Beware what looks like vintage Credors on eBay!

[ianmedium]

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on a trend I have seen these past few weeks on eBay of sellers listing what they think are Credor vintage watches for sale.

The confusion comes from the tree like logo usually at the top of the dial. I think in most cases the confusion is an innocent one as unless your a bit of an OCD person like myself and go into great depths in researching you would think that it is a Credor logo!

What it is however is a short lived range in the eighties and nineties by Seiko called "Galaxy" these watches though still Seiko so good quality were in fact a sort of budget dress watch with one of their lower grade movements.

If you see one you like then even in immaculate condition don't pay more than $50 for one as they are not worth any more and hold no collectable value.

Below are two eBay links. The first is for a mediocre condition dress watch listed as a Credor but is in fact a Galaxy. This watch when new would have retailed for around $60, around $150 in today's prices.

www.ebay.ca/itm/SEIKO-CREDOR-5Y39-7010-GOLDPLATED-QUARTZ-MENS-WATCH-/351207563323?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item51c59a203b

And now this listing which is a genuine Credor from roughly the same period

www.ebay.ca/itm/Auth-Used-SEIKO-CREDOR-22KT-SS-7771-6010-Mens-Watch-C702-/231370240281?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item35debdb119

Notice the logo's look remarkably similar so keep a close eye. The real Credor logo is far more delicate.

I really think that this is more about lack of knowledge on the sellers part rather than trying to con someone.

For reference I believe it was the Majesta name that preceded Credor. If you see one of those then your getting usually a very high quality, high accuracy movement and if not high accuracy then certainly a very high quality Quartz!
I missed out on one this past week and am still kicking myself!

Keep an eye out for the Chariot range as well, especially early ones from the late seventie's early eighties. They tended to use HEQ movements and cases were made of special hard alloys. The one I picked up this past week for $21.50 on eBay is one of those and retail allowing for inflation would be over $2000 now, heck, they were almost $700 back in 1980! To put that in perspective that was the same cost as a Rolex Explorer 1 in 1980 so these vintage domestic market Seiko's offer tremendous value now and are much rarer than Rolxes of the same period!
Hope that helps.

[CHIP]

Very informative.
Thank you for the heads up Ian.

[ianmedium]

No worries Chip, if there is anything out there someone is not sure of then give me a heads up and I will do my best to find out about it.

Vintage Credor is a great way to get into the high end Quartz Seiko arena on the cheap they do tend to be though more dressy looking.

King Seiko as well, both in Quartz and mechanical means your into what is now Grand Seiko/ Credor territory, also Grand Quartz back in the 70's.

Also, a thing about the old Quartz movments from the 70's.
As a rule of thumb the accuracy of those old twin Quartz movements tends to wain as the years go on so though it looks appealing to grab a twin Quartz from the 70's be aware your probably not going to get the accuracy so it's more about buying this history of the development of those movments.
That's why the single Quartz movements like the King Quartz I got a few weeks ago is a great way to go as your getting the same level of quality and HEQ movement but because they lack the cachet of once being high accuracy they tend to be a great deal cheaper to buy now.
I know Carl was quite shocked at the level of fit and finish of mine, these vintage high end Seiko's really do offer tremendous value when compared to some of the vintage Swiss stuff of similar age and remember, everything with Seiko in the high end is all done in house including growing their own crystals for the Quartz movments!

[rw16610]

 Ian   Extremely informative, indeed. Its nice to see that wealth of knowledge put to good use as it was above. For the sake of it I saved the main images and uploaded them to an image hosting site so they can remain after the listing(s) disappear:

Galaxy


Actual Credor
 

[ianmedium]

Oh cheers Rommel, I was about to do that as well so am really grateful that you have done so.
I really like these two tone Credors, lovely slim profile unfortunately all of them have very short bracelets and there is zero chance of getting spare links now.
I showed Chip in a pm my latest incoming, a beautiful day date GMT Moonphase Seiko from the eighties. It's coming from Ontario so should be here this time next week. Here is an image of it.

[rw16610]

And there we have it, yet another neat Seiko I never knew of. That's really nice and as always you chose well! This'll fit nicely into your growing collection, Ian!

[ianmedium]

I am really struck with the fantastic quality of these early Quartz Seiko's Rommel, just beautifully made and I love the combination of complications on this one.
Already bookmarked Patek's moonphase calender calculator so when it arrives I can get the moonphase just right.
The button at 1 controls the moonphase, the crown the day date and time setting and the crown at 9 controls the GMT function.

[rw16610]

It's a must have for collectors, so I'm glad you have that one the way. I know you'll enjoy setting the moonphase. Hopefully once it arrives and you have the chance you'll make a short video of this process