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.
Index
Please click on the following link for an index to all articles on Seiko catalogues from the vintage Grand Seiko era.
The Seiko 1974 volume 2 catalogue
From the late 1960’s onwards, Seiko would publish two main catalogues each year that were distributed to retailers. These catalogues detailed the full range of product on offer, providing a photo of every watch, along with a brief description and salient details including the price, case material, and other basic information.
In addition to the half-yearly catalogues (originally titled “No.1” and “No. 2”, but later changed to “Volume 1” and “Volume 2”), towards the end of the year a supplement to the second catalogue would be published.
Volume 1 of the 1975 catalogue continues with the format introduced by the previous main catalogue, being A4 in size, which permits a greater number of watches to be shown on each page.
The initial 8 pages of the catalogue present the top of the range references similarly to how they are shown in the Special Luxury Catalogues, but there are also many additional pages that follow – with the standard 3×4 layout for men’s, and 3×5 layout for women’s – featuring watches in precious metal cases. In total, there are 150 (yes – one hundred and fifty) men’s and women’s references presented in precious metal over the first 20 pages of the catalogue.
The first of these additional pages is where we see two 18K gold cased Grand Seiko’s presented.
5646-7005 on 18K gold bracelet, 5645-7005
At the bottom right of the page we see two familiar references – the 5646-7005 on an 18K gold bracelet, first introduced in the 1973 Special Luxury Catalogue; and the 5645-7005, which, whilst it made its debut all the way back in the 1970 Special Luxury Catalogue, hasn’t actually been featured in any catalogue since 1973’s volume 2.
The latter watch is also offered at its third different price point of 236,000 Yen. On introduction it was priced at 180,000 Yen, but strangely had its price dropped to 176,000 Yen in its catalogue appearance previous to this one.
There follow another 18 pages featuring both quartz and lower-end mechanical references before we finally get to see the remaining eight Grand Seiko’s to be depicted in the catalogue.
The last of a dying breed
Sharing a page with some King Seikos are the final Grand Seikos ever to be offered. All but one of these watches would be featured in the last catalogue that vintage Grand Seiko was featured in – 1975’s volume 2.
Alongside the two day-date 6186 movement VFA’s is the 6156-8040 Special that was introduced in 1974’s volume 2 supplement, and was the very last new vintage Grand Seiko reference. The 6155-8000 Special next to it makes its final catalogue appearance here.
On the second row we see four 56GS references – the white dialed 5646-7010 offered on both a bracelet and a leather strap; the blue dialed 5646-7010, and finally, the 5646-7030 that was first introduced in 1974’s volume 1 catalogue. Dropped from this catalogue is the watch introduced alongside the 5646-7030 the previous year, the Arabic numeral dialed 5646-7040.
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