The GMT+9 Auction Watchlist #9
Welcome to GMT+9’s latest presentation of various auctions that we and our readers deemed interesting of late. These auctions cover the time period of March 7th - April 14th. The watch pictured above is a Seiko 5M45 Kinetic GMT Brightz. I believe that this was the first Seiko ever released using the “Brightz” name. It dates to 2000. The price was 25,550 yen. Do you see the resemblance to the Citizen Mission Antarctica?
Well speak of the devil! Here’s a Citizen Mission Antarctica. I’ve noticed that more than a few of these models have been recently listed with either bad batteries or having just returned from Citizen JP service with new batteries installed. These watches have been out now for about 8 years, so I guess they could be indicators of rechargeable battery lifespans in the Citizen Eco-drives. This particular model was dead, but was still bid up to 21,500 yen.
How about this Limited Edition SBCG003 40th Anniversary Chronograph. Nice watch, great movement, and there’s an old write-up about it here. This example sold for 240,000 yen.
This vintage Citizen Auto Dater Super Jet was slick. Price was 25,000 yen.
Here’s a 7C43 diver that you don’t see too often. I’ve never had one, but they have always interested me. They were higher end models in their day. Price was 21,000 yen.
These are getting harder and harder to find and the price has been creeping up. It’s a Seiko Landmaster 10th Anniversary Edition. The last Landmaster ever released. I sure wish they’d do a new one. I always thought that the Spring Drive movement would integrate well with the Landmaster line. Seiko, are you reading this? Price of this watch was 239,000 yen.
Nice colors on this Seiko Yacht timer. Sold for 15,000 yen.
The ending price of 51,000 yen, was reflective of the rarity and coolness of this older 1960’s stopwatch. This is probably my favorite of this installment.
With an asking price of 80,000 yen, this 600M Crystron diver just didn’t get any bids. Price was probably a bit high, but a very collectible diver for sure.
GMT+9 reader martback turned me on to this noteworthy Alpinist. The caseback is of particular interest. Very unusual. It sold for 14,000 yen. The almost identical model with standard caseback was also on a recent auction and it went for 15,500 yen.
Another GMT+9 reader (ptolmey) was kind enough to point this A828 Speedmaster LCD to me. I’ve seen these go for big bucks, but not as much as what this seller was asking. 220,000 was just too much as it did not receive any bids. Cool and rare.
Ohhhhh! How about this one. One of the most collectible of all Seiko sports watches. This 6215 diver looked pretty impressive. It sold for 321,000 yen. I’m actually surprised that it didn’t go higher. Nice example.
This 7c46 Scubapro sold for 106,000 yen.
Time to look at eBay. This one caught my eye because of the sterling silver case. I’d seen this on Seikos, but this is the first time I’ve seen Citizen do it. Final price was $162.70.
Great dial on this old Phynox Citizen. I forgot to track the price. I’m pretty sure it was under $100.00. If I remember correctly, Phynox refers to the alloy used in the mainspring.
The case and dial of this Citizen grabbed my attention. Never seen this one before. I’d guess that it’s an older quartz model. Selling price was $56.00.
This is an excellent example of a Citizen 8110 chronograph. These always attract attention. The winning bid was $273.78.
I saw a few 5717’s come up for auction over the past month. This one was one of the better examples. It sold for $898.00. Prices for good 5717’s seem to be pretty strong lately.
Last watch is an SUS model that I’ve never seen for sale on eBay. It sold for $140.74.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
hey pete:). i am also suprised that 6215 sold for ONLY, that much. it could have easily sold towards 400k barrier. there was another scubapro that sold for about 70k yen few weeks ago. that one was from late 70’s though. it was interesting since i was under an impression that scubapro was a LE from 1999 or so of 250 copies…
as usual, thanx for giving us a heads up, alot of these watches, i seen without having a idea of the history.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Pete. Interesting report. Although I would not sell either my 10th Anniversary Landmaster or my one button chrono’ it is comforting to know that they have appreciated in value. Conventional wisdom seems to be that one should never buy a watch as an investment. Vintage pieces have probably done better recently than the products of most financial institutions. One watch dealer has offered me a buy back at the sale price +10% on selected vintage watches. I suspect that “real things” such as vintage watches will continue to do OK in the future.
Cheers, Greg
April 20th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Hi Heat and ptolmey,
First of all, thank you ptolmey for the occasional heads up.
Heat, I’m with you, I will never sell my one buttons or 10th Anniversary LM. I actually sold a one button once many many years ago. It was pretty much mint, and it was hard to sell at $350.00. A common friend of ours now has it and is taking good care of it.
Although generally speaking, watches aren’t good investments, I think if you have exceptional examples of landmark models from just about any major brand, you will probably not lose any value with that watch overtime.
Thanks for reading guys!
petew