Cazalea embarks on a global tour of Grand Seiko authorized dealers, documenting the brand's retail presence in 2014. This post offers a valuable historical snapshot of Grand Seiko's distribution and the variety of models available to collectors before its major international expansion.
Hello Seiko-loving PuristS,
I am continuing my visits to authorized Grand Seiko outlets. Because there are so few, this requires patience, a good mapping system, and excuses to travel around the world. Thank goodness I am not the Rolex moderator ... my shoes would be worn out.
In any case, since becoming SEIKO moderator on this new forum last spring, I have been able to stop into Grand Seiko dealers in Los Angeles,
Seattle, San Francisco area, the Tokyo Wako store,
Narita airport in the duty-free zone,
London, and (a few years ago) Paris.
During the past week while driving the length of California visiting relatives for Christmas, I was able to divert the Jaguar a few miles off our existing course and we "happened upon" a watch store in Redwood City.
Since Mrs. Cazalea knows how this watch mania works, she was not too surprised... the first case inside the door was packed with goodies, including a ladies GS!
I count 15 here in the case, plus the one I was holding, and the one on Mrs. Cazalea's wrist - a pretty good selection. Represented were mechanical, quartz, Spring Drive, Chronographs, Diver, High-Beat ... black dial, white dial, cream dial ... even a jeweled case.
Then we moved over a case and inspected the Ananta line, and the divers and sports watches.
There was lots of nice artwork to enliven the walls
Another case held the Seiko Astron GPS watches (as did the wrist of the store's proprietor, a watchmaker himself).
As we moved up the side of the store, we found class divers and a whole selection of Datejust Looklalikes. These have been popular Seiko models for many years. And yes, there were some clocks too - both in the cases and on shelves behind.
In the center of this image (below) you can see some of the
Recraft watches that I profiled a few weeks ago.
Finally we came to the end of the row and were able to see some watches that still offer nice styling in the $100 or so range. Ideal for introducing Seiko to the younger generation.
I hope you enjoyed this brief visit, and you find the time to locate a Grand Seiko store nearby.
Cazalea
