Rare & Exclusive VFA: Super Deluxe Japan
Citizen Super Deluxe: Citizens VFA, Very Fine Adjusted
- Time (Hour, Minute, Central Second)
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EmailWHY WE LOVE IT? It was Citizens highest-quality and finest adjusted watch between August 1958 and mid-60s: Citizens V.F.A. and it was the main inspiration and ancestor of the 1st Grand Seiko.
The solid-18K case (35mm excl crown) is in like-new (and of course unpolished) condition with a beautiful patina. And what a case it is! Heavy and all solid with a clear but faceted design. The Super Deluxe was Citizens highest class and with JPY33'000 most expensive product in the late 1950s and first half of the 1960s and a demonstration that Citizen was at least at-par with Seiko at that time -- there is nothing comparable or even better in Seikos portfolio around that time. That alone makes it a horological artefact of highest relevance: Japanese industrial-history and a collect-worthy watch.
And inevitably the question arises: was this Citizen Super Deluxe the most substantial inspiration for Taro Tanaka and Seiko’s “Grammar of Design”? The Citizen Super Deluxe was introduced in 1958 and it was the best in Japanese watchmaking around that time when Tanaka started at Seiko (1959) and I think it is necessary to have a look at the very first Grand Seiko refJ14070 (1960) and the Seiko ref43-9999 (1963) in the light of this Citizen (1958!) -- and the history of Seikos "Grammar of Design" by Taro Tanaka appears in a different... shall I say shadow?
The golden movement cal925 (base cal9200) with its 25 jewels is beautifully finished and marked "Specially Adjusted" is the best of its kind and top of the line. There was nothing higher jewelled, adjusted or more precise produced in Japan in 1958. And when you wonder about the term "Specially Adjusted" -- it is something we can find in Seikos Flagships from a decade (1968) later, too: "Very Fine Adjusted" -- VFA.
Not less amazing is the dial with its subtle design, the reflective sunburst and the applied shaped & faceted indexes... and a double-index at 12 o'clock... “Grammar of Design” plus the more-faceted indexes at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock for better orientation -- just like the 1st Grand Seiko J14070.
