Citizen Vagary GD00

Today, I'm using one of my mysterious Vagary watches again.

The Vagary line of watches are made my Citizen, and are a bit of a mysterious line. Most of the models in this line I've seen in Japan, but there is no Japanese website. Instead, the website is in Italy, and at the bottom of that page is a  note saying Vagary is a trademark of Citizen Watch Italy SpA. Whether this means it is an Italian line, or just that the trademark is held in every country they operate in, I can't say, but it adds a bit more mystery to an already mysterious line. The Vagary watches themselves tend to me a bit different than the regular Citizen lines, and often feature unusual designs or bright colours.

This model is based around a GD00 module and is a quartz dial watch. It has a 3 hand dial in a rounded square case, and a few unusual design elements. The date window is at the 11 o'clock position, which I think is a first for the watches I've blogged, and the crown is at the 2 o'clock position. There is also a 24 hr dial, but this is in the bottom corner and is a retrograde /jump-back design which is also pretty unusual. It isn't the brightest coloured watch they make, but the shiny green and brown combination is different. The strap is a browny creamy leather design with a green felt back, and the buckle has a tiny Vagary V logo.

I've not found this model in any catalogues, but based on the serial number it appears to be from 2005 (or possibly 1995 but I think this is less likely). The full model number is GD00-S030382.

Seiko Wired - Dodecagon Dial 5Y66

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers.

I'm using a smart watch today as I've got a dinner date with my wife tonight.

The one I've chosen is part of the Seiko Wired range of watches that was released in 2000. The range seems to target up-market looking designs that are quite flashy. You can see more of the different Wired watches using the list of tags in the right of the page.

The watch is a heavy steel item, with a thick 12-sided (dodecagon and dodecahedron shaped) glass covering the face. It is a 3-hand dial, with 3 dials on the face, one showing the 24-hr time, and the other two for the date. For the date, it has a standard 31 point dial, but for the day, it has a retrograde dial on which the hand jumps back from Saturday night to Sunday morning.

The design of the watch has lots of shiny and matt faces at angles making it catch the light really well. The shape and polishing inside the jump-hour dial looks like it is a deep hole with the centre raised where the hand is (but the shadow of the hand tells me this is just an illusion).

This particular model was made in 2007, and has a model number of 5Y66-0AG0. It uses a Japanese movement, and was cased in China. It has a design matched steel strap, which has a part number of F2S1-E.Q

Roberta Scarpa Automatic with Retrograde Seconds Hands RS6029

Roberta Scarpa is an artisan and fashion designer from Venice (born in La Serenissima). Started in 1981 with her husband, she launched her first collection under her own name in 1996. Her designs take inspiration from details of Venetian history, and she presents her collections through Milano Moda Donna, and won designer of the year in 2005 at Miami Fashion Week.
The watch has the highest original list price of any of my watches (63,000 yen), but is often seen at highly discounted prices - so I didn't spend very much ;-).
The watch itself is a 3-hand dial watch with an automatic mechanical movement. It has a dual time function with a small dial near the 12 o'clock position able to show an alternative time - when the crown is pulled out, turning anticlockwise, changes both dials together, while clockwise only changes the small dial. On the face are also 3 other dials, but these are retrograde (or jump-back) dials for the seconds. Each one covers 20 seconds, and then jumps back to the start as the next dial begins to move.
The model number is RS6029, and the movement may be made by Citizen (as I got a Citizen guarantee card in the box, but this being second-hand, I'm not 100 % certain).

UPDATE: I've now added a YouTube video of the watch in action: YouTube Link

Citizen Independent G300 with retrograde 24-hr dial

The retrograde watch movement is an interesting concept. Instead of using a continuous dial, the hand moves to the end of the scale, and jumps back to the start.

This watch has a normal 3-hand dial for the time, but also includes a second 24-hr indicator with the jump-back / retrograde action. There is also a date marker above the 12 position in the same font as the hour markers.

All of this is run from a G300 module, and the watch was made in 2008.

The full model number is G300-002783-02, and is part of the Citizen Independent range released in the late 2000s as a line of trendy fashion watches.