One of the key aims of this site is to be a source of information for those who collect vintage Grand Seiko. We don’t just list the watches that we have for sale in the anticipation that customers will add them to their collections – we also list watches that we have never had in stock, along with as much data about those watches as we can glean. The intent is to be a reliable source of information about exactly which references were created by Grand Seiko, and to provide data on those references.
We are confident that currently this site contains the most complete, accurate and detailed information on the historical Grand Seiko references that you will find anywhere.
Presented below is a gallery of scans from what is – to date – the earliest Seiko publication intended for the general public that we have come across that features the Grand Seiko “First”.
Believed to date from either 1962 or 1963, the brochure is a single piece of paper with three folds. On opening it, you are presented with the two pages of clocks with blue and red borders. Folding open these pages then reveals four pages of watches on a green background, with the Grand Seiko “First” featured in the primary top left position.
Update December 2019
As per Chris’s comment on this later post that details another early brochure, based on the other watches featured in this publication, it can be dated to 1963.
The brochure was clearly intended to be distributed by local retailers to the general public. There is a space at the bottom of the final page where the retailer information is provided. Anthony Kable has previously scanned another example of this brochure which you can find here – note that the retailer details on the last page of his example are different to those printed on ours. Additionally, there is additional text printed on the cover of our copy, which loosely translates into a promotion of watches for graduation presents.
The text accompanying the photo of the Grand Seiko First translates to the following –
“Luxury goods with the highest precision, with Chronometer rating certificate. Grand Seiko 25 jewels. Price 25,000 Yen.”
The only earlier example of an official Seiko publication that features the Grand Seiko First that we are aware of is the March 1961 issue of Seiko Sales, scanned and shared previously here.
