Horological Meandering

It called out to me

 

Hi Steve, great question.

It goes back a few years.

I'm not an accountant, but I like to shuffle funds from interest to interest, without losing all of them in one place.
So when I got tired of spending money like water by having 3 Lotus cars at once, I sold one and put the money into a "Swiss Account" ie watches.
And I went to Switzerland and learned about fine watches, and spent a few Lotuses worth on them.

Then one day I was pondering whether to spend some money on an obscure watch called Grand Seiko.
Which led to me selling my Paul Gerber Twin Retro to you.

I diverted money from my "Swiss Account" to the "Japanese Account" and bought a couple Grand Seikos, and liked them.
So naturally that led to a few Google searches, all of which inevitably led to SteveG's and JayHawk's watch photo databases.
And I learned that while Patek lovers chat about 5960s and 2499s, and Paneristi speak of 116Fs and 45Bs, Seiko fans have to learn another language as well.

No sense saying "that titanium one with the snow white dial and spring drive" you must ask for a SBGA011 instead. And it's a wonderful watch and on my wrist today. BUT not the most recent buy.

Now there may be some inner secret to Seiko model numbers that I don't yet understand, but I do know to order Seiko Holy Grail you ask for SBGW003. And that's what you can see, perfectly captured by SteveG and others on the web. And it made me crazy. I had to have one. And judging from the posts and emails I've gotten, I'm not the only one with the bug.

I also soon learned with sorrow only 300 were made seven-eight years ago. Manual winding, stainless steel case, high-profile sapphire crystal, and the  most beautiful  face I have ever seen. A crown my fingers can wind, a dial my eyes can see, beauty that everyone can appreciate, fine finishing, a great "chronometre grade" movement. None sold in the US. Just like half the cars I own. An inconveniently hard-to-find treasure that might be impossible to find. Great! This was the one for me.

It took 2 1/2 years of searching, several dead ends, a few missteps, lots of assistance from friends new and old in Singapore and elsewhere, lots of wire transfer forms, encouragement from collectors on both sides of the Pacific, and finally a package arrived on my desk, containing a like-new watch with a service warranty. Look, isn't it pretty? (sounds like a new kitten or something)
 

Was I obsessed? A bit. It cost a lot (well, for a used Japanese watch). I waited months. I refrained from telling almost everyone, refusing to count that unhatched chicken. I diverted myself by dallying with the beautiful bronze Gefica Safari.

But it finally arrived. I have wound it a dozen times, I have worn it three times, so far. And it's all I thought it might be and hoped it would be.

Uh Steve, what was the question again? Sorry I forgot...

Mike

This message has been edited by cazalea on 2008-06-26 12:51:17