Sep 8, 2021

Thanks @ConElPueblo.

That's true I have not seen any other of those seiko (searching web) with such a different lume between hands and indexes.
Is it sure then than this is coming out from reluming ? this could not come from different material used at the origin ?
Really just asking.

Dan S · Sep 8, 2021

ConElPueblo
The hands have been relumed.

I agree. I haven't usually seen this lume mis-match with original hands.

YYTIN · Sep 8, 2021

So it's not such a good deal then... at least not one for me.
Thanks for sharing.

philips · Sep 8, 2021

Can the seller provide any history of the watch?

YYTIN · Sep 9, 2021

philips
Can the seller provide any history of the watch?

The seller told me it is his father watch who used to be a pilot and who brought it back from Japan, he said he should be able to dig out the paper his father used for the customs at that time. No history of the different services kept though.

philips · Sep 9, 2021

YYTIN
The seller told me it is his father watch who used to be a pilot and who brought it back from Japan, he said he should be able to dig out the paper his father used for the customs at that time. No history of the different services kept though.

That's really interesting. Getting a watch from the original owner is valued by collectors.

YYTIN · Sep 12, 2021

Well the watch is coming back to me, for a slightly lower price. Hope I'm not making a mistake. First I'll have it serviced/checked by watchmaker and then I'll have to get the relume relumed I guess. I'll give this job to James Hyman to get something clean. Hopefully this will become a watch I'll take pleasure to wear !
I'll drop a picture when this one will be cleaned up.

borozgb · Sep 14, 2021

Cool story, be sure to get that papers if you can..

JamesTYO · Sep 16, 2021

YYTIN
Well the watch is coming back to me, for a slightly lower price. Hope I'm not making a mistake. First I'll have it serviced/checked by watchmaker and then I'll have to get the relume relumed I guess. I'll give this job to James Hyman to get something clean. Hopefully this will become a watch I'll take pleasure to wear !
I'll drop a picture when this one will be cleaned up.

James did a nice job on mine, though mine did look a lot worse than yours when I got it (and the blackened Seiko logo reflects that).

YYTIN · Oct 4, 2021

Got it today 😀
Not a specialist as you know, but looks better in flesh and no bad surprise came from my own little visual inspection👍.
The case looks good - for a tool watch slightly older than me - as well as the crown and the bezel. The dial apart from the small lume miss at 12 looks very good. Should end up looking pretty nice.

Dial & Hands will go to James. Will see with my watchmaker if - while servicing the watch - he can find the correct glass otherwise I'll got it from Mr Klein in the US.
That's by far the biggest watch I've ever worn. Will I get use to it ?
I'll do the job to give it a second youth and I'll see if it is a keeper for me (At the same time I've not made up my mind to sell a single watch yet).