Those who've been following this blog for a while have probably seen that I have a liking for ana-digi style watches (although I've not posted so many recently).
From the few that I've blogged, I've also become a fan of the Ricoh Riquartz watches, as there is something about the design and build quality for the range which makes them feel luxurious.
Today's watch joins those two likes as it is a Ricoh Riquartz Ana-Digi model.
The Ricoh brand is a well known Japanese brand who are best known for products other than watches - printers and photocopiers are the products I normally associate with the name Ricoh. The brand was founded in 1936 and are still continuing to this day. They seem to have started the Riquartz line of watches in the early 70s and have been credited with improving the quality of quartz movements and possibly being second behind Seiko for quartz watches in the 70s.
One online forum had a similar watch to my one, and they have suggested that the number on the back of the watch is a model number and not a serial number as I'd thought. On this basis (and that I've seen an original label for another Ana-Digi with this as a reference number style), this watch is a model 122002 and so uses a calibur 122 movement which is a 7 jewel design.
The watch is a rectangular design with curved sides, and has a simple plain face with no numbers, only markers on the raised edge of the face. I think it is the cleanliness of the face design which makes this one look so high class. The analogue display is a 2 hand dial design with a stepping motion for the minute hand. The LCD display is at the bottom of the face and is a 4 digit design with large easy to read numbers. The digital display can be used to show day/date, seconds, dual time, and the alarm (with the modes written along the bottom of the face).
The only thing written on the face of the watch itself is the Ricoh name, along with the Riquartz brand and the logo (a hexagonal stylized Q), and the back also says Ricoh along with Ricoh Watch Co. Ltd. The back also states that the watch is water resistant and all stainless steel.
The watch comes with a Ricoh branded stainless steel strap (with the branding on both parts of the clasp), and the strap has a part number of 329C-U.
If this model is similar to the other I saw online, they dated that to 1980, and I have no reason to disagree. I've also seen that a model 122009 had an original price of ¥31,000, so I'd assume that the original price for this 122002 was something similar.
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