Michel Jurdain EG-5312 Sun & Moon Automatic

Today's watch is another mechanical watch (continuing my current batteryless watch phase) by a manufacturer with an inconsistent history.

The watch is by a brand called Michel Jurdain (which is often accompanied by alternate versions of the name like Michael /Michelle Jordan /Giordan). The capitalisation is a little unusual for the name, as on the watch it is actually written as 'michel Jurdain' . Some of the sites which refer to the brand note it as being a French company based in Paris, started in 1982, and specialising in menswear. This would be ok, except that the only other sites which reference the brand are in Japanese. The 'official' Michel Jurdain webshop is also in Japanese, and the 'about' section says it is a domestic brand...

The watch itself is a model which seems to be called Sun & Moon and has a model number of EG-5312. It has an automatic mechanical movement with the balance wheel visible through a window at the 6 o'clock position. There is no seconds hand, but from the ticking of balance wheel it appears to have a high frequency tick. On the dial there are also two smaller dials at the 9:30 and 2:30 positions. The top left dial is a 24 hr hour hand, while the top right dial also rotates over 24 hrs and has pictures of the sun and moon to mark day or night (and is where the name comes from).

The watch case is in the tonneau style in steel, and there is a window in the back so you can see the weight for the automatic winding. The back plate of the watch only says 'automatic' and 'water resistant', but the weight has the brand name and logo and the model number printed on it. The design is completed by a thick padded leather strap with the Michel Jurdain name printed know the back.

The Michel Jurdain watches are for sale now, and I've seen this model still being sold new, so I guess it isn't old, but it isn't in the official webshop anymore. The watches are expensive with the webshop showing the brand selling models veteran ¥60,000 and ¥140,000. There does seem to be many sites which always seem to be selling the models on sale, and this model is being sold for ¥15,000 after a 79% discount (suggesting an rrp around ¥70,000).