In Chapter 1 I will cover 2 things - how I got into Grand Seikos, and how I prepared for this post.
STUMBLING ONTO GRAND SEIKOS
I had only Swiss watches at the start, and a couple American pocket watches. My foray into good watches began with a very expensive Seiko Kinetic Sportura Titanium watch. I realized that Japanese watches were more than just inexpensive quartz, but could also be fine machinery. But then I didn't really know that much about fine watches at the time.
I had always collected cars, and I was tiring of the insurance, government regulation, thrill-seeking, etc. I sold a Lotus Seven, one of 12 cars I owned at the time, and decided to pour that money into watches. If I had only put all the money into one Patek this story wouldn't be as long ...
In my quest for watches that appealed to me, I "accidentally" bought a Grand Seiko watch from a collector named Jimmy. I'd been looking for something like a Milgauss and ended up driving up the freeway for an hour to meet this Jimmy guy half-way. I still have that watch - you'll be able to identify it by "Magnetic Resistant" on its dial.
I loved everything about that watch - it's precision, great construction, heft on my wrist, intriguing dial, etc. Since then I have owned more than 20 Grand Seikos (and related Credor, Galante, and high-end Seikos). From the outside it seems like I've been relatively indiscriminate but I've only purchased about 1 of 5 that I've examined or bid on. And sold on everything I didn't like. Two of the watches I currently own are replacements for ones I bought, sold, and wanted back. I'll point them out later.
Many more Grand Seikos come on bracelets than "regular" watches that I own. I have however taken several off the bracelets and put them on leather straps, more for "saving" the bracelet than any other reason. Although I own a number of deployant buckles, I have not liked most of the GS deployants I've tried, so with the exception of the two Spring Drives, all these watches have tang buckles.
PREPARATION FOR THE REPORT
Not so easy, this assignment I gave myself!
First I decided I finally had to construct a light box of some sort, that could hold all the watches. This took some thinking, rummaging, and cleaning. Ok, it's a bit lame, but it worked today.