The present timepiece is the archetypal representative of what is today considered one of the greatest mechanical line of watches - and arguably the greatest non-Swiss mechanical line of timepieces - to ever grace the face of the earth: the Grand Seiko.

Ref. J14070 was developed with a single goal in mind. To use Seiko’s own words, “the idea was to build a watch that would be as precise, durable, easy to wear and beautiful as humanly possible”. Developing of the watch started of course years earlier, in the 1950s, and the results of their efforts - cal. 3180 - was a technological achievement, sporting an accuracy of +12/-3 seconds per day and a power reserve of 45 hours. It was the first Japanese calibre to meet the extremely strict “Standard of Excellence” of the Bureaux Officiels de Contrôle de la Marche des Montres - the Swiss authority on watches.

Such is the iconic stature of this first Grand Seiko, in the modern era there have been more than a dozen references that are referred to as “reissues”, closely adhering to the original design - although none feature the “Chronometer” text under the logo.

No wonder then, that an original example of the vintage reference - in production for just three years from 1960-1963 - is regarded as an essential foundational piece in any vintage Grand Seiko collection.

The present watch is a superlative example of the “raised logo” dialed variant of the Grand Seiko, with a particularly clean dial, and a case that retains its sharply defined lugs - features that are all to rare to find on examples of these 60 year old watches today.

Offered together with its fascinating - and ultra hard to find - original box, outer packaging and original buckle, the present piece is an incredible value proposition for the connoisseur of fine timepieces.