# Does This Look Familiar



## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Well I never.

Came across this on ebay with a reasonable bin price so bought it.

More out of curiosity than anything else.

Now, seller seems genuine and advertised it as 70's NOS, in which case I'm thinking that someone got a load of Seiko cases from the factory and badged them up.

It's possible I suppose because it it was intended as a fake, it would have been signed Seiko.

Hmmm.

Diffucult one.

I mean that's a tricky case to re-produce and I don't think it would be cost effective to do so.

It's one of two things from what I can see.

It's either original seiko case, bought independantly and fitted out by some small concern, or, it's a reproduction / homage, (I won't say fake because it's not signed Seiko)

That of course is possible because the pushers and chrono dials are only cosmetic.

Either way it seems very nice.

What do you think.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

was probably never or intended to be a seiko. theres other bullheads about besides seiko,i blew the pic up and the day wheel box is just painted on ( well it looks that way) seiko bullhead all day/date?? ,are those the sellers pics or yours? ,dont look a bad watch but it depends on the price .


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I think what Andy means is where or why the case is used / from.

I've had a good look at pictures of seiko bull heads and the case does look remarkably similar, although the edges on that seem sharper.

Perhaps there was an excess of cases somewhere, they couldn't get any genuine chrono movts so just made these up, the pushers are too long and the crown too thick to be genuine.

either that or the cases were made specially for the watch as a retro look piece, seems to be all the rage at the moment.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Hey Puggy

I'm aware that other makers made the bull head configuration but come on.

I dare anyone to suggest that this one isn't a 6138-0040 carbon copy.

Anyway I let you know more when I have it in my sweaty little palm.

Those are the sellers pics.

PG.

Bang on the button.

I thought the same about those edges as well but can't be certain how much of that impression is being caused by the photo.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

are we just talking about the case? or the whole watch ? i agree the pushers look a little weedy ,i meant that i thought that all bullheads were all day/date and the dial on that is not.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Pugster

You're correct in that the day aperature appears to be for effect which lends even more credance to the fact that this watch is a copy in all but name, to the Seiko 6138-0040.

It'll be interesting to see if the case dimensions are the same and if the afore mentioned Seiko can just be dropped in, but I somehow think I'm being a little over-optimistic.

Anyway, at worst it looks like it's make an interesting and different beater.


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## N_B (Jan 8, 2006)

Non functioning pushers & sub dials, wossat all about then ??? Nice looking watch but if it's one of those Â£99 BuyNow Portento's from ebay its a bit much for a non functioning wannabe bullhead in my eyes.

each to their own of course


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Sounds too complex, there must be a simpler explaination.


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Er not my thing at all (I like dials and pushers that work) so my view is that I wouldnt bother but... but if you just wanted a case to play with from one of these try this:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BIG-PORTENTO-DATE-N...1QQcmdZViewItem


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

just found these from a belfast seller on ebay ,please tell me you didnt pay Â£99 for it , quoted from add >



> The two secondary buttons at the top are purely for cosmetic purposes and the subsidiary dials on the face are cosmetic also.


if so you could have bought a real bullhead for that


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Pugster

Don't worry.

Didn't pay that amount and I'm well aware of the cost of Seiko Bullheads.

Believe me, I have a few including a nos with box and papers I bought in Japan.

No lecture required on these me old m8


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## Isthmus (Sep 29, 2005)

I'm pretty sure I know what this is. They are also sold as Mexitime watches. A junk store near my office has one and I took a look at it last year (yes they still have it). It's about the size of a bullhead; quartz; it's not made of steel; has non-working pushers; and the entire dial is printed (even the subregisters and corrsponding hands). It's junk of the highest order.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Sorry Isthmus.

Wrong.

Case is SS and it has a manual wind movement.


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## Foggy (Feb 25, 2003)

Hi Isthmus

I handled a Portento identical to this recently at a watch fair (Birmingham). They were Â£40 each. I imagine a batch of new old stock ones has turned up somewhere, as they still had stickers on the caseback. Case was base metal with a steel back - this was confirmed by the stamping of "base metal" and "stainless steel back" on the caseback. Movement was a cheap quality pin-pallet. Dial printing was also of poor quality. I can confirm that the registers, hands included, were painted on.

Regards

Foggy


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Foggy.

Interesting that you should stick yer oar in when it comes to slagging off my watches.

It's been a while since I've seen any of your boot fair tat come to think on it









By the way did a particular person ever find out it was you who tipped me off about the Moonwatch book scam.


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## Foggy (Feb 25, 2003)

No desire to slag your watches, Andy. Other than the one I sent you, I've not seen any of your collection 

My post was a reply to Isthmus. Just reporting my findings.

Good to "see" you anyway, Andy - been a long time









Cheers

Foggy


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Sorry Foggy but the way you condemned me when I was dealing with that lunatic some time ago, without even knowing the facts, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to this day.

Roy had dealings with him as well.

Best we stay away from each other


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## Foggy (Feb 25, 2003)

> Sorry Foggy but the way you condemned me when I was dealing with that lunatic some time ago, without even knowing the facts, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to this day.
> 
> Roy had dealings with him as well.
> 
> Best we stay away from each other


C'est la vie - we live, we learn, we move on.

Whatever is best for you, Andy. I'll respect that.

Regards

Foggy


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Well it's arrived,

and it's a piece of crap









Looks like I have to grudgingly admit that Foggy was right.

Sure he'll relish the thought of me getting stitched up but there ya go.

Don't suppose I'm the first here to be taken in by glossy pics.

It does have a couple of redeeming features though.

The case is pretty well made and a fairly good copy of the 6138 Bullhead, but it isn't as I thought it might be, a genuine Seiko case.

Time keeping seems to be pretty good so far and the watch actually does look quite classy on the wrist.

Well, I may as well keep it and use it for when I'm spannering the bike, decorating, or any other such activity that requires taking off the good watch.We live and learn.

In fairness to the seller though.

I have no beef with him.

He gave an honest and accurate description of the watch and will be recieving + feedback.

Can't really blame him.

On the + side though.

Got a nice looking Seiko 6138 on it's way from America


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

I've never understood why some nice looking watches with decent jewelled movements get made up in non st. steel cases.


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## Isthmus (Sep 29, 2005)

Andy said:


> Sorry Isthmus.
> 
> Wrong.
> 
> Case is SS and it has a manual wind movement.


So was the case SS or is it base metal Like Foggy and I thought?

Let me kow if you want it and I'll pick up the Mexitime one by my office and send it to you. Then you can have a matching pair. I don't know how much they want for it, but I would be surprised if it's more than $20.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Griff said:


> I've never understood why some nice looking watches with decent jewelled movements get made up in non st. steel cases.


Griff.

It would be nice if the watch did have a nice jewelled movement but although I haven't opened it up, it feels like pin-pallet to me.

What tickles me about it though is at least it's not pretending to be something it isn't.

In bold lettering at the bottom of the dial are the words

HONG KONG









Isthmus

OK I'll give you the base metal case but you said it was quartz, and it isn't.

We'll call it a draw.


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## Isthmus (Sep 29, 2005)

Andy said:


> Isthmus
> 
> OK I'll give you the base metal case but you said it was quartz, and it isn't.
> 
> We'll call it a draw.


I wasn't arguing with you. I honnestly wanted to know and my offer to send you the Mexitime was also meant as such (and not an attempt to be smart or anything of the sort).

As for the movement, my reference to the quartz movement was for the Mexitime I examined, which is visually identical to this watch and does have a quartz movement. I did say I was pretty sure, not that I was positive.

If you're interested in that one, Let me know and I'll go see how much they want for it.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Hi and thanks Isthmus but I'll pass.

One TAT watch is enough to keep me going for a while.

This whole NOS thing facinates me.

I also recently got hold of a thing called a "SAKATA Hiroshimatic" (NOS) off ebay for Â£30.

I got it for a Japanese friend of mine who's surname name is SAKATA.

You'd think that with this wording it would be Japanese but it isn't.

It's Swiss (or so the case back says).

Perhaps some makers were trying to cash in on Japanese dominance in the market place in the late 70's, post quartz revolution, and so thought "Hey, we'll market these watches with a cool sounding Japanese name and sell them by the truck load"

Who knows, but there were some very odd things going on with watches way back then.


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## Foggy (Feb 25, 2003)

> Looks like I have to grudgingly admit that Foggy was right.
> 
> Sure he'll relish the thought of me getting stitched up but there ya go.


Not at all, Andy. Shame you have such a dim view of me. I like to help out people whenever I can, offering advice (if I know anything about the watch in question) and giving away spare parts where I have them. I don't take any satisfaction from anyone paying over the odds. We've all done it, at some point, if we're honest. All part of the learning process 

Cheers

Foggy

By the way, the 6138-0030 does look like a nice example at a reasonable price.

Regards

Foggy


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