An Ebay Winner - SEIKO 5 4227 00B0

 

 

This is a mint condition SEIKO 4227-00BO from January 1980. It's pricey but there are people who value a mint condition. I bought one some time ago but when it arrived it wasn't keeping time so I returned it. One thing that is brilliant about ebay is the returns policy. Even if the seller states no returns, ebay will usually step in and refund either partially or fully depending on the claim. It's built into the pricing but I've returned a dozen or so watches usually for losing or gaining 5 minutes or more  a day. That's my threshold because it's over half an hour a week but for a really desirable model I'd probably swallow it.

 

The version I bought was a real fluke (I've been very lucky in my time). First off nobody else bid on it which is highly unusual as there's an army of lowest cost SEIKO watch buyers who will bid on anything low priced from 99p upwards to a starting bid of say £20 eventually reaching about £50 sale price. But where I had an advantage was that I knew the model, knew it's value and could see that the seller took an out of focus primary image photograph. There was a better shot in the film roll but it was smaller and as I mentioned I wasn't sure what I was getting till it arrived. Anyway for 25 quid it wasn't going to disappoint massively - I've just noticed there's two bids on it so somebody tried to outbid my by raising the price a few pennies but I think I rounded up my only bid. An extra pound could have robbed me of the prize.

 

Even the more focused shot is ambiguous about the casing colour but as previously mentioned, when it arrived I was stoked. It's in terrific condition and even has a slight patina of wear on the bracelet edges for authenticity.

 

I also have the smallest model in this range, the SEIKO 5 - 4207-00N0 that I purchased from a Japanese seller. It was produced in November 1985 and is very dinky but I love wearing it. Because it is near mint condition I also don't feel guilty about wearing it more than the older models I have.

 The reason for these watch posts is I've a gut feel about something. I always liked the idea of an Automatic watch and I've explained why I focus on the SEIKO TV models from 68-73 but the manner of my immersion into the field was so not me. Firstly I'm absolutely not a materialists. I like and value luxury items but I don't need them. My first watch was a sort of long held hankering that turned into an ebay search and purchase, but it wasn't accurate so I returned it. I then bought my first SEIKO 5 6119-5000 from the year of my birth and was delighted with it. I started looking around and next purchased a RADO Manhattan (a model Gorbachev wore during his Reagan nuclear summits) but that too began to stop and start and even though it wasn't in the price the Tokyo seller apologised profusely and shipped it backed to Japan with a full refund (very honourable those Japanese). After that I stuck to the SEIKO 5 Automatics TV models and for a couple of years it took over me but the timing was right because as I began to question my materialist leanings, the 6119-5000s started to dry up so I think I may have the largest collection but it's very hard to verify.

There's no advantage to me posting about the watches as any price rises affect me too but I do believe everyone should have a 1968 to 80's automatic SEIKO 5  as they are diminishing in availability and represent a unique view into human nature and global mass production of the most complex of mechanism by one manufacturer worn on most humans at any one time and forever too.

I don't buy watches to make money. I buy them out of love for the design, mass manufacturing and a never again repeatable episode in most moving parts. 

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